Sorokdo

Sorokdo (Korean: 소록도, lit. 'Sorok Island') is an island in Goheung County, South Jeolla in South Korea. The word sorok means "small deer", which the island's coastline, viewed from above, is supposed to resemble.^[1] The island is approximately one kilometer away from the larger Nokdong Port.

Sorokdo 소록도 小鹿島
Korean transcription(s)
• Hangul	소록도
• Hanja	小鹿島
Country	South Korea
Region	Jeolla
Area
• Total	4.46 km2 (1.72 sq mi)
Population  (2020)
• Total	708

History

Prior to Japanese colonization, Sorokdo had a population of roughly 1000 people living in 170 households.^[2]

Sorokdo is the site of the largest leper colony in South Korea, housed in Sorokdo National Hospital. The hospital was built in 1916, then known as Sorokdo Charity Clinic.^[3] Established during the Japanese colonization of Korea, the hospital and the island were turned into a concentration camp for lepers, with a history of patient abuse including slave labor, forced sterilizations, unethical human experimentation, and deliberate starvation.^[4] The Japanese authorities divided the island geographically - the eastern portion was a zone for non-patients, i.e. hospital staff and their families, while the western area was used to isolate patients. The dividing line between the two was referred to as sutanjang, meaning 'place of sadness'.^[5] Patients were allowed to see their families once a month, but were forced to remain at a distance as the disease was believed to be airborne.^{[citation needed]}

At its peak in 1940, 6,000 patients with Hansen's disease resided on the island.^[6] Following the end of Japanese rule, the South Korean government continued to quarantine people with leprosy on Sorokdo until 1963.^[7]

In 1962, two Catholic Austrian nurses, Margreth Pissarek and Marianne Stoeger, arrived at Sorokdo to provide treatment for patients and help establish community facilities, such as childcare centers.^[8] In 1984 Pope John Paul II visited the island; this was considered a watershed moment in the consideration of the human rights of the remaining patients and residents.^[2]

The Japanese colonial law regarding the quarantine of lepers remained in effect in South Korean until 1991; the South Korean government continued to send lepers to Sorokdo National Hospital and seven leper villages remained on the island as of 2007^[update].^{[citation needed]}

Present day

In 2009, the Sorokdo bridge opened, connecting the island to the mainland and the neighboring island of Geogeum.^[3] Prior to the bridge's opening, formerly infected people were required to show permission from a doctor to take the ferry to leave the island. The Sorokdo National Hospital predominantly treats patients with dementia, and the island sees roughly 300,000 tourists per year.^{[citation needed]}

Sorokdo National Hospital Hansen’s Disease Museum was designated as a national specialized museum by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism in 2019.^{[citation needed]}

In 1935, Japanese authorities forced patients to build a Shinto shrine to mandate Shinto worship as part of the Japanese assimilationist policy naisen ittai (Japanese: 内鮮一体).^[9] Still standing on the island, it is one of the last remaining Shinto shrines left in South Korea.^[10] Other religious buildings, including Catholic and Protestant churches as well as Buddhist temples, have been built on the island.^{[citation needed]}

In films

Portions of the 2016 film Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet were filmed on Sorokdo.^[11]