South Korea Leprosy Island(01 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a villager strolls near houses on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island was established as a leprosarium in 1916 by the Japanese during their 35-year colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Despite the misery many say they endured here, dozens are returning each year, partly for the free medical care, food and housing offered to former sufferers of the disease. But the onetime place of exile has also become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship, the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(02 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a nurse, left, helps a former leprosy patient at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
APTOPIX South Korea Leprosy Island(03 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a former South Korean leprosy patient lies in a bed at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(04 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, former South Korean leprosy patients sit on a bench at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(05 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a former South Korean leprosy patient sits on a bed at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(06 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a nurse attends to a former leprosy patient at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(07 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a former South Korean leprosy patient watches a television at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(08 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a former South Korean leprosy patient drinks water at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(09 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a former South Korean leprosy patient lies in a bed at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(10 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a nurse helps former leprosy patients at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(11 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a former South Korean leprosy patient prays before lunch at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. The island, once known as a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions, has become a peaceful refuge for many after years of discrimination and hardship and the only place they feel at home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(12 of26)
Open Image ModalThis Nov. 4, 2013 photo, shows detention rooms at the former rehabilitation center for leprosy patients on Sorok Island, South Korea. South Korea abolished its anti-leprosy segregation policy in 1963, but rights abuses on the island continued for decades. Recent government investigations confirmed a 1948 slaughter of 84 leprosy patients by hospital workers and security officers over a management dispute. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(13 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, a sterilization table stands in an autopsy lab at a former rehabilitation center for leprosy patients on Sorok Island, South Korea. South Korea abolished its anti-leprosy segregation policy in 1963, but rights abuses on the island continued for decades. Recent government investigations confirmed a 1948 slaughter of 84 leprosy patients by hospital workers and security officers over a management dispute. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(14 of26)
Open Image ModalThis Nov. 4, 2013 photo, shows a detention room for leprosy patients at a former rehabilitation center on Sorok Island, South Korea. South Korea abolished its anti-leprosy segregation policy in 1963, but rights abuses on the island continued for decades. Recent government investigations confirmed a 1948 slaughter of 84 leprosy patients by hospital workers and security officers over a management dispute. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(15 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, Yu Myung-sun, 61, a South Korean leprosy patient, speaks during an interview at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. Yu, who lived on Sorok for six years until 1974, returned in 2008 after living at so-called leper colony near Seoul. People outside the village \"wouldn\'t even look at me ... restaurants wouldn\'t sell meals to us.\" âPeople on Sorok Island make me feel at ease,â said Yu. Starting about a decade ago, the number of returning former patients began gradually increasing. Over the past few years, about 70 people, mostly former residents, have resettled on the island each year. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(16 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, Kang Sun Bong, a former leprosy sufferer, walks outside his house on Sorok Island, South Korea. Kang\'s savings wiped out by cancer treatment, the 74-year-old now hopes to live the rest of his life with hundreds of other former patients on Sorok Island, which sits off South Koreaâs southwestern tip and has become a mini-welfare state. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(17 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, Kang Sun Bong, 74, a former leprosy sufferer, speaks during an interview on Sorok Island, South Korea. Kang once considered this tiny island a âhell on earth,â a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled on the island and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions. But three years ago, old, sick and broke, Kang returned to the place he\'d been banished with his mother decades ago. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(18 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, South Korean leper Kang Chang-suk types a message on his smartphone during an interview on Sorok Island, South Korea. Kang, who lived on the island for six years in the 1980s before returning in 2009, said men suffering from leprosy were still required to get sterilized before they got married at least until the 1980s. He said hospital workers ordered former patients to clean squat toilets at their homes and stay 3 meters (10 feet) away from them during conversations. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(19 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, South Korean leper Kang Chang-suk speaks during an interview with The Associated Press on Sorok Island, South Korea. Kang, who lived on the island for six years in the 1980s before returning in 2009, said men suffering from leprosy were still required to get sterilized before they got married at least until the 1980s. He said hospital workers ordered former patients to clean squat toilets at their homes and stay 3 meters (10 feet) away from them during conversations. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
South Korea Leprosy Island(20 of26)
Open Image ModalIn this Nov. 4, 2013 photo, Oh Dong-Chan speaks during an interview at Sorokdo National Hospital on Sorok Island, South Korea. Oh, a dental surgeon and the longest-serving physician on the island at 18 years, said many former patients have come back as word has spread that conditions on the island have improved. He said he often treats his patients, who are used to be shunned, with his bare hands because he knows they like the feel of bare skin. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
TO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY(21 of26)
Open Image ModalTO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY by Jun Kwanwoo Park In-Suk, 84, a leprosy patient who has lived on Sorok Island, South Korea\'s leper colony established by former Japanese colonists since 1936, sits on her room 30 August 2007. The leper colony established by Japanese colonialists 90 years ago will soon get its first bridge to the mainland -- sparking both hopes and fears among patients who once endured decades of isolation and maltreatment. The 1,160-metre (3,830 foot) bridge from Sorok to the southwestern port of Nokdong is scheduled to open by the Korean Thanksgiving holiday on September 25. AFP PHOTO/JUN KWAN-WOO (Photo credit should read JUN KWAN-WOO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AFP via Getty Images)
TO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY(22 of26)
Open Image ModalTO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY by Jun Kwanwoo Kim Jeong-Eun (L), 19, a student volunteer, feeds a leprosy patient on Sorok Island, South Korea\'s leper colony established by former Japanese colonists 90 years ago. The leper colony established by Japanese colonialists 90 years ago will soon get its first bridge to the mainland -- sparking both hopes and fears among patients who once endured decades of isolation and maltreatment. The 1,160-metre (3,830 foot) bridge from Sorok to the southwestern port of Nokdong is scheduled to open by the Korean Thanksgiving holiday on September 25. AFP PHOTO/JUN KWAN-WOO (Photo credit should read JUN KWAN-WOO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AFP via Getty Images)
TO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY(23 of26)
Open Image ModalTO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY by Jun Kwanwoo Chang Ki-Jin, 87, a leprosy patient who has lived on Sorok Island, South Korea\'s leper colony established by former Japanese colonists since 1942, poses at his home 30 August 2007. The leper colony established by Japanese colonialists 90 years ago will soon get its first bridge to the mainland -- sparking both hopes and fears among patients who once endured decades of isolation and maltreatment. The 1,160-metre (3,830 foot) bridge from Sorok to the southwestern port of Nokdong is scheduled to open by the Korean Thanksgiving holiday on September 25. AFP PHOTO/JUN KWAN-WOO (Photo credit should read JUN KWAN-WOO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AFP via Getty Images)
TO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY(24 of26)
Open Image ModalTO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY by Jun Kwanwoo Leprosy patient chat on Sorok Island, South Korea\'s leper colony established by former Japanese colonists since 1942, poses at his home 30 August 2007. The leper colony established by Japanese colonialists 90 years ago will soon get its first bridge to the mainland -- sparking both hopes and fears among patients who once endured decades of isolation and maltreatment. The 1,160-metre (3,830 foot) bridge from Sorok to the southwestern port of Nokdong is scheduled to open by the Korean Thanksgiving holiday on September 25. AFP PHOTO/JUN KWAN-WOO (Photo credit should read JUN KWAN-WOO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AFP via Getty Images)
TO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY(25 of26)
Open Image ModalTO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY by Jun Kwanwoo A bridge stands over seawater to link Sorok Island, South Korea\'s leper colony established by former Japanese colonists 90 years ago, to the southwestern port of Nokdong 30 August 2007. The leper colony established by Japanese colonialists 90 years ago will soon get its first bridge to the mainland -- sparking both hopes and fears among patients who once endured decades of isolation and maltreatment. The 1,160-metre (3,830 foot) bridge from Sorok to the southwestern port of Nokdong is scheduled to open by the Korean Thanksgiving holiday on September 25. AFP PHOTO/JUN KWAN-WOO (Photo credit should read JUN KWAN-WOO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AFP via Getty Images)
TO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY(26 of26)
Open Image ModalTO GO WITH: HEALTH-SKOREA-JAPAN-LEPROSY by Jun Kwanwoo A bridge stands over seawater to link Sorok Island, South Korea\'s leper colony established by former Japanese colonists 90 years ago, to the southwestern port of Nokdong 30 August 2007. The leper colony established by Japanese colonialists 90 years ago will soon get its first bridge to the mainland -- sparking both hopes and fears among patients who once endured decades of isolation and maltreatment. The 1,160-metre (3,830 foot) bridge from Sorok to the southwestern port of Nokdong is scheduled to open by the Korean Thanksgiving holiday on September 25. AFP PHOTO/JUN KWAN-WOO ++++ MORE ON IMAGEFORUM ++++ (Photo credit should read JUN KWAN-WOO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AFP via Getty Images)