Diplomacy Journal David Kendall 기자 | "The Human Cost of Terrorism" is a two-day digital exhibition hosted by the Embassy of India in Korea from March 24 to March 25 at the National Museum of Korean Democracy in Seoul's Yongsan-gu district.

 

The venue is darkly well suited as it occupies the former Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Interrogation Office, a nondescript, gray seven-story building constructed in 1976. Officially labeled the "International Oceanic Research Institute," the facility operated as a clandestine site where students, journalists, and labor activists were subjected to systematic torture under the military dictatorships of Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan.

 

 

Speaking at the official opening of the exhibition, Korea Democracy Foundation (KDF) President Lee Jae-oh said, "Where during the years of authoritarian rule democracy was suppressed and human rights were severely violated, [this complex] has been transformed into a space for memory and reflection." He added that the exhibition would similarly invite viewers to reflect on the deep scars left by acts of terror and our shared responsibility to move beyond violence and hatred and to foster peace.

 

In his subsequent speech, Ambassador of India Gourangalal Das acknowledged, "Certainly, this is not an exhibition of an ordinary kind; it is not an exhibition that celebrates the march of human progress. It is not one that brings joy to one and all. Instead, it brings pain, brings sadness, brings a sense of disgust." He explained that Indian Embassies were exhibiting this painful chronology around the world "because we want all of us to lend voice to those whose voices have been silenced. … All of the people in these panels, images, videos and testimonies are a reminder of the human dimension of an urgent need."

 

The Ambassador stressed that open democracies are particularly challenged by acts of terror and that no nation can bring an end to such violence on its own. "Terrorism tries to kill values, not just innocence."

 

National Assembly Member Kim Jae Won, who also spoke at the opening, lamented that just as the threat of terrorism is increasing around the world, the resources available to combat it are declining. She expressed her hope that the exhibition would raise awareness.

 

The Embassy of India chose to present "The Human Cost of Terrorism" within this highly charged site to foster deeper understanding of the universal nature of the threat through a curated digital timeline documenting major incidents of terrorism that have affected India and the international community.

 

At one end of the display stands a large screen with multiple terrorist attacks linked by a red line that proceeds slowly in an endless loop around the world. It starts with the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing off the coast of Ireland and ends with the 2025 attack on New Year's crowds in the U.S. city of New Orleans. Along the twisting journey, the thin red line passes the 2001 9/11 attacks on the United States, the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia, the 2004 Madrid train bombings, the 2008 26/11 Mumbai attacks in India, the 2022–2023 attacks on schools in Nigeria and Uganda, and the 2024 Crocus City Hall music venue attack in Moscow. Interspersed periodically is the occasional passage of a U.N. anti-terrorism resolution.

 

 

The screen to the right lists the numbers of those killed and injured with flags below to indicate their nationalities. The preceding screens show victims (in sometimes gruesome detail) and feature interviews with surviving relatives and friends.

 

Though attacks on South Korea by North Korean agents occurred within the timeline — most notably the 1986 Gimpo International Airport bombing, the 1987 Korean Air Flight 858 bombing, and the 2010 sinking of the ROKS Cheonan — both the Indian and Korean attendees felt those acts were different: more an extension of a lingering civil war than an act of foreign terrorism. For many decades, South Korean cities have been spared the carnage of an attack on civilian targets, and this is precisely why the Korean and Indian organizers thought it was important to raise awareness here.

 

The Embassy's message is direct: "terrorism anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere." Hosting the exhibition at a museum dedicated to the memory of state violence and the democratic struggle against it gives that message particular resonance. The organizers hope to reinforce the international community's collective commitment to confronting what happens when violence is allowed to operate with impunity.

 

When the exhibit was previously displayed in Germany, Egypt and the U.N., no changes were made, an Embassy official explained. However, to make the contents more accessible to Koreans, most of the text was translated into Korean. Still, a QR code provides any visitor ready access to the original English.

 

Beyond "The Human Cost of Terrorism" exhibition, the National Museum of Korean Democracy is well worth exploring. Below the grounds is a modern museum with a permanent exhibition detailing Korea's march toward freedom. The old building is a dark tourism site that preserves macabre layouts deliberately designed to dehumanize: interrogation rooms positioned so detainees could never see one another, a concealed spiral staircase used to disorient hooded victims and secretly move them between floors, and narrow windows specifically installed to prevent suicide.

 

 

That structure's most infamous moment came on January 14, 1987. Park Jong-chul, a 21-year-old Seoul National University student died in Room 509 while being detained for questioning about the whereabouts of a fellow activist. The authorities attributed the death to shock. The doctor who performed the autopsy listed the cause as suffocation caused when Park’s neck was pressed against the rim of the bathtub in his cell during waterboarding. The public outrage that followed became a catalyst for mass demonstrations nationwide.

 

The June Democratic Uprising of 1987 ultimately forced the introduction of South Korea's direct presidential election system. Upon the request of Park's parents, Room 509 is preserved exactly as it was as a quiet memorial to their son's legacy.

 

"The Human Cost of Terrorism" and the National Museum of Korean Democracy are free to enter during regular hours. Guided Korean-language tours of the former interrogation facility are available upon reservation. Kim Chanho, Manager of the KDF's Global Alliance Team, said English-language tours could be arranged upon request.

 

Location: National Museum of Korean Democracy 37, Hangang-daero 71-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul Tel: +82-2-6440-8800

Getting There: Line 1, Namyeong Station, Exit 1 / Line 4, Sookmyung Women's University Station, Exit 7 Regular Hours: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, Tuesday to Sunday (closed Mondays)

Exhibition: The Human Cost of Terrorism

Dates: March 24–25, 2026 Venue: Education Building (Building E), 4th Floor. Enter through the main museum entrance in the modern building at the far end of the complex.