From its release in mid -August, The echoes of survivors: within the tragedies of Korea He shocked the audience by exploring the most famous modern crimes of South Korea. Episodes 5 and 6 focus on the Chijon sect, active in 1993-1994, led by Kim Gi-Hwan. The gang nourished resentment against the rich and social inequality for its poverty.
At the time, the South Korean society was chaotic. The scandals in university admissions, the wealthy families who spend extravagant and the students who return from abroad show expensive cars and lifestyles fueled in resentment between the disadvantaged. In June 1993, Kim Gi-Hwan, sitting in a game room with Kang Dong-Eun, proposed to form a band led by revenge: “The world is unfair. We take from the rich.” Kang Dong-Eun, attempted by money, has brought more seven, many of them barely young more than 20 years.
Modus Operandi di Chijon Sect
The group had four main rules: I hate the rich, they commit crimes until the accumulation of a billion victories (about 717 million dollars today), will punish the traitors without mercy and challenge women, even their mothers. Their methods included kidnapping, extortion and murder.
Their first victim, a rural girl named Choi, was kidnapped and raped. Kim Gi-Hwan then humiliated and strangled to death. The subsequent victims included a member of the remorse band, a bar musician killed for suffocation and a couple of small businesses that was drunk, shot, dismembered and cremated in an improvised furnace. Although they claimed to hit the rich, the victims were generally of the middle class.
The only survivor: Lee Hyo-Jin
Episodes 5 and 6 central on Lee Hyo-Jin, the only survivor. In 1994, the 27-year-old Lee Hyo-Jin worked part-time in a restaurant and has made friends with a musician. As they walked one evening, they were attacked and kidnapped by the band, brought to a basement with iron bars.
The band requested 30 million wins (21,500 USD) per person as a redemption, but neither of them had money. Lee Hyo-Jin was repeatedly raped and, under coercion, forced to participate in acts of violence against his prisoner companions. The member of the Kim Hyeon-Yang band, however, secretly protected her and helped her escape despite Kim Gi-Hwan’s orders to kill her.
After fleeing Seoul, Lee Hyo-Jin contacted the police. Thanks to his testimony, the authorities caught all the members of the Chijon sect except Kim Gi-Hwan, who had already been imprisoned. His courage prevented an even bigger massacre that the band had planned, including a successful list of 1,300 rich people and extensive weapons.
Aftermath and Trauma
Lee Hyo-Jin’s life has been anything but easy. He lives imprisonedly, is based on psychological treatment and has fought breast cancer, losing both the breast and his uterus. Although deeply scarred, she is grateful to be alive. Some media have misrepresented its history as romanticism with Kim Hyeon-Yang, but the documentary and producers point out that he and the Chijon sect were violent criminals; Any feelings were irrelevant to his survival.
The echoes of survivors He caused strong reactions. Many praise the documentary for its in -depth portrait of the resilience of crime and survivors, while others criticize it for the reinterpretation of the trauma. Overall, it offers a reassuring look at human depravation, social inequality and courage necessary to survive.
Sources: K14
