[Editorial] The people need to ask for truth regarding civilian massacres

Posted on : 2007-04-06 15:04 KST Modified on : 2007-04-06 15:04 KST

The Korean War was the first war in history in which overwhelmingly more civilians died than soldiers. It was enough to think military forces worked harder at liquidating unarmed civilians than they did their enemies. Massacres were sometimes called "operations" and sometimes called "executions." At least one million are known to have died this way, and one claim says more than two million died, if you include revenge killings and those who died in U.S. bombings.

Those are all guesses, however, only rough estimates based on testimony from victims or their neighbors. The reason we have until now known close to nothing of the truth of these tragic massacres of fellow countrymen at the hands of the government is simple: those who ordered or gave consent to the killing and their political offspring have always been in power. The government that was formed after the April 19 Revolution in 1960 attempted to look into the atrocities, but the military government that emerged with the May 16 coup in 1961 halted that process. It quieted the families of those who sought the truth about their loved ones by defining any attempt to ascertain the truth as a pro-North, leftist activity. Yi Won-sik would be one example; he found himself sentenced to death after trying desperately to figure out why his wife was killed in one of the early massacres.

The country’s truth and reconciliation commission announced the other day that it is going to get directly involved in the excavation of sites where civilians were killed en masse. It has chosen four sites. It is very significant to have a state agency get involved in finding the truth for the first time in 57 years. Some massacre sites have been excavated before, including Geumjeonggul in Goyang, Gyeonggi province; Yeoyang-ri, Masan, South Gyeongsang province; and the cobalt mine in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang province. Efforts in those locations, however, were made by families of the victims and local communities that wanted to restore their honor and refused to wait for the government any longer. They learned the truth, but the truth was not readily recognized as "official."

The commission estimates there are around 150 massacre and mass burial sites around the country. It has sought out those that are relatively larger in scale. The four locations it has chosen are only the first step to knowing the truth. The road ahead, therefore, is going to be a long one. If the offspring of the military dictatorships that have so fervently opposed the truth win the next government, there is no knowing what will become of this effort. What is important is the people’s will and resolve. Wounds such as these close the hearts and minds of both perpetrator and victim. Reconciliation, forgiveness, and unity will be impossible in our society unless these wounds - the deepest of wounds in modern Korean history - are healed. Our society cannot move forward unless it is unified. That is why Korean citizens need to lead the way in seeking the truth and restoring the honor of the deceased and their families.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

Most viewed articles