Kim Kwang-dong : No Gun Ri: Truth Commission Chief’s Statement

 

Kim Kwang-dong, the chairman of Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, described the No Gun Ri massacre as being an example of “collateral damage” in a closed-door plenary meeting of the commission, as reported by the Hankyoreh. The incident at No Gun Ri is one of the well-known civilian massacres carried out by American troops during the Korean War. Despite being the subject of a fact-finding investigation mandated by a special law, the government official in charge of investigating traumatic incidents from the past has denied the illegality of the massacre.

One of the commissioners at the meeting reportedly suggested that the chairman should step down due to that remark. The president of a group of bereaved family members demanded an immediate apology from the chairman.

The Hankyoreh learned on Wednesday that Kim had addressed the No Gun Ri massacre during a discussion of civilians killed by soldiers and policemen in Hampyeong County during the Korean War in the commission’s 79th plenary session, held behind closed doors on Tuesday afternoon.

Kim remarked that if a victim of the Hampyeong incident identified as “K” had fled to Mount Gunyu, which was a guerilla stronghold, and then died during a punitive operation by the police, he probably shouldn’t receive official recognition as a victim. This statement was countered by Lee Sang-hee, a commissioner recommended by the opposition party, who argued that “K” had been killed while fleeing, similar to the victims of the No Gun Ri massacre. When Lee asked if it was acceptable to massacre civilians during a war, Kim stated that those killed in the No Gun Ri massacre were not victims of an illegal act but rather collateral damage.

The No Gun Ri massacre was an incident in which 250–300 Korean refugees were killed by submachine fire and bombing and strafing by US warplanes on the railroad tracks and in a railroad tunnel in the area of Haga Village, Yeongdong Township, and Nogeun Village (also written as “No Gun Ri”), Hwanggan Township, both located in Yeongdong County, North Chungcheong Province. The massacre occurred between July 25 and 29, 1950.

Yang Hae-chan, aged 84, lost his grandmother, mother, and several siblings to US bombing on the railroad tracks during the massacre. Today, he serves as the president of the association of No Gun Ri victims’ families.

Yang expressed to the Hankyoreh, “They brought out women, children, the elderly and the infirm, promising to bring us to shelter, and then killed us over the course of five days. How could that have been spontaneous or collateral? How could such a massacre take place over that time period unless it were intentional? Kim Kwang-dong needs to stop running his mouth and immediately apologize to the victims’ families.”

“Collateral damage” is the term used by the US to describe massacres carried out by American troops at No Gun Ri and other locations worldwide. The concept suggests that civilian deaths are inevitable in times of war.

On Jan. 12, 2001, the US Army and the Korean Ministry of National Defense released a joint statement after conducting separate investigations into the No Gun Ri massacre. The statement acknowledged that US troops had killed or injured an unknown number of refugees near No Gun Ri in the last week of July 1950, but made no mention of the illegality of that act.

While the Korean Defense Ministry’s report detailed the events of the massacre and the number of victims, the US Army’s report neither specified the number of deaths nor addressed whether orders had been given to kill the refugees.

Peter McCloskey, former US congressman and one of eight civilian experts who served as advisers for the report, criticized the Army’s report as a “whitewash.”

Following the enactment of a special law on the No Gun Ri massacre in 2004, a committee was established under the prime minister’s office to identify and rehabilitate victims of the No Gun Ri Incident. That committee has officially recognized 228 victims over three reviews in 2005, 2008, and 2022.

Then US President Bill Clinton expressed regret in 2001, stating, “I deeply regret that Korean civilians lost their lives at No Gun Ri.” The US government also offered to build a memorial and establish a scholarship fund for children of the victims, but the victims’ families rejected that offer.

Lee Ok-nam, a commissioner nominated by the ruling party, defended Kim during the plenary session on Tuesday when the Hampyeong victim was being compared to the refugees killed at No Gun Ri. “A single sentence about someone’s death by the police during a punitive operation wasn’t enough to give official recognition in our initial review, nor is it enough now,” Lee said.

Lee Sang-hee responded by saying, “If the deceased were unarmed civilians, we need to officially recognize them as victims even if they were killed in combat. The chairman just said that the massacre of unarmed people at No Gun Ri wasn’t illegal but was collateral damage. That remark is a serious violation of international law.”

Heo Sang-su, another opposition-nominated commissioner, said, “Collateral damage needs to be predicated on military necessity. In that respect, the chairman ought to step down.”

In cases of civilian massacres by the South Korean police or military during the Korean War, Kim appears less interested in giving massacre victims official government recognition than in questioning whether the victims were subversives opposing the authorities.

“When it comes to civilian massacres by the police and military, you get the sense that Kim is trying to take the police or military’s side and treat them as collateral damage,” commented a source connected with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Kim has faced criticism for controversial remarks on various occasions. In a lecture at Youngnak Presbyterian Church on June 9 of last year, he stated, “We pay out 132 million won per person killed by soldiers and police officers who were fighting the aggressors and trying to end the war and restore peace. This is the first time I’ve seen anything so unjust in Korea.” In a meeting with a group of victims’ families in Yeongcheon on Oct. 10, he mentioned that “people can be killed without a trial in wartime.”

Recently, Kim hesitated to grant official recognition to 13- and 14-year-old civilians killed in Jindo, whom he labeled as “assassins” based on unfounded police investigation logs.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission proceeded in the plenary session on Tuesday to officially recognize 46 victims (from 37 cases) of the killings in Hampyeong. Even “K” was included in the final count, despite Kim’s reservations.

These 46 individuals were residents of Sonbul and Singwang townships of Hampyeong County who were unlawfully killed between April 1949 and February 1951 by soldiers with the 20th Regiment of the 11th Division of the South Korean Army and by policemen from the Hampyeong Police Department and precinct offices under its jurisdiction. The reasons cited for the killings included suspicion of treason and association with left-wing activists.

By Koh Kyoung-tae, senior staff writer

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