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A youth choir sings at a memorial ceremony marking the 22nd anniversary of the deaths of Shin Hyo-sun and Shim Mi-seon, two middle schoolers who were killed when a US armored vehicle ran them over in 2002. The ceremony took place on June 13, 2024, in a peace park named after the two girls located in Gyeonggi Province’s Yangju. (Baek So-ah/The Hankyoreh)

As military tensions continue to rise on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea recently marked the 22nd anniversary of the deaths of Shin Hyo-sun and Shim Mi-seon, two middle school girls who were killed in 2002 when a US Forces Korea convoy driving an armored vehicle struck and crushed them. 

On Thursday, 23 activist groups, including the Hyo-sun Mi-seon Peace Peace Park Project Committee, gathered at the park named after two girls in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, to hold a candlelight memorial vigil. Over 150 people, representing groups ranging from religious communities to youth groups, attended the memorial to pay their respects.  

“As the US Indo-Pacific strategy continues to ratchet up its pressure against China, the US-South Korea alliance is morphing into a trilateral alliance that includes Japan, wherein South Korea will become an outpost. Once more, Korea is facing the increasing risk of nuclear war,” said Kwon Jung-ho, an attorney representing the committee.

“Inter-Korean relations have regressed into an openly hostile relationship, where each side has resolved to respond to strength with strength, turning the whole peninsula into a powder keg. Peace is more dire than ever. The true realization of peace on the Korean Peninsula is the realization of the spirit of the candlelight memorials for Hyo-sun and Mi-seon,” he said.  

Elliot Adams, a member of Veterans for Peace who previously served in the US Forces Korea’s 2nd Infantry Division, the division responsible for the tragedy, delivers a eulogy at a memorial ceremony on June 13, 2024, in a peace park named after the two girls located in Gyeonggi Province’s Yangju. (Baek So-ah/The Hankyoreh)

Former service members who served as part of US Forces Korea also attended the service. 

The US rejecting a peace treaty and not actively working to end the Korean War benefits the military-industrial complex, said Elliot Adams, who served as part of the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, the division responsible for the tragedy.

While the political leaders of the US and Korea do not work for peace, Adams said, he places his hopes in the Korean people.

“The Korean people must achieve peace on their own terms,” he added. 

Ellen Barfield, who said she served at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek in the 1980s, testified about US Forces Korea regarding the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. 

During the unrest in Gwangju, she said, her unit received lectures and was shown movies related to training for suppressing rioters for a week in the barracks.

At the time, Barfield said, the role of US troops was to prevent more civilians from joining the protests. The presence of US troops in Korea and around the world is to protect US hegemony and economic and military domination, she added. 

“US warmongers are provoking wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and are now looking to start wars with China and North Korea,” she went on.

Hareem, a singer who says he is the descendant of a victim of the 1980 massacre in Gwangju, also attended the ceremony. A youth choir sang songs that brought guests to tears. After the ceremony, guests visited the site slated for the construction of a memorial building. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026 and be completed the next year. 

On June 13, 2002, Hyo-sun and Mi-seon, both 14 years old, were killed on Highway 56 in Yangju when they were struck by an armored vehicle. The two soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division who were operating the vehicle were tried in a US military court according to the US-South Korea Status of Forces Agreement. Both were acquitted, enraging the nation and triggering nationwide candlelight protests. 

By Lee Jun-hee, staff reporter

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