“Squid Game” IRL? The Truth About The Horrific Abuse Camp Believed To Have Inspired The Series
Content Warning
Squid Game 2 was officially released on Netflix on December 26. The latest season shows Lee Jung Jae returning as Seong Gi Hun to lead a new all-star cast into the next round of deadly games.
Squid Game is a commentary on capitalism, showing characters in dire need of money literally fighting to the death for the entertainment of wealthy viewers. As with all media, many online have discussed the series, including its alleged, real-life inspiration.
Several viral videos and posts have discussed an “IRL Squid Game” in Korea in the 80s, including alleged photos showing “competitors” and a setting similar to that in Squid Game.
These are not entirely accurate, as the room photos are AI-generated. However, the image of the “competitors” is a real image taken from the events, though no competition took place.
Instead, these events took place at The Brothers’ Home, which has been described as an internment camp that targeted some of society’s most vulnerable.
As Korea struggled to recover from the Korean War, “social welfare” programs targeted vagrants, many of which were homeless, orphaned, or abandoned children and individuals with disabilities. These “vagrants” were then moved to detention facilities, one of which being Brothers’ Home.
It was not until 1982 that the Brothers’ Home was investigated and the horrific treatment those admitted suffered was exposed.
In addition to forced labor, those at Brothers’ Home were victims of torture, sexual violence, and alleged murder.
Many of those turned into “inmates” were children taken off the streets, rather than orphans. The “inmates” were divided into self-managed platoons, with a hierarchy that led to leaders taking advantage of their positions, allegedly in the name of survival.
One victim, Choi Seung Woo, spoke about his experience in a 2020 interview with BBC, revealing he was tortured by a police officer after being stopped on his way home from school.
A police officer asked me to stop and started searching my bag. There was half a loaf of bread, a leftover of my lunch which was given from school. He asked where I stole the bread from. He tortured me, burning my genitals with a lighter. He kept beating me, saying he wasn’t going to let me go unless I confessed to the ‘crime. Just wanting to go home, I lied. ‘I stole it, I stole it. Please let me go…’
— Choi Seung Woo
The then 13-year-old was subjected to physical and sexual assault committed by a platoon leader on arrival.
The platoon leader and some other guys took all of my clothes off and poured a bucket of cold water on my body. While I was trying to sleep, shivering naked, the platoon leader came again and raped me. He did that to me for three consecutive nights until I was transferred to a different platoon.
— Choi Seung Woo
It has been reported that over 650 people died in the 20 year history of Brothers’ Home and were buried or cremated in secret, with some bodies even being sold to hospitals. Park In Guen, the director of the center, is believed to have personally killed several victims.
As recently as last year, investigations in to the atrocities committed at Brothers’ Home have continued. In April 2024, courts ruled that ₩4.60 billion KRW (about $3.15 million USD) in compensation be paid to 15 victims of the Brothers’ Home.
Park In Guen was eventually sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling and fraud, and died of natural causes in 2016.
As for inspiring Squid Game, creator Hwang Dong Hyuk has never mentioned Brothers’ Home as a source.
