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Jeong Gu-do, chairman of the Nogeun Village victim family members’ association. (Nogeun Village International Peace Foundation)

On July 26, 1950, Nogeun Village in the Hwanggan township of Yeongdong County, North Chungcheong Province, was stiflingly hot. Around midday, with the sound of cicadas particularly loud, the roar of US bombers erupted in the blue sky. Shells and bullets fell like raindrops amid the scorching sun rays. Residents took flight, only to fall helplessly near the Seoul-Busan railway and Ssanggul Bridge. The death total would later be confirmed at 226 people, with over 2,240 surviving family members left behind. The Nogeun Village incident remained utterly unknown until it was first reported on by the AP in 1999.

Yang Hae-chan, the 79-year-old president of the Nogeun Village victim family members’ association, recalled the events on Nov. 13.

“The village was so tranquil that you wouldn’t know there was a war going on when the US military showed up and told us to clear out,” he said. “Everyone trusted them and left their homes, and they suffered tremendously as a result. I’ve never forgotten what happened for even a moment.” Yang, who was 10 years old at the time, lost his grandmother and older and younger brothers at the time; since then, he has carried the weight of bitterness for a lifetime.

As the 70th anniversary of the incident draws closer, the family members’ association and others are preparing to exorcise their grievances against the US military for their responsibility. Around June 25 of next year, which marks the 70th anniversary of both the Nogeun Village incident and the outbreak of the Korean War, they are planning to hold “South Korea-US remembrance, healing, and peace” events in Washington, DC, and other settings.

Jeong Gu-do, the association’s 64-year-old vice chairman, visited the US last month to discuss the schedule with officials from the US National Council of Churches. Jeong is also co-chairperson of a steering group for the Nogeun incident’s 70th anniversary memorial project committee.

The association plans to hold a “South Korea-US peace meeting” at the US Congress in Washington and stage an exhibition photographs and archival documents related to the incident. “Seventy years have already gone by,” Jeong said. “Now we’re hoping to bury the hatchet the US and US military responsible for the incident so that we can get beyond Nogeun Village and move toward the future.”

“We’re also preparing a peace meeting for in-depth discussions on various topics related to peace for humankind,” he added.

Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II, General Assembly Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church USA and others lay a wreath at a memorial to the victims of the Nogeun-ri massacre at the Nogeun-ri Peace Park on Nov. 2. (by Oh Yoon-ju, Cheongju correspondent)

In the past, Jeong has served as a kind of “midwife” raising awareness of the Nogeun Village incident in the US. His father Jeong Eun-yong was the inaugural chairman of the family members’ association when it was first established in 2006; the younger Jeong took part as a spokesperson. In 2001, he succeeded in getting then President Bill Clinton to make a statement expressing “regret” for the Nogeun Village incident.

In 2010, he founded the Nogeun Village International Peace Foundation, where he has worked to raise awareness of the incident in the US and other countries and investigate the events. He also urged the US government to work to resolve the incident, sending the message through Presbyterian Church (USA) Stated Clerk Rev. Herbert Nelson, 60, who visited the village in November 2017. PC (USA) adopted a resolution related to the incident, which included calls for compensation to the victims and family members. Nelson promised that the church would do its utmost to ensure that the US government acknowledges the incident and that the US does the right thing for the victims and surviving family.

This connection with PC (USA) continues through today. A joint South Korea-US service is being pursued for the 70th anniversary of the Nogeun Village incident to remember its victims, heal the scars for US veterans of the Korean War and family members of Nogeun Village victims, and pray for peace on the Korean Peninsula. St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington is currently under consideration as a candidate site. Leaders from various denominations are to be invited to the service, including the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopal churches, as well as representatives of civic groups and veterans. Sangseok Choi, a priest at a Washington Episcopal church, is working to support the South Korea-US event by forming a Washington preparatory committee for the 70th anniversary of the Nogeun Village incident.

Scholars visit the scene of a massacre and peace park at Nogeun Village in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province on June 29 as part of their when a 60th anniversary “peace journey” to Korean War sites around the country, held from June 28 to July 2. In the Nogeun massacre, 163 Korean villagers were killed as they fled by US soldiers. (by Kim Bo-geun)

“At the center of the world in Washington, we are hoping to exorcise our grievances over the Nogeun Village incident as one of the painful episodes of the Korean War,” Jeong said. “We want to have time for reconciliation and mutual healing with the US troops, who bear as much pain and guilt as the family members.”

Yeongdong County and the Nogeun Village family members’ association also plan to hold a meaningful 70th anniversary event in South Korea. A 70th anniversary joint memorial ceremony is to be held at Nogeun Village Peace Park on July 8 of next year, followed by a Nogeun Village Global Peace Forum attended by human rights activities from over 50 countries and members of the Asia-Pacific Museum Network, including the Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History. Also being planned are a touring exhibition of human rights- and peace-related photography and film in Seoul, Gwangju, Jeju, and elsewhere, as well as a peace “talk concert” and the publication of oral histories and sourcebooks on victims of the Nogeun Village incident.

“Nogeun Village is still happening as we mark its 70th anniversary,” said Jeong. “We need efforts within and outside the country to share the truth about Nogeun Village and investigate what happened.”

“We want Nogeun Village to be a touchstone for moving beyond the pain of war and raising awareness of the importance of world peace and human rights.”

By Oh Yoon-joo, Cheongju correspondent

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

Caption: Jeong Gu-do, chairman of the Nogeun Village victim family members’ association. (Nogeun Village International Peace Foundation)