CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses sexual assault and rape.
If you’re like me and struggle watching anything with blood and gore, tuning into Squid Game feels like a brave endeavour. But if you thought the grim premise couldn’t get any more stomach-churning, you thought wrong.
Ever since the show’s release in 2021, fans have drawn similarities between the series to a place called Brothers Home, a real human rights atrocity that took place in South Korea during the 1970s and ’80s. But how much of that is true, curious speculation or worse, misinformation?
What is The Brothers Home?
Back in 1976, the authoritarian South Korean government opened a centre called The Brothers Home in the coastal city of Busan. At first, it was intended to be a welfare centre created to give shelter to homeless people. However, in reality, it was an internment camp where both adults and children were taken off the streets by police and held there against their will.
In the lead-up to the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Olympics Games in Seoul, the government wanted to clean up any “vagrants” from the streets and gave an ordinance for authorities to do so. Brothers Home was one of many facilities intended to provide shelter and training for homeless people which was encouraged by government-paid subsidies.
However, due to these payouts and the ordinance to “cleanse the streets”, people who were found drunk or without proper identification were reportedly collected in vans, taken to the facility and put into slave labour. The same happened to children roaming the streets without their parents. According to a 1987 investigation by Busan-based prosecutors, less than 10 per cent of people detained against their will at Brothers Home were living on the streets.
Inside, the concrete walls of Brothers Home, inmates were given identification numbers and matching dark blue tracksuits. They were often forced to hold positions for long periods of time or play torture games.
By 1986, rumours that people were disappearing off the streets of Busan and whispers of mistreatment occurring at Brothers Home began to circulate. It inspired local prosecutor Kim Yong-won to investigate. Shortly after, the facility was raided. It led to the arrest of the Brothers Home director, Park In-keun, in 1987. He served a short prison term for embezzlement and minor charges, but was acquitted for charges related to illegal confinement.
Brothers Home is considered to be one of the darkest human rights violations in South Korean history, with many of the survivors still carrying the immense trauma of the torture, violence, sexual abuse and rape.
In 2022, South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a landmark report which revealed the horrific abuses that took place in Brothers Home, including 657 deaths of inmates, and the confirmation that Busan police seized people off the streets, regardless of their vagrant status. It was the first time South Korea’s former military government was truly found responsible for the horrific human rights violations that happened at Brothers Home.
Was Squid Game based on Brothers Home?
Although there are striking similarities between some elements of Brothers Home and Squid Game, writer-director Hwang Dong Hyuk has never mentioned the facility as a direct influence.
Speaking to Variety following the release of season one, Dong Hyuk said he was inspired by Japanese comics and animations that toyed with the idea of survival games, along with his own financial struggles.
“When I started, I was in financial straits myself and spent much time in cafes reading comics including ‘Battle Royale’ and ‘Liar Game.’ I came to wonder how I’d feel if I took part in the games myself. But I found the games too complex, and for my own work focused instead on using kids’ games,” Hwang said.
“I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life. But I wanted it to use the kind of characters we’ve all met in real life.”
Hwang has also claimed to have found inspiration from the Ssangyong motor strikes. In 2009, a car manufacturing business was taken over by banks and private investors. Shortly after, it announced its plan to lay off more than 40 per cent of its employees.
The workers retaliated, taking over the factory and launching a 77-day strike. The government used forceful measures to end the strikes, resulting in many injuries.
“I wanted to show that any ordinary middle-class person in the world we live in today can fall to the bottom of the economic ladder overnight,” he said, per France 24.
The AI-generated images and misinformation circulating social media
Remember the colourful, endlessly winding staircases shown in Squid Game?
Most recently, punters online have begun to circulate images which they claim to be the inside of Brothers Home. The images bear a striking resemblance to the bright, colourful set design on the show.
You can check them out below.
Although these images look like they could be from a deliapidated warehouse like the Brothers Home facility, in reality, they’re AI-generated. The images were created by online artist Efe Levent and posted to Instagram in late 2024.
However, this hasn’t stopped some online creators from grabbing these images with both hands and absolutely running with it.
So, while there are definitely grim similarities between the atrocities at Brothers Home and the fictionalised series Squid Game, let this serve as a reminder to use online literacy and reputable sources before believing everything you read online.
You can watch seasons one and two of Squid Game on Netflix.
Help is available.
- If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
- If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
The post Did The Bone-Chilling True Story Of South Korea’s Brother’s Home Inspire Squid Game? appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
