Kim A-hyun, also known by her activist moniker “Haecho,” speaks at a press conference held at the Green Hospital in Seoul on May 28, 2026, where activists who were captured by Israeli forces while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza testified about the abuse they faced at the hands of Israeli forces. (Choi Hyeon-su/Hankyoreh)
Two Korean activists who were detained by Israeli forces after attempting to break the siege on Gaza and deliver aid recounted abusive treatment by their captors to local press on Thursday. “After fully armed Israeli soldiers searched my body, I was dragged alone to a dark shipping container. The lights switched on, and whenever I looked at the light, they hit me in the face. Whenever my head was bowed, I was forced to look back up at the light,” said Kim A-hyun, 28, an anti-war activist who also goes by the name Haecho. “[The Israeli soldiers] had tactical gloves on. After I was dealt a second blow to my cheek, I could hear a shrill sound in my ear. Following the third, I started to bleed from my nose and started to gag,” she said. Kim Dong-hyeon, another activist who had participated in a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, testified to similar conditions. “My hands were tied, my body was searched, and I was continuously pummeled and kicked as I was being taken away. My wrists kept bleeding on account of having been bound so tightly, and I couldn’t feel my hands. My entire body, including my head and my legs, was in excruciating pain,” he said. “When I started hyperventilating, I began to think that it was very likely that I might die,” he went on. The two activists claim that they suffered serious health issues, including muscle damage and hearing loss, after being assaulted during their detention. The civic group Korean Flotilla for a Free Palestine organized a press conference at the Green Hospital in Seoul’s Jungnang District on Thursday to hear from the activists about their experiences and to condemn Israel’s abuse and torture of flotilla activists. The conference came a week after two were released on May 21 and returned to South Korea on Friday. The activists were admitted to the Green Hospital on the day of their return, and their medical examinations diagnosed Kim Dong-hyeon with rhabdomyolysis, or “rhabdo,” a serious medical condition in which muscle tissue breaks down rapidly, often after suffering from severe physical trauma, abuse or physical pressure. His blood test results showed muscle damage markers at more than 30 times the normal level. Not just cuts and bruises Kim A-hyun was diagnosed with a perforated eardrum as a result of the beatings she took to the face. Jonathan Victor “Seungjoon” Lee, a Korean American who was arrested alongside her, sustained a broken rib and other injuries after being tased. “We are witnessing symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, which are usually apparent in victims of industrial accident cases involving crushes or those who have been severely injured in traffic accidents. The activists were released on Wednesday, but if that had been delayed by even a day and they had been subjected to more beatings, they would have suffered from severe harm,” said Dr. Lim Sang-hyuk, the director of Green Hospital. The activists gave detailed testimonies of the abuse and torture they suffered during their arrest and aboard the prison boat. “As soon as we boarded the boat, they pointed guns at us and subjected us to body searches. They hurled racist insults and curses at us the entire time. Male-passing people were tasered, while women and people perceived as female were subjected to sexual abuse,” said Kim A-hyun. “We were forced to kneel with our hands tied and press our heads against the ground for three hours, so we were unable to move. We could hear the sounds of the Israeli soldiers mocking us, barking out orders, beating us, and tasering us. The screams from our fellow travelers as they were being assaulted made it hard to breathe,” she said. Kim Dong-hyeon said that soldiers filmed him while he was being strip searched. “While being violently subjected to a full body search while naked and having my passport and belongings taken from me, around ten Israeli soldiers recorded this process with cameras, obnoxiously shooting with their flashes on,” he said. “Activists kept shouting ‘Free Palestine’ even when detained on the prison ship, which led to one person becoming seriously injured after soldiers fired rubber bullets. At least three others sustained serious injuries from more rubber bullets and bean bag rounds,” Kim Dong-hyeon recounted. Kim’s hands trembled as spoke, his recounting of his experience punctuated with shaky sighs. Even after he finished speaking, he kept his fists tightly clenched, as if his body still felt the fear and tension of what he had endured.
