Korean Folk Village's ghost festival set to end Sunday amid child abuse allegations

A popular fall festival at the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, featuring ghost-costumed performers interacting with visitors, will conclude Sunday as planned, despite growing controversy over allegations of child abuse.

"The event will end on its original closing date, with no early termination or suspension of operations," the Korean Folk Village wrote on Instagram on Thursday.

The annual event, "Gwisinsaba Ghost Play," first launched in 2023 and has been running this year since Sept. 1. Its name is a combination of "gwisin," the Korean word for ghost, and "saba," a Buddhist term for the earthly world, evoking a world inhabited by ghosts.

Dressed in elaborate costumes and makeup, performers take on the roles of Korean supernatural figures, including maiden ghosts, grim reapers and nine-tailed foxes, entertaining visitors through singing, dancing and conversation.

The program has gained particular traction since last year for its encounters between costumed ghosts and children, with performers scolding young visitors at their parents' request for habits such as refusing to brush their teeth, pestering their mothers for toys or fighting with older siblings, often frightening them into promising to behave better.

Videos of these scenes have gone viral on social media, earning the characters the nickname "Dark Oh Eun-young," after the prominent psychiatrist and parenting expert known for her TV shows on child behavior.

However, the program has recently faced allegations of child abuse, triggering complaints to local authorities and calls for an investigation.

Yongin City has received nine complaints about the event through the government's online petition portal, according to local reports. The city sent four officials to the folk village Monday afternoon to conduct an on-site inspection, which lasted about four hours.

A request for a child abuse investigation has also been filed with police, while a separate complaint has reportedly been submitted to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

The Korean Folk Village said the interactions between costumed ghosts and children took place only at parents' request and with their consent.

"We followed our internal guidelines, including immediately stopping the interaction if a child became excessively frightened," an official said.

The folk village has yet to decide whether to bring back the ghost-themed discipline program next year, with internal discussions still underway.