The truth behind Squid Game’s alleged ‘1986 true story’ and the Brothers’ Home
NetflixThe deadly competition at the center of Squid Game is so horrific, it’s hard to believe it could be a true story, but some fans think it’s based on an alleged 1986 case and a facility known as The Brothers’ Home.
Squid Game Season 2, much like its predecessor, has become another global phenomenon after landing on Netflix in December, setting a new viewership record for the streaming service.
This time around, Seong Gi-hun, aka Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae), returns to the competition for another go at the life-or-death games, which see hundreds of players who are struggling with debt fighting for the cash prize.
The second chapter ends on a cliffhanger, paving the way for an explosive Season 3. While it’s undeniably an entertaining ride, the sinister themes within the story have fueled speculation about an alleged real case. Warning: some may find this content distressing.
Squid Game’s ‘1986 true story’ explained
Firstly, there’s a story circulating online that claims Squid Game is based on a 1986 case whereby hostages were held in a bunker in No Man’s Land, where they had to compete in games to survive – but it’s not real.
There are no documents or reports of this case available, and the claims don’t contain any clarification on which “No Man’s Land” it’s referring to.
Many of the posts suggest this took place in the same country as Squid Game, meaning they could be referring to The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) – the strip of land that’s been separating North and South Korea since the Korean war.
However, since it’s not a real case, this is open to interpretation. The biggest post on this came from TikTok user blink_loveee10, who shared a video with photos alongside the text, “Squid Game was based on a true story in 1986.
“It took place in a bunker underground in no man’s land, where people were held hostages and had to complete several games to survive. The hosts with unhuman-like thoughts were never found.”
The video has been watched more than 3.5 million times, but the comments are switched off.
Now, you might be wondering how there are photos if the case doesn’t appear to have taken place, but that’s because they come from a very real and very disturbing facility.
The Brothers Home was known as “Korea’s Auschwitz”
While there are no reports of deadly competitions, the Brothers’ Home shares a number of unsettling similarities with the fictional setting of Squid Game – except this was a real place.
The Brothers’ Home was an internment camp located in Busan, South Korea, that operated between 1976 and 1987. Although it was meant to be a safe haven for homeless people, instead it was a hellhouse where prisoners were abused, tormented, and even murdered.
Dubbed “Korea’s Auschwitz” by the media, the facility was a result of the repressive regime in power at the time and its Ordinance No. 410 – a policy to “purify the streets” of South Korea in preparation for the 1988 Olympics.
The government wanted to show off the country to the world and remove “vagrants” from the streets, but instead of caring for the homeless, the Brothers’ Home became the site of some of the region’s worst human rights abuses.
What’s more, an investigation held in 1987 found that only around 10% of the thousands of inmates were actually homeless. In 2021, Busan City councilor Park Min-seong told Al Jazeera’s 101 East that people were kidnapped from the streets and imprisoned at the Brothers’ Home.
Min-seong, who supported the council’s 2018 apology to survivors, said they were “people just going about their daily lives, people who were simply drinking, just any ordinary person, including children”.
Nine survivors spoke with the outlet to share what it was like being held at the camp. They were starved, exploited, and forced to labor at the site’s numerous production factories without compensation.
Yeon Seng-mo, who was imprisoned there for four years at age 15, said if they didn’t finish their daily targets, “we were beaten with baseball bats.”
Much like concentration camps, the higher-ups established a chain of command, with Min-seong adding, “Their strategy was to have inmates abuse other inmates.”
Hahn Jong-seon, who was just nine years old when he and his older sister were forcibly taken to Brothers’ Home, told the outlet of the many disturbing events that unfolded during his time there, one in particular continues to haunt him: seeing a young person bludgeoned to death.
“The boy regained consciousness and grabbed the leader’s leg and begged for forgiveness. But the leader was angry. He ruthlessly beat him, and then went ‘bang!’ on his head with the bat,” Jong-seon said. “The boy collapsed, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and blood started oozing out.”
Park Soon-hee managed to escape the facility in 1986 at age 17, but just a few months later she gave birth. She had fallen pregnant at Brothers’ Home after being raped by a leader and former inmate who had risen the ranks.
Her mother made her give up the child for adoption. “We were children with a bright future, but they threw that away,” she said. “They trampled on our future.”
An investigation by the Associated Press also found evidence that leaders at the Brothers’ Home had sent children for adoption overseas using fake documents, selling them for large sums of money despite the fact that they still had living parents in South Korea.
Although the facility’s leader, Park In-keun, was arrested in 1987, he was only sentenced to two and a half years in prison for embezzlement of state subsidies and died of natural causes in 2016.
Ultimately, no one has ever been held accountable for the human rights violations that took place at the Brothers’ Home.
While Squid Game isn’t based on this horrific real-life case, there are chilling similarities, especially in the brutal exploitation of vulnerable individuals and the horrifying environment of control and fear.
Squid Game creator confirms real-life inspiration
Squid Game might not be based on a true story, but the Netflix show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, has revealed that the experiences of Gi-hun, who was laid off in the show, were inspired by the 2009 Ssangyong strikes.
NetflixIn May 2009, the Ssangyong Motor Company in Pyongtaek, South Korea, announced the layoffs of 1000 workers, leading to a 77-day strike as union members overtook part of the plant in protest.
While strikers attacked officials with slingshots and firebombs, riot police descended on the workers with tasers and rubber bullets, and helicopters dropped tear gas on them.
According to union leader Lee Chang-kun, the fallout of the strike caused significant financial and mental strain on workers and their families. He told AFP that this led to approximately 30 deaths by suicide and stress-related issues.
Following the release of Squid Game Season 2, Dong-hyuk told the outlet that this inspired Gi-hun’s backstory in the show. “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.
Squid Game Seasons 1-2 are streaming on Netflix now. You can also read the reason Thanos speaks English, our predictions for the third chapter, and why you should check out this 2005 thriller.