Death of South Korean ‘torture expert’ reopens authoritarian era wounds

Lee Geun-an, the former chief inspector, and his team were responsible for torturing students and workers in South Korea when it was ruled by a military-backed authoritarian government.

Photo: YouTube The death of one of South Korea’s most notorious police officers, known for his torture methods on prisoners, has revived painful memories of human rights abuses during the country’s era of military-backed authoritarian rule.

Lee Geun-an, dubbed the “torture expert”, succumbed to multiple organ failure on Thursday at the age of 88.

He had faced lifetime criticism for never expressing remorse and referring to himself as a “patriot”, once comparing his interrogation methods to “art”.

Survivors of police torture in Lee’s time have recalled how interrogators used aliases to conceal their identities while carrying out abuse.

Among the most feared was a man known as “Black Bear”, reviled for his brutal, self-devised methods – he was identified many years later as Lee.

The alleged torture processes concocted by the former chief inspector included “chicken roasting”, in which victims were bound by their hands and feet to a bar and suspended like meat over a fire, as well as joint dislocations, waterboarding and electric shocks.

It was not until 1988, during South Korea’s era of democratic transition, that Lee’s true identity was revealed.

A newspaper published his photograph and real name, prompting him to go into hiding for 11 years.

He surrendered in 1999 and served seven years in prison.

After his release in 2006, he became a Christian pastor, a move critics said appeared intended to deflect public scrutiny and social stigma.

Lee defended himself by saying he was a loyal South Korean who fought what he characterised as pro-communist forces – many of whom were, in reality, pro-democracy activists detained without warrants and tortured into making confessions. “Lee Geun-an’s name was closely associated with human rights abuses under past military-backed authoritarian rule,” said former lawmaker Min Byung-doo.

Min himself was tortured by Lee’s team for taking part in a pro-democracy movement involving students and workers. “It is regrettable that he died without remorse.

Had he repented for serving as a tool of oppression under a dictatorial regime, he might have helped write a chapter of reconciliation in history,” he added.

South Korea’s former president Chun Doo-hwan in 2019.

Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap Min was arrested in 1981 as then president Chun Doo-

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