hankyoreh

The South Korean government said Thursday it will soon begin construction of a park in memory of hundreds of Korean civilians killed by U.S. soldiers during the early stage of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The government has earmarked 19.1 billion won (US$20.3 million) for the construction, scheduled to begin in October for completion by the end of 2009, at the site of the massacre, according to officials.

About a month after the war broke out in June 1950, a group of U.S. soldiers shot dead hundreds of Korean refugees in the small village of Nogeun-ri, 230 kilometers south of Seoul, although they promised the refugees a safer hiding place, according to reports.

The South Korean government concluded 150 were killed, with 55 wounded and 13 missing. Thirty of the victims are still alive, claiming as many as 400 were killed in the massacre.

In 1999, South Korea and the U.S. launched a joint investigation into the massacre and concluded that U.S. soldiers killed or injured an "unconfirmed" number of Korean refugees under a military directive.

U.S. archives showed that the American soldiers operated under a warning that North Korean soldiers could be disguising themselves as civilian refugees.

Seoul, March 22 (Yonhap News)