South Korean Exile Youth Survive Death Sentence After 50 Years of Injustice, Film Highlights Church Rescue Efforts

In 1970s South Korea under military rule, a group of Korean-born youths studying in Japan were arrested, labeled spies, tortured into confessions, and sentenced to death. A documentary titled "Survival from the Gallows, Another Historical Fact of Korean Democratization" will screen in Tokyo’s Polere Higashi-Ohno from October 3 to 16. The film was directed and shot by Shuijin Koyama and Hideki Nishimura, who will attend a post‑screening talk on October 4. The movie has previously been shown in Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Kumamoto and Nagoya after its May release.

On November 22, 1975, Korean‑born Japanese residents who were studying in South Korea were abducted by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency and the Military Security Command. The film focuses on interviews with Lee Cheol from Giheung, Kumamoto, Kang Jung‑hoon from Shin‑no, Osaka, and Son Yu‑hyung from Seoul, detailing the forced confessions, years on death row, lingering wounds after release, and eventual acquittal through retrial. Official records state that 160 Korean expatriates were detained and nine received death sentences.

Koyama, who joined NHK in 1964 and later worked in news and documentary production, told Christian Shimbun that a half‑century‑old case known as the "Campus Infiltration Spy Incident" was under‑reported, prompting this project. He expressed regret that media at the time could not investigate deeply due to concerns about political interference and insufficient information.

The documentary also examines the rescue movement that unfolded in Japan. While political conditions in South Korea limited activism, Japanese classmates, families and citizens organized campaigns to secure the youths’ release. In Higashi‑Osaka, Pastor Go Aida of the Japan Free Methodist Church began assisting after a 1976 arrest of a Korean‑born student, and research shows that such church‑led efforts later spurred local human‑rights activism.

Pastor Shigeo Kuwahara of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church in Settsu‑Tomida Church served as secretary of the "Association to Rescue Illegally Detained Korean Residents on November 22," speaking on streets and at rallies. Kuwahara’s ministry is recorded in the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church archives, and the film includes footage of him addressing crowds outside Osaka Station.

In Hyogo, churches and pastors supported a campaign for Kim Cheol‑hyun, who had been sentenced to death. Various Christian groups participated in a national conference titled "Support the Korean Resident Political Prisoners," formed in 1976. Koyama noted that while former classmates were central, local Christians and churches acted as core organizers. He emphasized that none of the nine death‑sentenced individuals were executed, marking a significant victory for the Japanese rescue effort.

After South Korea’s democratization, many of the original detainees received retrials and were acquitted; Son was cleared by the Seoul High Court in 2021. Koyama said the purpose of preserving these testimonies is to prevent history from repeating, urging future generations to learn from the past. He hopes audiences will reflect on the courage of conscientious prisoners, their families and the supporters who helped them.

Screenings run from October 3 to 9 at 12:30 p.m. and from October 10 to 16 at 6:00 p.m. A talk with Nishimura is scheduled after the October 4 noon showing.