The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has announced probe results on a civilian massacre incident that occurred around the time of the Korean War.
It confirmed that during an uprising in the Yeosu and Suncheon areas in Jeolla province just before the Korean War, the police and military killed some 160 civilians in Gurye county between late 1948 and July 1949. The killings were justified by saying the civilians were cooperating with rebels and attempting to enter the then labor party.
The commission says another 600 were killed in Cheondo county in North Gyeongsang Province and 140 in Ganghwa, Gyeonggi Province by police and military on charges of collusion with North Korean communists.
The commission says most of the victims who were farmers were killed without due legal process. It is calling for a state apology and memorial projects.
These commissions are always a little iffy and political, and could also be called "Truth and Reconciliation Omission," so initially you'll have to take the story with a grain of salt. However I don't have any reason to doubt civilians were rounded up and killed in Gurye county given what went on throughout the region and what little I've read about Gurye's history. Matter of fact they had a small service for 12 victims of the Yosu-Sunchon Rebellion, or whatever term you'd like, of 1948, near Gurye's Bongseongsan mountain in 2007. I can't quite tell if it's a funeral service, an excavation, or if the human remains are being reinterred.
For a little more reading from this blog on that rebellion, browse this category. More on this latest story and the incident in Korean here and here.
1 comment:
good to hear an expat having an interests in issues such as this. Jeolla Province, along with some parts of Gyeongsang Province were heavily influenced by ideology conflicts soon before and during the war.
Post a Comment