The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 8 | Issue 9 | Number 5 | Article ID 3314 | Mar 01 2010

1

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of KoreaUncovering the Hidden Korean War　韓国の真実和解委員会minusminus隠された朝鮮戦争の解明

Kim Dong-choon

The Truth and ReconciliationCommission of Korea Uncoveringthe Hidden Korean War

Kim Dong choon

The Other War Korean War Massacres

More than 2 million people were killed duringthe Korean War The casualties included notonly military personnel but also innocentcivilians Few are aware that the Koreanauthorities as well as US and allied forcesmassacred hundreds of thousands of SouthKorean civilians at the dawn of the Korean Waron June 25 1950 The official records ofgovernment military and police as well assurvivor testimonies reveal that mass killingscommitted by South Korean and UN forcesoccurred before and during the Korean War(June 1950 to July 1953) These incidents maybe categorized into four types

The first category involves summary executionsof civilians and political prisoners suspected ofopposing or posing a threat to the ROK(Republic of Korea) regime Under orders tocarry out preventive detention theauthorities arrested the victims shortly afterNorth Koreas attack[1] Most of the detaineeswere political prisoners including members ofthe Bodoyeonmang (National Guidance Leagueor NGL) a government ‐establ i shedorganization whose purpose was to control andmonitor former and converted communists

Although NGL membership was declaredvoluntary the authorities registered formercommunists or anti‐government activists tomonitor their activities and location Over timemembership expanded to include villagers whoparticipated in anti‐government organizationsThe Police Bureau moreover ordered regionalpolice chiefs to fill specific quotas for NGLmembership These chiefs lacking informationin many cases arbitrarily targeted individualsfor membership Thus some NGL memberswere villagers with no political ideology or tiesto anti‐government organizations

In 1950 at the outbreak of the war there wereapproximately 30000 political prisonersimprisoned in South Korea Many weredetained for violating the National SecurityLaw Most of these prisoners would laterldquodisappearrdquo after the outbreak of war Theevidence the Truth and ReconciliationCommission (TRC) has uncovered suggests thata majority of them were secretly executedalong with NGL members between July andAugust of 1950 The killing of NGL members

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

2

surpassed other atrocities of the Korean War inits sheer size and brutality

The second category involves the arrest andexecution of suspected North Koreancollaborators by the ROK police and rightistyouth groups Both North and South Koreanforces conducted executions to prevent peoplefrom supporting their opponents As SouthKorean forces advanced to recapture lostterritory they and local rightists beganeliminating suspected ldquocollaboratorsrdquo withoutjudicial proceedings This occurred shortlyafter retreating North Korean soldiersconducted large scale massacres as they fledthe advancing US and ROK forces[2]

The third category includes killings conductedduring ROK counterinsurgency operationsagainst communist guerillas The victimsprimarily resided near areas with activeguerillas in the Southern Mountains Witnessesresiding in the targeted areas described thetactics used as brutal The ROK employed athree-all policy (kill‐all burn‐all loot‐all) whichwas a scorched earth policy used by JapaneseImperial forces while suppressing anti‐Japaneseforces in China

The remains of 110 victims of the massexecutions of political prisoners in 1950 in

Cheongwon Chungbuk south of SeoulAugust 2007 photo TRC

Counterinsurgency atrocities also occurred in

North Korean occupied territory As the ROKpolice and rightist youth groups followed theUS military across the 38th parallel theyencountered people they suspected to becommunists and collaborators A typicalmassacre occurred in Sinchon (a county locatedin southern North Korea) North Korea accusedAmerican troops of killing 35380 civilians butnewly released documents disclose that right‐wing civilian security police assisted by ayouth group perpetrated the massacre [3]

The fourth category involves civilian andrefugee deaths from bombings and shootings inUS combat operations Under the mandate ofldquomaintaining and restoring internationalpeacerdquo the US deployed soldiers to theKorean Peninsula after North Korearsquos invasionof South Korea The Eighth US Army whichwas stationed in Japan landed in Korea in July1950 but proved ill‐prepared to repel thecommunist forces Due to confusion and panicAmerican forces killed a number of civilians inthe largest single massacre the No Gun RiIncident

While some of the victims were left leaning orsympathetic to North Korea the majorityconsisted of innocent civilians The US andSouth Korean authorities suppressed thisincident arguing that disclosure of informationwould threaten the ROKrsquos constitutional orderand national security As a result it remainsunknown even to many who lived through thewar Considering the severity and number ofmassacres these incidents may be called ldquotheother warrdquo In order to prevent similartragedies from reoccurring in the future andensure peace on the Korean Peninsula thetruth must be investigated and publicized

A History of Silencing Bereaved Familiesand Oppressing Memories of Atrocities

After the 1960 student uprising toppled theUS‐supported Rhee Syngman governmentbereaved families initiated a series ofdemonstrations to demand investigation into

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

3

mass killings during the war They establishedan organization the National Association ofBereaved Families of Korean War Victimswhich exhumed and properly buried thevictimsrsquo remains in a joint cemetery they builtto honor the dead

In response to the large number of petitionsfrom bereaved families the National Assemblyquickly organized the Special Committee on theFact‐finding of Massacres However after theMay 16 Coup in 1961 the new militarygovernment disrupted these efforts byarresting and prosecuting the leaders of theassociation and demolishing the joint cemeteryThese actions sent a clear message that anyperson attempting to raise the issue of truthverification on deaths during the Korean Warwould be regarded as a communist andconsidered a threat to the state

For 27 years (1961‐1987) under the militarydictatorship all sympathetic discourse onraising awareness of massacres was subject toprosecution The bereaved families sufferedsevere discrimination as authorit iessystematically marginalized them from civilsociety and politics and placed them underpolice and Korea Central Intelligence Agency(KCIA) surveillance

Frantic anti-communism paralleled the rise ofMcCarthyism in the US heavily influencingSouth Korearsquos political atmosphere from 1953onward and resulting in societyrsquos collectiveamnesia over the mass killings committed byROK and US troops Politicians and majormedia outlets under the authoritarian regimewere reluctant to cover or even mention theincidents This attitude continued down totoday as authorities and the media repeatedlyignore investigations and the pleas ofheartbroken victims Instead journalists copyforeign‐based news sources whenever relevantmaterial surfaces such as the Associated Pressstory on the No Gun Ri Incident The Ministryof Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and Trade never officially commented on theUS ldquoNo Gun Ri Reportrdquo which held that themass killings had occurred in the midst ofcombat operations and the dead were thereforedeemed collateral damage[4]

This whitewash led to the widely‐held view thatthe South Korean authorities killed the victimsthree times first their lives were taken in themassacres (1948‐1953) second they werekilled again when authorities disregarded theirbereaved familiesrsquo requests for investigationand finally they were killed a third time whentheir family members were branded asldquocommunistsrdquo due to guilt by association andthe charges of massacre suppressed

The systematic repression of these bereavedfamilies lasted until the late 1980s Just as thedenial of the Holocaust is painful to Holocaust

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

4

victims and their families Korearsquos bereavedfamilies suffered similar pain as the statedisavowed the incidents and previousauthoritarian regimes discredited andrepressed those considered ldquoguilty byassociationrdquo This tactic was effectively used toexclude alleged political opponents

The forced amnesia under successive militarydictatorships silenced the survivors and thevictimsrsquo families preventing them fromrevealing their long untold stories After half acentury these survivors have yet to completelyrecover from their trauma The inhumanetreatment the survivors experienced continuesto haunt them and the memories of the eventsremain deeply etched into their hearts

Public negligence and silence in both theUnited States and Korea are not just the resultof the passage of time they are also due to thecollective amnesia imposed on society by thestate While scholars and journalists haveraised awareness of such issues as Korean Warmassacres it was essential that an officialinstitution be given appropriate authority toinvestigate and verify these cases and informthe public This was the mandate of the Truthand Reconciliation Commission Only after theCommission completes the truth verificationprocess can people begin to restore the honorof the victims and conduct memorial servicesfor the dead

From Isolated Cases of Dealing with thePast to Comprehensive Redress

After the demise of the military regime (1987)bereaved families of Korean War massacreswere able to give voice to long-repressedgrievances The victimsrsquo families of theGuchang and Jeju April 3 massacres initiatedthe practice of revealing their suffering on theplatform of political democratization

The Guchang incident of February 6-9 1951was one of many massacres that occurred earlyin the Korean War[5] Shortly after themassacre the events surrounding it weredisclosed by Jung‐mok Shin a NationalAssembly member representing Guchang whorisked his life to reveal the facts The Rheegovernment responded to public outrage at themassacre of civilians by lsquogesturingrsquo towardpunishing the commanders responsibleHowever they were released immediately andreceived amnesty within just two years whilethe victims were not rehabilitated and the truthof the incident remained concealed AfterPresident Rhee resigned following the April 191960 Student Uprising the surviving familiesassembled to reveal the facts and identify thelocal police and officials who had collaboratedwith the military

Under such democratic conditions many moresurvivors and family members of Korean Warvictims began to demand settlement of theirgrievances They called on the government toprosecute the perpetrators and investigate themassacres The National Assembly quicklyorganized a special committee to probe theincident and later issued a report They alsocalled on the Assembly to enact a law tocomprehensively investigate the incidents andreconcile the victimsrsquo families and survivorsHowever these efforts abruptly ended on May16 1961 when the military staged a coup TheNational Assemblyrsquos investigation immediatelyended and leading social movement figureswere arrested as pro-communist agitators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

5

Their call for full clarification of the massacresand relief to the survivorsrsquo suffering wassilenced

The Jeju April 3 incident of 1948 occurredshortly before the first general election andwas unique in the number of victims and thelasting effect on the Jeju Island [6] Embeddedin a strong collective regional identity the Jejupeoplersquos tragedy became a popular theme fornovels and poems While the victimsrsquo familiesfought alone to settle the Guchang incident theJeju Incident succeeded in drawing the activesupport of intellectuals and activists andreceived wide local media attention Itshistorical importance in the road to theestablishment of the divided governments inthe Korean peninsula and the strong sense ofcollective victimization of Jeju peoplecontributed to making it a national agendaafter democratization The transformation ofthe political and ideological landscapeconditioned by democratization along withsupporters petitioning for reconciliationemboldened the surviving families to divulgetheir stories Scholars and journalists haveconfirmed that most of the victims of theIncident were innocent civilians whose storiesare now told in the April 3 Peace Park andMemorial Museum which opened in 2008

Prayers at the wall inscribing the names ofthe estimated 30000 Jeju victims in the

Jeju Peace Memorial Park

Over the opposition of right‐wing forcescivilian governments under Kim Young‐Samand Kim Dae‐jung eventually passed severallaws to settle these two unresolved historicalcases The Guchang Special Law was passed in1996 with the objective of restoring the honorof the victims This was followed by the JejuSpecial law Special Act for Investigating theJeju April 3 Incident and Recovering the Honorof Victims (2000) The final law Restoring theHonor of the Vict ims was enacted toinvestigate the facts and restore the honor ofv ic t ims who had long been brandedcommunists

The two special committees tasked withinvestigating and restoring the honor of thevictims faced difficult assignments In accordwith the Guchang Special Law the tasks ofrestoring the honor of victims and establishinga memorial are nearly complete and thevictimsrsquo families are currently demandingreparations The Jeju committee also completedits investigation and began preparing forreconciliation However doubts remain as towhether the Jeju committee can fully reveal thetruth of the Jeju Massacres and and identitiesof the victims The most sensitive investigationhas involved the role of the US military duringcounterinsurgency operations against rebelforces While the final report failed to confirmor spell out a US role it concluded that 86of the 14373 deaths reported were committedby security forces including the NationalGuard National Police and rightist groups[7]

President Roh Mu‐hyun visited Jeju on April 32006 and officially apologized for the abusesperpetrated by the previous government andexpressed his condolences to the Jeju April 3victims The report officially changed theexisting name of the incident from the April 3Jeju Rebellion Incident to the ldquoJeju April 3Incidentrdquo The official name change fromlsquoRebellion Incidentrsquo to lsquoIncidentrsquo signified a re-understanding of history Under successivedictatorships the South Korean government

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

6

had highlighted the aspect of guerilla rebellionagainst the US designed state-building in adivided Korea while neglecting the civiliancasualties through the suppression policy While controversy continues over the nameand nature of the events the Koreangovernmentrsquos official recognition of the JejuApril 3 Incident civilian victims is a crucial stepon the road of historical settlement of KoreanWar massacres The recognition makes itpossible for most victims and their bereavedfamilies who were long stigmatized aslsquocommunist riotersrsquo to restore their honor

The Associated Pressrsquos reports on the No GunRi Massacre of some 300 civilians by USforces in July 1950 and the release of reportsconcerning similar incidents attracted publicconcern about mass killings by US forcesAfter the publication of the US Armyrsquos reportPresident Bill Clinton ordered an officialinvestigation and issued a statement of lsquoregretrsquofor the killing of Korean refugees but thisfailed to satisfy many Koreans who expected aformal apology[8] The US made a gesturetoward the victims by offering one milliondollars to erect a monument and created a$750000 scholarship fund However the USprovided no restitution to the victims and madeno judgment on charges that the massacre wascommitted under direct orders by US officersThe No Gun Ri victimsrsquo families rejected theUS gesture above all because it included noofficial apology but also because the smallscholarship fund was meant to cover all US-inflicted civilian casualties that occurred duringthe Korean War A No Gun Ri Peace Park isnow under construction by the Koreangovernment

The activities on behalf of the victims of Jejuand No Gun Ri attracted national attention andencouraged leaders of other bereaved familyassociations to petition the National Assemblyto sett le their grievances Howeverrecognizing the injustice of settling isolatedincidents while ignoring hundreds of other

cases they called for the enactment of theSpecial Act on Unveiling the Truth of theMassacres of Civilians in order to ldquocorrect thedistorted historyrdquo

After over half a century social movementshave emerged in response to the outcry of thebereaved families to campaign for therestoration of honor to the victims andsurvivors by rectifying the distorted historythat buried the truth Civil rights activistssympathetic lawmakers and the Roh Mu‐hyungovernment concluded that a special law withcomprehensive measures should be enacted toaddress the many outstanding issues ofmassacres After both the public andgovernment approved of this the FrameworkAct for the Truth and Reconci l iat ionCommission was drafted and passed

The Petitions 55 Years Later

The death of the head of a family brought totalruin to a house In order to survive manywidows remarried resulting in a situation inwhich some children became virtually orphanswho were cared for by grandparents orrelatives A lack of education property andsocial welfare reduced them to the loweststatus of Korean society

Victims and bereaved families deserve to beinformed of the truth of illegal killings andreceive official recognition by government andsociety The families also deserve sympathy andcompensation for their losses The primarystimulus for the government to initiate pastsettlement has been the bereaved familiesrsquopetitions The victimsrsquo familiesrsquo persistentdemand for truth‐confirmation and officialrecognition of victimization finally culminatedin 2005 in the establishment of the Truth andReconciliation Commission and has influencedits work

As the voices of the bereaved families opensthe way for Korean society to confront its tragicpast the primary objective for the families is to

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

7

restore their family membersrsquo dignity Thescope of their concern is usually restricted tofamilial problems The familiesrsquo long period ofsuffering and estrangement from societyprevented them from trusting nonfamilyrelationships While desiring officialrecognition of their parentsrsquo illegal executionand government abuse many struggled with adilemma Should they demand settlement fromthe same state that condoned or even orderedthe killings Although the governmentperpetrated the massacre and discriminatedagainst families the bereaved familiesrsquo onlyoption was to appeal to the same state forgrievance settlement The change of regimefrom dictatorship to democracy emboldenedmany to appeal

Since the Commissionrsquos inception bereavedfamilies have submitted petitions for truthverification More than five decades since manyof the victimsrsquo executions occurred thegovernment prepared to receive petitions frombereaved families In some cases all of thefamily members were killed in the incident orthe remaining members had either passedaway or relocated Without survivors orwitnesses the exact details of the victimizationremained unknown The fifty-year lapse of timeand the social dislocation of the era limited thenumber of petitioners For many families itwas too late to apply for truth verificationwhich is why they did not petition after theCommission called for applications

Some families who were well aware of theCommissionrsquos work were reluctant to applyremembering the oppression and abuse theysuffered under the military government in 1961and their subsequent estrangement fromsociety These traumatic experiences preventedmany from submitting petitions

People who had reached high socioeconomicstatus also refrained from applying based onthe fear that truth‐confirmation couldundermine their status For Koreans the

welfare of the child is most significant and theyforgo the restoration of dignity through truthverification due to the threat it poses to thedescendantsrsquo happiness Thus the act ofpetitioning for the most part has involved thedisadvantaged among victimized families

The experience of segregation ignorance andsuffering led to avoidance or resignation by thevictimsrsquo families This demonstrates the extentof their trauma It is estimated that the 7800applications received by the Commissionrepresent only ten percent of the total numberof victims

Investigation and Confirmation by theCommission

The basic questions raised by the victimsrsquofamily members concern the identity of thekiller the circumstances time and motive forthe killing The Commission must answerquestions beyond individual cases and alsoinvestigate a second type of truth ndash thehistorical and societal truth that includes thebackground cause situation perpetratorsmechanism of killing death toll identificationof victims and legal responsibilities of thegovernments involved While the Commissioncan confirm the legal political or moralresponsibility of the government and chain ofcommand the law includes no provisions forpunishing the perpetrators The law doesstipulate that ldquofor a perpetrator activelycooperating with the Commission by confessinghisher crime during the investigation andhisher confession is consistent with the facts ofthe investigation the TRC may recommend tothe relevant institution that immunity begranted or punishment be minimized duringcriminal investigation or trial procedurerdquo Butthis article is meaningless since the Truth andReconciliation Commission has no authority topunish perpetrators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

8

The Commission is assigned the task ofresponding to the bereaved families andKorean societyrsquos questions concerning pastincidents By verifying the truth of historicalevents the Commission seeks to fosterreconci l ia t ion between v ic t ims andperpetrators It is also entitled to offerrecommendations to reinstate the honor of thevictims to promote reconciliation betweenconfessed perpetrators and victims revisepolicies in order to prevent similar atrocitiesfrom reoccurrence and establish truth‐findingresearch institutes Although these duties arecritical the chief task of the Commission istruth confirmation and these results arepublished in a bi‐annual report

The verification of most petitions filed at theCommission has been difficult and protractedThis is partially due to the time passed sincethe inc idents occurred Despi te theCommissionrsquos careful approach to evidencethere remained constant doubts as to whetherthe truth could be verified without strongauthority to investigate alleged perpetratorsSince most concerned figures and witnesseshave already passed away and many relateddocuments have been systematically destroyedor disappeared it is almost impossible toreconstruct many events from fifty to sixtyyears ago This has not prevented theCommission from acquiring some crucialtest imonies and documents from the

government and this has contributed to thereconstruction of the countryrsquos uncoveredhistory[9]

Thorough listening to the bereaved familiesrsquostatements proved to be a crucial initial steptowards healing The investigatorsrsquo visits tovictim families were often the governmentrsquosfirst acknowledgement of the petitions Somepetitioners confided that they hadnrsquot told theirfamiliesrsquo tragic stories to anyone including theirchildren in more than 50 years When finalconfirmation of the truth regarding thepetit ionerrsquos parents is issued by theCommission and it is confirmed that innocentparents were ki l led by the state theCommission found that there was a great senseof relief from the burden of repressed traumaThis was clear in the mood and voices of thebereaved families during official memorialservice following the Commissionrsquos decision

According to the Commission the truth isexpected to be decided through deliberationand discussion among the commissioners Thecommissioners are expected to represent thedifferent social sectors of Korean societyincluding judicial religious and academiccircles The investigators conduct research onthe cases or incidents and submit a final reportafter investigating the petitionersrsquo statementswitnessesrsquo testimonies and related documentsWhile most human rights abuses cases areinvestigated on the basis of individual petitionsmassacre cases are generally divided intoseveral big incidents such as the NationalGuidance League Incident US bombing-related incidents or the collaborationincidents Afterwards the sub‐commissionexamines the results before transferring thecase to the Commission

The resolution of the Commission is reachedafter long discussions and disputes duringmeetings The Commissionrsquos final decision isthen issued and is entitled to be regarded asthe official verdict Although verification

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

9

follows a rigorous process to ensure fairnesseach party concerned may still reject it Whilemost petitioners accept the verdict somedismiss it as incomplete for example for thefa i lure to name responsib le of f ic ia lperpetrators whether Korean or AmericanPerpetrators who are military officials andpolice officers for their part often blame theCommission for tarnishing their honor sincethey have long officially enjoyed the position ofnational heroes in fighting against the NorthKorean communists In one case a group ofextreme rightists filed a lawsuit against thepresident of the Commission accusing him ofbetraying the truth and defaming their honorHowever the truth confirmed by theCommission should be valued because of itscareful investigation and deliberation

Remaining Tasks

The Commission may not be the only path forsettlement of historical grievances but itstruth‐confirmation activities constitute acornerstone The Commission must completeits remaining tasks and achieve closure byrevealing suppressed stories thereby leadingtoward reconciliation Upon successfullycompleting its mission the Commission willassist in building a more unified nation andprovide a model for other nations that chooseto pursue truth‐seeking activities

Subsequent measures are to be implementedby the Recommendations Follow‐up Boardunder the Ministry of Public Administration andSecurity However little progress has beenmade toward establishment of a truth‐findingresearch institute A specific example of theimportance of creating such an institute is the54 cases of civilian deaths from US Air Forcebombings (ten incidents) Recommendationsfrom the TRC include an official state-sponsored memorial event as well as effortsseeking compensation for the victims throughnegotiations with the US government Somemeasures like sponsoring memorial services

have been taken Both the South Korean andUS governments [10] however have failed torespond to other recommendations of theCommission

On January 24 of 2008 President Roh Mu‐hyunpublicly apologized for the governments illegalexercise of public power in the case of theUlsan National Guidance League victims andfamilies President Roh expressed thegovernments position regarding the settlementof historical issues and officially recognized theillegal exercise of power by past governmentsThis official recognition and presidentialapology to the Ulsan victims however was onlya symbolic expression before finishing his termand did not stipulate any following-upmeasures for the following government TheCommiss ion a l so needs to p lan theenshrinement of the victimsrsquo remains andprepare for future exhumation work byinstituting regulations or laws and securing thenecessary finances and procurement measuresDocumentation of investigative recordsincluding biannual reports to the NationalAssembly and the president and the utilizationof these materials are essential for futureacademic research and public promotion of theissues Relevant laws and systems must also besupplemented and all documented reportsfrom the Commissionrsquos investigations should besystematically categorized filed and stored atan institute such as the National Archives

The work of the Commission has been focusedon these two strong requests from thebereaved families and civil groups Howeverthe Commissionrsquos efforts to achieve these goalshas encountered resistance as a result of thepresent governmentrsquos strong influence onmajor media outlets The petitioners are nowasking for substantial visible results of theCommissionrsquos mandates and the need torespond to those demands remains the duty ofKorean law makers and society

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

2

surpassed other atrocities of the Korean War inits sheer size and brutality

The second category involves the arrest andexecution of suspected North Koreancollaborators by the ROK police and rightistyouth groups Both North and South Koreanforces conducted executions to prevent peoplefrom supporting their opponents As SouthKorean forces advanced to recapture lostterritory they and local rightists beganeliminating suspected ldquocollaboratorsrdquo withoutjudicial proceedings This occurred shortlyafter retreating North Korean soldiersconducted large scale massacres as they fledthe advancing US and ROK forces[2]

The third category includes killings conductedduring ROK counterinsurgency operationsagainst communist guerillas The victimsprimarily resided near areas with activeguerillas in the Southern Mountains Witnessesresiding in the targeted areas described thetactics used as brutal The ROK employed athree-all policy (kill‐all burn‐all loot‐all) whichwas a scorched earth policy used by JapaneseImperial forces while suppressing anti‐Japaneseforces in China

The remains of 110 victims of the massexecutions of political prisoners in 1950 in

Cheongwon Chungbuk south of SeoulAugust 2007 photo TRC

Counterinsurgency atrocities also occurred in

North Korean occupied territory As the ROKpolice and rightist youth groups followed theUS military across the 38th parallel theyencountered people they suspected to becommunists and collaborators A typicalmassacre occurred in Sinchon (a county locatedin southern North Korea) North Korea accusedAmerican troops of killing 35380 civilians butnewly released documents disclose that right‐wing civilian security police assisted by ayouth group perpetrated the massacre [3]

The fourth category involves civilian andrefugee deaths from bombings and shootings inUS combat operations Under the mandate ofldquomaintaining and restoring internationalpeacerdquo the US deployed soldiers to theKorean Peninsula after North Korearsquos invasionof South Korea The Eighth US Army whichwas stationed in Japan landed in Korea in July1950 but proved ill‐prepared to repel thecommunist forces Due to confusion and panicAmerican forces killed a number of civilians inthe largest single massacre the No Gun RiIncident

While some of the victims were left leaning orsympathetic to North Korea the majorityconsisted of innocent civilians The US andSouth Korean authorities suppressed thisincident arguing that disclosure of informationwould threaten the ROKrsquos constitutional orderand national security As a result it remainsunknown even to many who lived through thewar Considering the severity and number ofmassacres these incidents may be called ldquotheother warrdquo In order to prevent similartragedies from reoccurring in the future andensure peace on the Korean Peninsula thetruth must be investigated and publicized

A History of Silencing Bereaved Familiesand Oppressing Memories of Atrocities

After the 1960 student uprising toppled theUS‐supported Rhee Syngman governmentbereaved families initiated a series ofdemonstrations to demand investigation into

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

3

mass killings during the war They establishedan organization the National Association ofBereaved Families of Korean War Victimswhich exhumed and properly buried thevictimsrsquo remains in a joint cemetery they builtto honor the dead

In response to the large number of petitionsfrom bereaved families the National Assemblyquickly organized the Special Committee on theFact‐finding of Massacres However after theMay 16 Coup in 1961 the new militarygovernment disrupted these efforts byarresting and prosecuting the leaders of theassociation and demolishing the joint cemeteryThese actions sent a clear message that anyperson attempting to raise the issue of truthverification on deaths during the Korean Warwould be regarded as a communist andconsidered a threat to the state

For 27 years (1961‐1987) under the militarydictatorship all sympathetic discourse onraising awareness of massacres was subject toprosecution The bereaved families sufferedsevere discrimination as authorit iessystematically marginalized them from civilsociety and politics and placed them underpolice and Korea Central Intelligence Agency(KCIA) surveillance

Frantic anti-communism paralleled the rise ofMcCarthyism in the US heavily influencingSouth Korearsquos political atmosphere from 1953onward and resulting in societyrsquos collectiveamnesia over the mass killings committed byROK and US troops Politicians and majormedia outlets under the authoritarian regimewere reluctant to cover or even mention theincidents This attitude continued down totoday as authorities and the media repeatedlyignore investigations and the pleas ofheartbroken victims Instead journalists copyforeign‐based news sources whenever relevantmaterial surfaces such as the Associated Pressstory on the No Gun Ri Incident The Ministryof Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and Trade never officially commented on theUS ldquoNo Gun Ri Reportrdquo which held that themass killings had occurred in the midst ofcombat operations and the dead were thereforedeemed collateral damage[4]

This whitewash led to the widely‐held view thatthe South Korean authorities killed the victimsthree times first their lives were taken in themassacres (1948‐1953) second they werekilled again when authorities disregarded theirbereaved familiesrsquo requests for investigationand finally they were killed a third time whentheir family members were branded asldquocommunistsrdquo due to guilt by association andthe charges of massacre suppressed

The systematic repression of these bereavedfamilies lasted until the late 1980s Just as thedenial of the Holocaust is painful to Holocaust

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

4

victims and their families Korearsquos bereavedfamilies suffered similar pain as the statedisavowed the incidents and previousauthoritarian regimes discredited andrepressed those considered ldquoguilty byassociationrdquo This tactic was effectively used toexclude alleged political opponents

The forced amnesia under successive militarydictatorships silenced the survivors and thevictimsrsquo families preventing them fromrevealing their long untold stories After half acentury these survivors have yet to completelyrecover from their trauma The inhumanetreatment the survivors experienced continuesto haunt them and the memories of the eventsremain deeply etched into their hearts

Public negligence and silence in both theUnited States and Korea are not just the resultof the passage of time they are also due to thecollective amnesia imposed on society by thestate While scholars and journalists haveraised awareness of such issues as Korean Warmassacres it was essential that an officialinstitution be given appropriate authority toinvestigate and verify these cases and informthe public This was the mandate of the Truthand Reconciliation Commission Only after theCommission completes the truth verificationprocess can people begin to restore the honorof the victims and conduct memorial servicesfor the dead

From Isolated Cases of Dealing with thePast to Comprehensive Redress

After the demise of the military regime (1987)bereaved families of Korean War massacreswere able to give voice to long-repressedgrievances The victimsrsquo families of theGuchang and Jeju April 3 massacres initiatedthe practice of revealing their suffering on theplatform of political democratization

The Guchang incident of February 6-9 1951was one of many massacres that occurred earlyin the Korean War[5] Shortly after themassacre the events surrounding it weredisclosed by Jung‐mok Shin a NationalAssembly member representing Guchang whorisked his life to reveal the facts The Rheegovernment responded to public outrage at themassacre of civilians by lsquogesturingrsquo towardpunishing the commanders responsibleHowever they were released immediately andreceived amnesty within just two years whilethe victims were not rehabilitated and the truthof the incident remained concealed AfterPresident Rhee resigned following the April 191960 Student Uprising the surviving familiesassembled to reveal the facts and identify thelocal police and officials who had collaboratedwith the military

Under such democratic conditions many moresurvivors and family members of Korean Warvictims began to demand settlement of theirgrievances They called on the government toprosecute the perpetrators and investigate themassacres The National Assembly quicklyorganized a special committee to probe theincident and later issued a report They alsocalled on the Assembly to enact a law tocomprehensively investigate the incidents andreconcile the victimsrsquo families and survivorsHowever these efforts abruptly ended on May16 1961 when the military staged a coup TheNational Assemblyrsquos investigation immediatelyended and leading social movement figureswere arrested as pro-communist agitators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

5

Their call for full clarification of the massacresand relief to the survivorsrsquo suffering wassilenced

The Jeju April 3 incident of 1948 occurredshortly before the first general election andwas unique in the number of victims and thelasting effect on the Jeju Island [6] Embeddedin a strong collective regional identity the Jejupeoplersquos tragedy became a popular theme fornovels and poems While the victimsrsquo familiesfought alone to settle the Guchang incident theJeju Incident succeeded in drawing the activesupport of intellectuals and activists andreceived wide local media attention Itshistorical importance in the road to theestablishment of the divided governments inthe Korean peninsula and the strong sense ofcollective victimization of Jeju peoplecontributed to making it a national agendaafter democratization The transformation ofthe political and ideological landscapeconditioned by democratization along withsupporters petitioning for reconciliationemboldened the surviving families to divulgetheir stories Scholars and journalists haveconfirmed that most of the victims of theIncident were innocent civilians whose storiesare now told in the April 3 Peace Park andMemorial Museum which opened in 2008

Prayers at the wall inscribing the names ofthe estimated 30000 Jeju victims in the

Jeju Peace Memorial Park

Over the opposition of right‐wing forcescivilian governments under Kim Young‐Samand Kim Dae‐jung eventually passed severallaws to settle these two unresolved historicalcases The Guchang Special Law was passed in1996 with the objective of restoring the honorof the victims This was followed by the JejuSpecial law Special Act for Investigating theJeju April 3 Incident and Recovering the Honorof Victims (2000) The final law Restoring theHonor of the Vict ims was enacted toinvestigate the facts and restore the honor ofv ic t ims who had long been brandedcommunists

The two special committees tasked withinvestigating and restoring the honor of thevictims faced difficult assignments In accordwith the Guchang Special Law the tasks ofrestoring the honor of victims and establishinga memorial are nearly complete and thevictimsrsquo families are currently demandingreparations The Jeju committee also completedits investigation and began preparing forreconciliation However doubts remain as towhether the Jeju committee can fully reveal thetruth of the Jeju Massacres and and identitiesof the victims The most sensitive investigationhas involved the role of the US military duringcounterinsurgency operations against rebelforces While the final report failed to confirmor spell out a US role it concluded that 86of the 14373 deaths reported were committedby security forces including the NationalGuard National Police and rightist groups[7]

President Roh Mu‐hyun visited Jeju on April 32006 and officially apologized for the abusesperpetrated by the previous government andexpressed his condolences to the Jeju April 3victims The report officially changed theexisting name of the incident from the April 3Jeju Rebellion Incident to the ldquoJeju April 3Incidentrdquo The official name change fromlsquoRebellion Incidentrsquo to lsquoIncidentrsquo signified a re-understanding of history Under successivedictatorships the South Korean government

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

6

had highlighted the aspect of guerilla rebellionagainst the US designed state-building in adivided Korea while neglecting the civiliancasualties through the suppression policy While controversy continues over the nameand nature of the events the Koreangovernmentrsquos official recognition of the JejuApril 3 Incident civilian victims is a crucial stepon the road of historical settlement of KoreanWar massacres The recognition makes itpossible for most victims and their bereavedfamilies who were long stigmatized aslsquocommunist riotersrsquo to restore their honor

The Associated Pressrsquos reports on the No GunRi Massacre of some 300 civilians by USforces in July 1950 and the release of reportsconcerning similar incidents attracted publicconcern about mass killings by US forcesAfter the publication of the US Armyrsquos reportPresident Bill Clinton ordered an officialinvestigation and issued a statement of lsquoregretrsquofor the killing of Korean refugees but thisfailed to satisfy many Koreans who expected aformal apology[8] The US made a gesturetoward the victims by offering one milliondollars to erect a monument and created a$750000 scholarship fund However the USprovided no restitution to the victims and madeno judgment on charges that the massacre wascommitted under direct orders by US officersThe No Gun Ri victimsrsquo families rejected theUS gesture above all because it included noofficial apology but also because the smallscholarship fund was meant to cover all US-inflicted civilian casualties that occurred duringthe Korean War A No Gun Ri Peace Park isnow under construction by the Koreangovernment

The activities on behalf of the victims of Jejuand No Gun Ri attracted national attention andencouraged leaders of other bereaved familyassociations to petition the National Assemblyto sett le their grievances Howeverrecognizing the injustice of settling isolatedincidents while ignoring hundreds of other

cases they called for the enactment of theSpecial Act on Unveiling the Truth of theMassacres of Civilians in order to ldquocorrect thedistorted historyrdquo

After over half a century social movementshave emerged in response to the outcry of thebereaved families to campaign for therestoration of honor to the victims andsurvivors by rectifying the distorted historythat buried the truth Civil rights activistssympathetic lawmakers and the Roh Mu‐hyungovernment concluded that a special law withcomprehensive measures should be enacted toaddress the many outstanding issues ofmassacres After both the public andgovernment approved of this the FrameworkAct for the Truth and Reconci l iat ionCommission was drafted and passed

The Petitions 55 Years Later

The death of the head of a family brought totalruin to a house In order to survive manywidows remarried resulting in a situation inwhich some children became virtually orphanswho were cared for by grandparents orrelatives A lack of education property andsocial welfare reduced them to the loweststatus of Korean society

Victims and bereaved families deserve to beinformed of the truth of illegal killings andreceive official recognition by government andsociety The families also deserve sympathy andcompensation for their losses The primarystimulus for the government to initiate pastsettlement has been the bereaved familiesrsquopetitions The victimsrsquo familiesrsquo persistentdemand for truth‐confirmation and officialrecognition of victimization finally culminatedin 2005 in the establishment of the Truth andReconciliation Commission and has influencedits work

As the voices of the bereaved families opensthe way for Korean society to confront its tragicpast the primary objective for the families is to

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

7

restore their family membersrsquo dignity Thescope of their concern is usually restricted tofamilial problems The familiesrsquo long period ofsuffering and estrangement from societyprevented them from trusting nonfamilyrelationships While desiring officialrecognition of their parentsrsquo illegal executionand government abuse many struggled with adilemma Should they demand settlement fromthe same state that condoned or even orderedthe killings Although the governmentperpetrated the massacre and discriminatedagainst families the bereaved familiesrsquo onlyoption was to appeal to the same state forgrievance settlement The change of regimefrom dictatorship to democracy emboldenedmany to appeal

Since the Commissionrsquos inception bereavedfamilies have submitted petitions for truthverification More than five decades since manyof the victimsrsquo executions occurred thegovernment prepared to receive petitions frombereaved families In some cases all of thefamily members were killed in the incident orthe remaining members had either passedaway or relocated Without survivors orwitnesses the exact details of the victimizationremained unknown The fifty-year lapse of timeand the social dislocation of the era limited thenumber of petitioners For many families itwas too late to apply for truth verificationwhich is why they did not petition after theCommission called for applications

Some families who were well aware of theCommissionrsquos work were reluctant to applyremembering the oppression and abuse theysuffered under the military government in 1961and their subsequent estrangement fromsociety These traumatic experiences preventedmany from submitting petitions

People who had reached high socioeconomicstatus also refrained from applying based onthe fear that truth‐confirmation couldundermine their status For Koreans the

welfare of the child is most significant and theyforgo the restoration of dignity through truthverification due to the threat it poses to thedescendantsrsquo happiness Thus the act ofpetitioning for the most part has involved thedisadvantaged among victimized families

The experience of segregation ignorance andsuffering led to avoidance or resignation by thevictimsrsquo families This demonstrates the extentof their trauma It is estimated that the 7800applications received by the Commissionrepresent only ten percent of the total numberof victims

Investigation and Confirmation by theCommission

The basic questions raised by the victimsrsquofamily members concern the identity of thekiller the circumstances time and motive forthe killing The Commission must answerquestions beyond individual cases and alsoinvestigate a second type of truth ndash thehistorical and societal truth that includes thebackground cause situation perpetratorsmechanism of killing death toll identificationof victims and legal responsibilities of thegovernments involved While the Commissioncan confirm the legal political or moralresponsibility of the government and chain ofcommand the law includes no provisions forpunishing the perpetrators The law doesstipulate that ldquofor a perpetrator activelycooperating with the Commission by confessinghisher crime during the investigation andhisher confession is consistent with the facts ofthe investigation the TRC may recommend tothe relevant institution that immunity begranted or punishment be minimized duringcriminal investigation or trial procedurerdquo Butthis article is meaningless since the Truth andReconciliation Commission has no authority topunish perpetrators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

8

The Commission is assigned the task ofresponding to the bereaved families andKorean societyrsquos questions concerning pastincidents By verifying the truth of historicalevents the Commission seeks to fosterreconci l ia t ion between v ic t ims andperpetrators It is also entitled to offerrecommendations to reinstate the honor of thevictims to promote reconciliation betweenconfessed perpetrators and victims revisepolicies in order to prevent similar atrocitiesfrom reoccurrence and establish truth‐findingresearch institutes Although these duties arecritical the chief task of the Commission istruth confirmation and these results arepublished in a bi‐annual report

The verification of most petitions filed at theCommission has been difficult and protractedThis is partially due to the time passed sincethe inc idents occurred Despi te theCommissionrsquos careful approach to evidencethere remained constant doubts as to whetherthe truth could be verified without strongauthority to investigate alleged perpetratorsSince most concerned figures and witnesseshave already passed away and many relateddocuments have been systematically destroyedor disappeared it is almost impossible toreconstruct many events from fifty to sixtyyears ago This has not prevented theCommission from acquiring some crucialtest imonies and documents from the

government and this has contributed to thereconstruction of the countryrsquos uncoveredhistory[9]

Thorough listening to the bereaved familiesrsquostatements proved to be a crucial initial steptowards healing The investigatorsrsquo visits tovictim families were often the governmentrsquosfirst acknowledgement of the petitions Somepetitioners confided that they hadnrsquot told theirfamiliesrsquo tragic stories to anyone including theirchildren in more than 50 years When finalconfirmation of the truth regarding thepetit ionerrsquos parents is issued by theCommission and it is confirmed that innocentparents were ki l led by the state theCommission found that there was a great senseof relief from the burden of repressed traumaThis was clear in the mood and voices of thebereaved families during official memorialservice following the Commissionrsquos decision

According to the Commission the truth isexpected to be decided through deliberationand discussion among the commissioners Thecommissioners are expected to represent thedifferent social sectors of Korean societyincluding judicial religious and academiccircles The investigators conduct research onthe cases or incidents and submit a final reportafter investigating the petitionersrsquo statementswitnessesrsquo testimonies and related documentsWhile most human rights abuses cases areinvestigated on the basis of individual petitionsmassacre cases are generally divided intoseveral big incidents such as the NationalGuidance League Incident US bombing-related incidents or the collaborationincidents Afterwards the sub‐commissionexamines the results before transferring thecase to the Commission

The resolution of the Commission is reachedafter long discussions and disputes duringmeetings The Commissionrsquos final decision isthen issued and is entitled to be regarded asthe official verdict Although verification

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

9

follows a rigorous process to ensure fairnesseach party concerned may still reject it Whilemost petitioners accept the verdict somedismiss it as incomplete for example for thefa i lure to name responsib le of f ic ia lperpetrators whether Korean or AmericanPerpetrators who are military officials andpolice officers for their part often blame theCommission for tarnishing their honor sincethey have long officially enjoyed the position ofnational heroes in fighting against the NorthKorean communists In one case a group ofextreme rightists filed a lawsuit against thepresident of the Commission accusing him ofbetraying the truth and defaming their honorHowever the truth confirmed by theCommission should be valued because of itscareful investigation and deliberation

Remaining Tasks

The Commission may not be the only path forsettlement of historical grievances but itstruth‐confirmation activities constitute acornerstone The Commission must completeits remaining tasks and achieve closure byrevealing suppressed stories thereby leadingtoward reconciliation Upon successfullycompleting its mission the Commission willassist in building a more unified nation andprovide a model for other nations that chooseto pursue truth‐seeking activities

Subsequent measures are to be implementedby the Recommendations Follow‐up Boardunder the Ministry of Public Administration andSecurity However little progress has beenmade toward establishment of a truth‐findingresearch institute A specific example of theimportance of creating such an institute is the54 cases of civilian deaths from US Air Forcebombings (ten incidents) Recommendationsfrom the TRC include an official state-sponsored memorial event as well as effortsseeking compensation for the victims throughnegotiations with the US government Somemeasures like sponsoring memorial services

have been taken Both the South Korean andUS governments [10] however have failed torespond to other recommendations of theCommission

On January 24 of 2008 President Roh Mu‐hyunpublicly apologized for the governments illegalexercise of public power in the case of theUlsan National Guidance League victims andfamilies President Roh expressed thegovernments position regarding the settlementof historical issues and officially recognized theillegal exercise of power by past governmentsThis official recognition and presidentialapology to the Ulsan victims however was onlya symbolic expression before finishing his termand did not stipulate any following-upmeasures for the following government TheCommiss ion a l so needs to p lan theenshrinement of the victimsrsquo remains andprepare for future exhumation work byinstituting regulations or laws and securing thenecessary finances and procurement measuresDocumentation of investigative recordsincluding biannual reports to the NationalAssembly and the president and the utilizationof these materials are essential for futureacademic research and public promotion of theissues Relevant laws and systems must also besupplemented and all documented reportsfrom the Commissionrsquos investigations should besystematically categorized filed and stored atan institute such as the National Archives

The work of the Commission has been focusedon these two strong requests from thebereaved families and civil groups Howeverthe Commissionrsquos efforts to achieve these goalshas encountered resistance as a result of thepresent governmentrsquos strong influence onmajor media outlets The petitioners are nowasking for substantial visible results of theCommissionrsquos mandates and the need torespond to those demands remains the duty ofKorean law makers and society

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

3

mass killings during the war They establishedan organization the National Association ofBereaved Families of Korean War Victimswhich exhumed and properly buried thevictimsrsquo remains in a joint cemetery they builtto honor the dead

In response to the large number of petitionsfrom bereaved families the National Assemblyquickly organized the Special Committee on theFact‐finding of Massacres However after theMay 16 Coup in 1961 the new militarygovernment disrupted these efforts byarresting and prosecuting the leaders of theassociation and demolishing the joint cemeteryThese actions sent a clear message that anyperson attempting to raise the issue of truthverification on deaths during the Korean Warwould be regarded as a communist andconsidered a threat to the state

For 27 years (1961‐1987) under the militarydictatorship all sympathetic discourse onraising awareness of massacres was subject toprosecution The bereaved families sufferedsevere discrimination as authorit iessystematically marginalized them from civilsociety and politics and placed them underpolice and Korea Central Intelligence Agency(KCIA) surveillance

Frantic anti-communism paralleled the rise ofMcCarthyism in the US heavily influencingSouth Korearsquos political atmosphere from 1953onward and resulting in societyrsquos collectiveamnesia over the mass killings committed byROK and US troops Politicians and majormedia outlets under the authoritarian regimewere reluctant to cover or even mention theincidents This attitude continued down totoday as authorities and the media repeatedlyignore investigations and the pleas ofheartbroken victims Instead journalists copyforeign‐based news sources whenever relevantmaterial surfaces such as the Associated Pressstory on the No Gun Ri Incident The Ministryof Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and Trade never officially commented on theUS ldquoNo Gun Ri Reportrdquo which held that themass killings had occurred in the midst ofcombat operations and the dead were thereforedeemed collateral damage[4]

This whitewash led to the widely‐held view thatthe South Korean authorities killed the victimsthree times first their lives were taken in themassacres (1948‐1953) second they werekilled again when authorities disregarded theirbereaved familiesrsquo requests for investigationand finally they were killed a third time whentheir family members were branded asldquocommunistsrdquo due to guilt by association andthe charges of massacre suppressed

The systematic repression of these bereavedfamilies lasted until the late 1980s Just as thedenial of the Holocaust is painful to Holocaust

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

4

victims and their families Korearsquos bereavedfamilies suffered similar pain as the statedisavowed the incidents and previousauthoritarian regimes discredited andrepressed those considered ldquoguilty byassociationrdquo This tactic was effectively used toexclude alleged political opponents

The forced amnesia under successive militarydictatorships silenced the survivors and thevictimsrsquo families preventing them fromrevealing their long untold stories After half acentury these survivors have yet to completelyrecover from their trauma The inhumanetreatment the survivors experienced continuesto haunt them and the memories of the eventsremain deeply etched into their hearts

Public negligence and silence in both theUnited States and Korea are not just the resultof the passage of time they are also due to thecollective amnesia imposed on society by thestate While scholars and journalists haveraised awareness of such issues as Korean Warmassacres it was essential that an officialinstitution be given appropriate authority toinvestigate and verify these cases and informthe public This was the mandate of the Truthand Reconciliation Commission Only after theCommission completes the truth verificationprocess can people begin to restore the honorof the victims and conduct memorial servicesfor the dead

From Isolated Cases of Dealing with thePast to Comprehensive Redress

After the demise of the military regime (1987)bereaved families of Korean War massacreswere able to give voice to long-repressedgrievances The victimsrsquo families of theGuchang and Jeju April 3 massacres initiatedthe practice of revealing their suffering on theplatform of political democratization

The Guchang incident of February 6-9 1951was one of many massacres that occurred earlyin the Korean War[5] Shortly after themassacre the events surrounding it weredisclosed by Jung‐mok Shin a NationalAssembly member representing Guchang whorisked his life to reveal the facts The Rheegovernment responded to public outrage at themassacre of civilians by lsquogesturingrsquo towardpunishing the commanders responsibleHowever they were released immediately andreceived amnesty within just two years whilethe victims were not rehabilitated and the truthof the incident remained concealed AfterPresident Rhee resigned following the April 191960 Student Uprising the surviving familiesassembled to reveal the facts and identify thelocal police and officials who had collaboratedwith the military

Under such democratic conditions many moresurvivors and family members of Korean Warvictims began to demand settlement of theirgrievances They called on the government toprosecute the perpetrators and investigate themassacres The National Assembly quicklyorganized a special committee to probe theincident and later issued a report They alsocalled on the Assembly to enact a law tocomprehensively investigate the incidents andreconcile the victimsrsquo families and survivorsHowever these efforts abruptly ended on May16 1961 when the military staged a coup TheNational Assemblyrsquos investigation immediatelyended and leading social movement figureswere arrested as pro-communist agitators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

5

Their call for full clarification of the massacresand relief to the survivorsrsquo suffering wassilenced

The Jeju April 3 incident of 1948 occurredshortly before the first general election andwas unique in the number of victims and thelasting effect on the Jeju Island [6] Embeddedin a strong collective regional identity the Jejupeoplersquos tragedy became a popular theme fornovels and poems While the victimsrsquo familiesfought alone to settle the Guchang incident theJeju Incident succeeded in drawing the activesupport of intellectuals and activists andreceived wide local media attention Itshistorical importance in the road to theestablishment of the divided governments inthe Korean peninsula and the strong sense ofcollective victimization of Jeju peoplecontributed to making it a national agendaafter democratization The transformation ofthe political and ideological landscapeconditioned by democratization along withsupporters petitioning for reconciliationemboldened the surviving families to divulgetheir stories Scholars and journalists haveconfirmed that most of the victims of theIncident were innocent civilians whose storiesare now told in the April 3 Peace Park andMemorial Museum which opened in 2008

Prayers at the wall inscribing the names ofthe estimated 30000 Jeju victims in the

Jeju Peace Memorial Park

Over the opposition of right‐wing forcescivilian governments under Kim Young‐Samand Kim Dae‐jung eventually passed severallaws to settle these two unresolved historicalcases The Guchang Special Law was passed in1996 with the objective of restoring the honorof the victims This was followed by the JejuSpecial law Special Act for Investigating theJeju April 3 Incident and Recovering the Honorof Victims (2000) The final law Restoring theHonor of the Vict ims was enacted toinvestigate the facts and restore the honor ofv ic t ims who had long been brandedcommunists

The two special committees tasked withinvestigating and restoring the honor of thevictims faced difficult assignments In accordwith the Guchang Special Law the tasks ofrestoring the honor of victims and establishinga memorial are nearly complete and thevictimsrsquo families are currently demandingreparations The Jeju committee also completedits investigation and began preparing forreconciliation However doubts remain as towhether the Jeju committee can fully reveal thetruth of the Jeju Massacres and and identitiesof the victims The most sensitive investigationhas involved the role of the US military duringcounterinsurgency operations against rebelforces While the final report failed to confirmor spell out a US role it concluded that 86of the 14373 deaths reported were committedby security forces including the NationalGuard National Police and rightist groups[7]

President Roh Mu‐hyun visited Jeju on April 32006 and officially apologized for the abusesperpetrated by the previous government andexpressed his condolences to the Jeju April 3victims The report officially changed theexisting name of the incident from the April 3Jeju Rebellion Incident to the ldquoJeju April 3Incidentrdquo The official name change fromlsquoRebellion Incidentrsquo to lsquoIncidentrsquo signified a re-understanding of history Under successivedictatorships the South Korean government

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

6

had highlighted the aspect of guerilla rebellionagainst the US designed state-building in adivided Korea while neglecting the civiliancasualties through the suppression policy While controversy continues over the nameand nature of the events the Koreangovernmentrsquos official recognition of the JejuApril 3 Incident civilian victims is a crucial stepon the road of historical settlement of KoreanWar massacres The recognition makes itpossible for most victims and their bereavedfamilies who were long stigmatized aslsquocommunist riotersrsquo to restore their honor

The Associated Pressrsquos reports on the No GunRi Massacre of some 300 civilians by USforces in July 1950 and the release of reportsconcerning similar incidents attracted publicconcern about mass killings by US forcesAfter the publication of the US Armyrsquos reportPresident Bill Clinton ordered an officialinvestigation and issued a statement of lsquoregretrsquofor the killing of Korean refugees but thisfailed to satisfy many Koreans who expected aformal apology[8] The US made a gesturetoward the victims by offering one milliondollars to erect a monument and created a$750000 scholarship fund However the USprovided no restitution to the victims and madeno judgment on charges that the massacre wascommitted under direct orders by US officersThe No Gun Ri victimsrsquo families rejected theUS gesture above all because it included noofficial apology but also because the smallscholarship fund was meant to cover all US-inflicted civilian casualties that occurred duringthe Korean War A No Gun Ri Peace Park isnow under construction by the Koreangovernment

The activities on behalf of the victims of Jejuand No Gun Ri attracted national attention andencouraged leaders of other bereaved familyassociations to petition the National Assemblyto sett le their grievances Howeverrecognizing the injustice of settling isolatedincidents while ignoring hundreds of other

cases they called for the enactment of theSpecial Act on Unveiling the Truth of theMassacres of Civilians in order to ldquocorrect thedistorted historyrdquo

After over half a century social movementshave emerged in response to the outcry of thebereaved families to campaign for therestoration of honor to the victims andsurvivors by rectifying the distorted historythat buried the truth Civil rights activistssympathetic lawmakers and the Roh Mu‐hyungovernment concluded that a special law withcomprehensive measures should be enacted toaddress the many outstanding issues ofmassacres After both the public andgovernment approved of this the FrameworkAct for the Truth and Reconci l iat ionCommission was drafted and passed

The Petitions 55 Years Later

The death of the head of a family brought totalruin to a house In order to survive manywidows remarried resulting in a situation inwhich some children became virtually orphanswho were cared for by grandparents orrelatives A lack of education property andsocial welfare reduced them to the loweststatus of Korean society

Victims and bereaved families deserve to beinformed of the truth of illegal killings andreceive official recognition by government andsociety The families also deserve sympathy andcompensation for their losses The primarystimulus for the government to initiate pastsettlement has been the bereaved familiesrsquopetitions The victimsrsquo familiesrsquo persistentdemand for truth‐confirmation and officialrecognition of victimization finally culminatedin 2005 in the establishment of the Truth andReconciliation Commission and has influencedits work

As the voices of the bereaved families opensthe way for Korean society to confront its tragicpast the primary objective for the families is to

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

7

restore their family membersrsquo dignity Thescope of their concern is usually restricted tofamilial problems The familiesrsquo long period ofsuffering and estrangement from societyprevented them from trusting nonfamilyrelationships While desiring officialrecognition of their parentsrsquo illegal executionand government abuse many struggled with adilemma Should they demand settlement fromthe same state that condoned or even orderedthe killings Although the governmentperpetrated the massacre and discriminatedagainst families the bereaved familiesrsquo onlyoption was to appeal to the same state forgrievance settlement The change of regimefrom dictatorship to democracy emboldenedmany to appeal

Since the Commissionrsquos inception bereavedfamilies have submitted petitions for truthverification More than five decades since manyof the victimsrsquo executions occurred thegovernment prepared to receive petitions frombereaved families In some cases all of thefamily members were killed in the incident orthe remaining members had either passedaway or relocated Without survivors orwitnesses the exact details of the victimizationremained unknown The fifty-year lapse of timeand the social dislocation of the era limited thenumber of petitioners For many families itwas too late to apply for truth verificationwhich is why they did not petition after theCommission called for applications

Some families who were well aware of theCommissionrsquos work were reluctant to applyremembering the oppression and abuse theysuffered under the military government in 1961and their subsequent estrangement fromsociety These traumatic experiences preventedmany from submitting petitions

People who had reached high socioeconomicstatus also refrained from applying based onthe fear that truth‐confirmation couldundermine their status For Koreans the

welfare of the child is most significant and theyforgo the restoration of dignity through truthverification due to the threat it poses to thedescendantsrsquo happiness Thus the act ofpetitioning for the most part has involved thedisadvantaged among victimized families

The experience of segregation ignorance andsuffering led to avoidance or resignation by thevictimsrsquo families This demonstrates the extentof their trauma It is estimated that the 7800applications received by the Commissionrepresent only ten percent of the total numberof victims

Investigation and Confirmation by theCommission

The basic questions raised by the victimsrsquofamily members concern the identity of thekiller the circumstances time and motive forthe killing The Commission must answerquestions beyond individual cases and alsoinvestigate a second type of truth ndash thehistorical and societal truth that includes thebackground cause situation perpetratorsmechanism of killing death toll identificationof victims and legal responsibilities of thegovernments involved While the Commissioncan confirm the legal political or moralresponsibility of the government and chain ofcommand the law includes no provisions forpunishing the perpetrators The law doesstipulate that ldquofor a perpetrator activelycooperating with the Commission by confessinghisher crime during the investigation andhisher confession is consistent with the facts ofthe investigation the TRC may recommend tothe relevant institution that immunity begranted or punishment be minimized duringcriminal investigation or trial procedurerdquo Butthis article is meaningless since the Truth andReconciliation Commission has no authority topunish perpetrators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

8

The Commission is assigned the task ofresponding to the bereaved families andKorean societyrsquos questions concerning pastincidents By verifying the truth of historicalevents the Commission seeks to fosterreconci l ia t ion between v ic t ims andperpetrators It is also entitled to offerrecommendations to reinstate the honor of thevictims to promote reconciliation betweenconfessed perpetrators and victims revisepolicies in order to prevent similar atrocitiesfrom reoccurrence and establish truth‐findingresearch institutes Although these duties arecritical the chief task of the Commission istruth confirmation and these results arepublished in a bi‐annual report

The verification of most petitions filed at theCommission has been difficult and protractedThis is partially due to the time passed sincethe inc idents occurred Despi te theCommissionrsquos careful approach to evidencethere remained constant doubts as to whetherthe truth could be verified without strongauthority to investigate alleged perpetratorsSince most concerned figures and witnesseshave already passed away and many relateddocuments have been systematically destroyedor disappeared it is almost impossible toreconstruct many events from fifty to sixtyyears ago This has not prevented theCommission from acquiring some crucialtest imonies and documents from the

government and this has contributed to thereconstruction of the countryrsquos uncoveredhistory[9]

Thorough listening to the bereaved familiesrsquostatements proved to be a crucial initial steptowards healing The investigatorsrsquo visits tovictim families were often the governmentrsquosfirst acknowledgement of the petitions Somepetitioners confided that they hadnrsquot told theirfamiliesrsquo tragic stories to anyone including theirchildren in more than 50 years When finalconfirmation of the truth regarding thepetit ionerrsquos parents is issued by theCommission and it is confirmed that innocentparents were ki l led by the state theCommission found that there was a great senseof relief from the burden of repressed traumaThis was clear in the mood and voices of thebereaved families during official memorialservice following the Commissionrsquos decision

According to the Commission the truth isexpected to be decided through deliberationand discussion among the commissioners Thecommissioners are expected to represent thedifferent social sectors of Korean societyincluding judicial religious and academiccircles The investigators conduct research onthe cases or incidents and submit a final reportafter investigating the petitionersrsquo statementswitnessesrsquo testimonies and related documentsWhile most human rights abuses cases areinvestigated on the basis of individual petitionsmassacre cases are generally divided intoseveral big incidents such as the NationalGuidance League Incident US bombing-related incidents or the collaborationincidents Afterwards the sub‐commissionexamines the results before transferring thecase to the Commission

The resolution of the Commission is reachedafter long discussions and disputes duringmeetings The Commissionrsquos final decision isthen issued and is entitled to be regarded asthe official verdict Although verification

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

9

follows a rigorous process to ensure fairnesseach party concerned may still reject it Whilemost petitioners accept the verdict somedismiss it as incomplete for example for thefa i lure to name responsib le of f ic ia lperpetrators whether Korean or AmericanPerpetrators who are military officials andpolice officers for their part often blame theCommission for tarnishing their honor sincethey have long officially enjoyed the position ofnational heroes in fighting against the NorthKorean communists In one case a group ofextreme rightists filed a lawsuit against thepresident of the Commission accusing him ofbetraying the truth and defaming their honorHowever the truth confirmed by theCommission should be valued because of itscareful investigation and deliberation

Remaining Tasks

The Commission may not be the only path forsettlement of historical grievances but itstruth‐confirmation activities constitute acornerstone The Commission must completeits remaining tasks and achieve closure byrevealing suppressed stories thereby leadingtoward reconciliation Upon successfullycompleting its mission the Commission willassist in building a more unified nation andprovide a model for other nations that chooseto pursue truth‐seeking activities

Subsequent measures are to be implementedby the Recommendations Follow‐up Boardunder the Ministry of Public Administration andSecurity However little progress has beenmade toward establishment of a truth‐findingresearch institute A specific example of theimportance of creating such an institute is the54 cases of civilian deaths from US Air Forcebombings (ten incidents) Recommendationsfrom the TRC include an official state-sponsored memorial event as well as effortsseeking compensation for the victims throughnegotiations with the US government Somemeasures like sponsoring memorial services

have been taken Both the South Korean andUS governments [10] however have failed torespond to other recommendations of theCommission

On January 24 of 2008 President Roh Mu‐hyunpublicly apologized for the governments illegalexercise of public power in the case of theUlsan National Guidance League victims andfamilies President Roh expressed thegovernments position regarding the settlementof historical issues and officially recognized theillegal exercise of power by past governmentsThis official recognition and presidentialapology to the Ulsan victims however was onlya symbolic expression before finishing his termand did not stipulate any following-upmeasures for the following government TheCommiss ion a l so needs to p lan theenshrinement of the victimsrsquo remains andprepare for future exhumation work byinstituting regulations or laws and securing thenecessary finances and procurement measuresDocumentation of investigative recordsincluding biannual reports to the NationalAssembly and the president and the utilizationof these materials are essential for futureacademic research and public promotion of theissues Relevant laws and systems must also besupplemented and all documented reportsfrom the Commissionrsquos investigations should besystematically categorized filed and stored atan institute such as the National Archives

The work of the Commission has been focusedon these two strong requests from thebereaved families and civil groups Howeverthe Commissionrsquos efforts to achieve these goalshas encountered resistance as a result of thepresent governmentrsquos strong influence onmajor media outlets The petitioners are nowasking for substantial visible results of theCommissionrsquos mandates and the need torespond to those demands remains the duty ofKorean law makers and society

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

4

victims and their families Korearsquos bereavedfamilies suffered similar pain as the statedisavowed the incidents and previousauthoritarian regimes discredited andrepressed those considered ldquoguilty byassociationrdquo This tactic was effectively used toexclude alleged political opponents

The forced amnesia under successive militarydictatorships silenced the survivors and thevictimsrsquo families preventing them fromrevealing their long untold stories After half acentury these survivors have yet to completelyrecover from their trauma The inhumanetreatment the survivors experienced continuesto haunt them and the memories of the eventsremain deeply etched into their hearts

Public negligence and silence in both theUnited States and Korea are not just the resultof the passage of time they are also due to thecollective amnesia imposed on society by thestate While scholars and journalists haveraised awareness of such issues as Korean Warmassacres it was essential that an officialinstitution be given appropriate authority toinvestigate and verify these cases and informthe public This was the mandate of the Truthand Reconciliation Commission Only after theCommission completes the truth verificationprocess can people begin to restore the honorof the victims and conduct memorial servicesfor the dead

From Isolated Cases of Dealing with thePast to Comprehensive Redress

After the demise of the military regime (1987)bereaved families of Korean War massacreswere able to give voice to long-repressedgrievances The victimsrsquo families of theGuchang and Jeju April 3 massacres initiatedthe practice of revealing their suffering on theplatform of political democratization

The Guchang incident of February 6-9 1951was one of many massacres that occurred earlyin the Korean War[5] Shortly after themassacre the events surrounding it weredisclosed by Jung‐mok Shin a NationalAssembly member representing Guchang whorisked his life to reveal the facts The Rheegovernment responded to public outrage at themassacre of civilians by lsquogesturingrsquo towardpunishing the commanders responsibleHowever they were released immediately andreceived amnesty within just two years whilethe victims were not rehabilitated and the truthof the incident remained concealed AfterPresident Rhee resigned following the April 191960 Student Uprising the surviving familiesassembled to reveal the facts and identify thelocal police and officials who had collaboratedwith the military

Under such democratic conditions many moresurvivors and family members of Korean Warvictims began to demand settlement of theirgrievances They called on the government toprosecute the perpetrators and investigate themassacres The National Assembly quicklyorganized a special committee to probe theincident and later issued a report They alsocalled on the Assembly to enact a law tocomprehensively investigate the incidents andreconcile the victimsrsquo families and survivorsHowever these efforts abruptly ended on May16 1961 when the military staged a coup TheNational Assemblyrsquos investigation immediatelyended and leading social movement figureswere arrested as pro-communist agitators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

5

Their call for full clarification of the massacresand relief to the survivorsrsquo suffering wassilenced

The Jeju April 3 incident of 1948 occurredshortly before the first general election andwas unique in the number of victims and thelasting effect on the Jeju Island [6] Embeddedin a strong collective regional identity the Jejupeoplersquos tragedy became a popular theme fornovels and poems While the victimsrsquo familiesfought alone to settle the Guchang incident theJeju Incident succeeded in drawing the activesupport of intellectuals and activists andreceived wide local media attention Itshistorical importance in the road to theestablishment of the divided governments inthe Korean peninsula and the strong sense ofcollective victimization of Jeju peoplecontributed to making it a national agendaafter democratization The transformation ofthe political and ideological landscapeconditioned by democratization along withsupporters petitioning for reconciliationemboldened the surviving families to divulgetheir stories Scholars and journalists haveconfirmed that most of the victims of theIncident were innocent civilians whose storiesare now told in the April 3 Peace Park andMemorial Museum which opened in 2008

Prayers at the wall inscribing the names ofthe estimated 30000 Jeju victims in the

Jeju Peace Memorial Park

Over the opposition of right‐wing forcescivilian governments under Kim Young‐Samand Kim Dae‐jung eventually passed severallaws to settle these two unresolved historicalcases The Guchang Special Law was passed in1996 with the objective of restoring the honorof the victims This was followed by the JejuSpecial law Special Act for Investigating theJeju April 3 Incident and Recovering the Honorof Victims (2000) The final law Restoring theHonor of the Vict ims was enacted toinvestigate the facts and restore the honor ofv ic t ims who had long been brandedcommunists

The two special committees tasked withinvestigating and restoring the honor of thevictims faced difficult assignments In accordwith the Guchang Special Law the tasks ofrestoring the honor of victims and establishinga memorial are nearly complete and thevictimsrsquo families are currently demandingreparations The Jeju committee also completedits investigation and began preparing forreconciliation However doubts remain as towhether the Jeju committee can fully reveal thetruth of the Jeju Massacres and and identitiesof the victims The most sensitive investigationhas involved the role of the US military duringcounterinsurgency operations against rebelforces While the final report failed to confirmor spell out a US role it concluded that 86of the 14373 deaths reported were committedby security forces including the NationalGuard National Police and rightist groups[7]

President Roh Mu‐hyun visited Jeju on April 32006 and officially apologized for the abusesperpetrated by the previous government andexpressed his condolences to the Jeju April 3victims The report officially changed theexisting name of the incident from the April 3Jeju Rebellion Incident to the ldquoJeju April 3Incidentrdquo The official name change fromlsquoRebellion Incidentrsquo to lsquoIncidentrsquo signified a re-understanding of history Under successivedictatorships the South Korean government

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

6

had highlighted the aspect of guerilla rebellionagainst the US designed state-building in adivided Korea while neglecting the civiliancasualties through the suppression policy While controversy continues over the nameand nature of the events the Koreangovernmentrsquos official recognition of the JejuApril 3 Incident civilian victims is a crucial stepon the road of historical settlement of KoreanWar massacres The recognition makes itpossible for most victims and their bereavedfamilies who were long stigmatized aslsquocommunist riotersrsquo to restore their honor

The Associated Pressrsquos reports on the No GunRi Massacre of some 300 civilians by USforces in July 1950 and the release of reportsconcerning similar incidents attracted publicconcern about mass killings by US forcesAfter the publication of the US Armyrsquos reportPresident Bill Clinton ordered an officialinvestigation and issued a statement of lsquoregretrsquofor the killing of Korean refugees but thisfailed to satisfy many Koreans who expected aformal apology[8] The US made a gesturetoward the victims by offering one milliondollars to erect a monument and created a$750000 scholarship fund However the USprovided no restitution to the victims and madeno judgment on charges that the massacre wascommitted under direct orders by US officersThe No Gun Ri victimsrsquo families rejected theUS gesture above all because it included noofficial apology but also because the smallscholarship fund was meant to cover all US-inflicted civilian casualties that occurred duringthe Korean War A No Gun Ri Peace Park isnow under construction by the Koreangovernment

The activities on behalf of the victims of Jejuand No Gun Ri attracted national attention andencouraged leaders of other bereaved familyassociations to petition the National Assemblyto sett le their grievances Howeverrecognizing the injustice of settling isolatedincidents while ignoring hundreds of other

cases they called for the enactment of theSpecial Act on Unveiling the Truth of theMassacres of Civilians in order to ldquocorrect thedistorted historyrdquo

After over half a century social movementshave emerged in response to the outcry of thebereaved families to campaign for therestoration of honor to the victims andsurvivors by rectifying the distorted historythat buried the truth Civil rights activistssympathetic lawmakers and the Roh Mu‐hyungovernment concluded that a special law withcomprehensive measures should be enacted toaddress the many outstanding issues ofmassacres After both the public andgovernment approved of this the FrameworkAct for the Truth and Reconci l iat ionCommission was drafted and passed

The Petitions 55 Years Later

The death of the head of a family brought totalruin to a house In order to survive manywidows remarried resulting in a situation inwhich some children became virtually orphanswho were cared for by grandparents orrelatives A lack of education property andsocial welfare reduced them to the loweststatus of Korean society

Victims and bereaved families deserve to beinformed of the truth of illegal killings andreceive official recognition by government andsociety The families also deserve sympathy andcompensation for their losses The primarystimulus for the government to initiate pastsettlement has been the bereaved familiesrsquopetitions The victimsrsquo familiesrsquo persistentdemand for truth‐confirmation and officialrecognition of victimization finally culminatedin 2005 in the establishment of the Truth andReconciliation Commission and has influencedits work

As the voices of the bereaved families opensthe way for Korean society to confront its tragicpast the primary objective for the families is to

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

7

restore their family membersrsquo dignity Thescope of their concern is usually restricted tofamilial problems The familiesrsquo long period ofsuffering and estrangement from societyprevented them from trusting nonfamilyrelationships While desiring officialrecognition of their parentsrsquo illegal executionand government abuse many struggled with adilemma Should they demand settlement fromthe same state that condoned or even orderedthe killings Although the governmentperpetrated the massacre and discriminatedagainst families the bereaved familiesrsquo onlyoption was to appeal to the same state forgrievance settlement The change of regimefrom dictatorship to democracy emboldenedmany to appeal

Since the Commissionrsquos inception bereavedfamilies have submitted petitions for truthverification More than five decades since manyof the victimsrsquo executions occurred thegovernment prepared to receive petitions frombereaved families In some cases all of thefamily members were killed in the incident orthe remaining members had either passedaway or relocated Without survivors orwitnesses the exact details of the victimizationremained unknown The fifty-year lapse of timeand the social dislocation of the era limited thenumber of petitioners For many families itwas too late to apply for truth verificationwhich is why they did not petition after theCommission called for applications

Some families who were well aware of theCommissionrsquos work were reluctant to applyremembering the oppression and abuse theysuffered under the military government in 1961and their subsequent estrangement fromsociety These traumatic experiences preventedmany from submitting petitions

People who had reached high socioeconomicstatus also refrained from applying based onthe fear that truth‐confirmation couldundermine their status For Koreans the

welfare of the child is most significant and theyforgo the restoration of dignity through truthverification due to the threat it poses to thedescendantsrsquo happiness Thus the act ofpetitioning for the most part has involved thedisadvantaged among victimized families

The experience of segregation ignorance andsuffering led to avoidance or resignation by thevictimsrsquo families This demonstrates the extentof their trauma It is estimated that the 7800applications received by the Commissionrepresent only ten percent of the total numberof victims

Investigation and Confirmation by theCommission

The basic questions raised by the victimsrsquofamily members concern the identity of thekiller the circumstances time and motive forthe killing The Commission must answerquestions beyond individual cases and alsoinvestigate a second type of truth ndash thehistorical and societal truth that includes thebackground cause situation perpetratorsmechanism of killing death toll identificationof victims and legal responsibilities of thegovernments involved While the Commissioncan confirm the legal political or moralresponsibility of the government and chain ofcommand the law includes no provisions forpunishing the perpetrators The law doesstipulate that ldquofor a perpetrator activelycooperating with the Commission by confessinghisher crime during the investigation andhisher confession is consistent with the facts ofthe investigation the TRC may recommend tothe relevant institution that immunity begranted or punishment be minimized duringcriminal investigation or trial procedurerdquo Butthis article is meaningless since the Truth andReconciliation Commission has no authority topunish perpetrators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

8

The Commission is assigned the task ofresponding to the bereaved families andKorean societyrsquos questions concerning pastincidents By verifying the truth of historicalevents the Commission seeks to fosterreconci l ia t ion between v ic t ims andperpetrators It is also entitled to offerrecommendations to reinstate the honor of thevictims to promote reconciliation betweenconfessed perpetrators and victims revisepolicies in order to prevent similar atrocitiesfrom reoccurrence and establish truth‐findingresearch institutes Although these duties arecritical the chief task of the Commission istruth confirmation and these results arepublished in a bi‐annual report

The verification of most petitions filed at theCommission has been difficult and protractedThis is partially due to the time passed sincethe inc idents occurred Despi te theCommissionrsquos careful approach to evidencethere remained constant doubts as to whetherthe truth could be verified without strongauthority to investigate alleged perpetratorsSince most concerned figures and witnesseshave already passed away and many relateddocuments have been systematically destroyedor disappeared it is almost impossible toreconstruct many events from fifty to sixtyyears ago This has not prevented theCommission from acquiring some crucialtest imonies and documents from the

government and this has contributed to thereconstruction of the countryrsquos uncoveredhistory[9]

Thorough listening to the bereaved familiesrsquostatements proved to be a crucial initial steptowards healing The investigatorsrsquo visits tovictim families were often the governmentrsquosfirst acknowledgement of the petitions Somepetitioners confided that they hadnrsquot told theirfamiliesrsquo tragic stories to anyone including theirchildren in more than 50 years When finalconfirmation of the truth regarding thepetit ionerrsquos parents is issued by theCommission and it is confirmed that innocentparents were ki l led by the state theCommission found that there was a great senseof relief from the burden of repressed traumaThis was clear in the mood and voices of thebereaved families during official memorialservice following the Commissionrsquos decision

According to the Commission the truth isexpected to be decided through deliberationand discussion among the commissioners Thecommissioners are expected to represent thedifferent social sectors of Korean societyincluding judicial religious and academiccircles The investigators conduct research onthe cases or incidents and submit a final reportafter investigating the petitionersrsquo statementswitnessesrsquo testimonies and related documentsWhile most human rights abuses cases areinvestigated on the basis of individual petitionsmassacre cases are generally divided intoseveral big incidents such as the NationalGuidance League Incident US bombing-related incidents or the collaborationincidents Afterwards the sub‐commissionexamines the results before transferring thecase to the Commission

The resolution of the Commission is reachedafter long discussions and disputes duringmeetings The Commissionrsquos final decision isthen issued and is entitled to be regarded asthe official verdict Although verification

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

9

follows a rigorous process to ensure fairnesseach party concerned may still reject it Whilemost petitioners accept the verdict somedismiss it as incomplete for example for thefa i lure to name responsib le of f ic ia lperpetrators whether Korean or AmericanPerpetrators who are military officials andpolice officers for their part often blame theCommission for tarnishing their honor sincethey have long officially enjoyed the position ofnational heroes in fighting against the NorthKorean communists In one case a group ofextreme rightists filed a lawsuit against thepresident of the Commission accusing him ofbetraying the truth and defaming their honorHowever the truth confirmed by theCommission should be valued because of itscareful investigation and deliberation

Remaining Tasks

The Commission may not be the only path forsettlement of historical grievances but itstruth‐confirmation activities constitute acornerstone The Commission must completeits remaining tasks and achieve closure byrevealing suppressed stories thereby leadingtoward reconciliation Upon successfullycompleting its mission the Commission willassist in building a more unified nation andprovide a model for other nations that chooseto pursue truth‐seeking activities

Subsequent measures are to be implementedby the Recommendations Follow‐up Boardunder the Ministry of Public Administration andSecurity However little progress has beenmade toward establishment of a truth‐findingresearch institute A specific example of theimportance of creating such an institute is the54 cases of civilian deaths from US Air Forcebombings (ten incidents) Recommendationsfrom the TRC include an official state-sponsored memorial event as well as effortsseeking compensation for the victims throughnegotiations with the US government Somemeasures like sponsoring memorial services

have been taken Both the South Korean andUS governments [10] however have failed torespond to other recommendations of theCommission

On January 24 of 2008 President Roh Mu‐hyunpublicly apologized for the governments illegalexercise of public power in the case of theUlsan National Guidance League victims andfamilies President Roh expressed thegovernments position regarding the settlementof historical issues and officially recognized theillegal exercise of power by past governmentsThis official recognition and presidentialapology to the Ulsan victims however was onlya symbolic expression before finishing his termand did not stipulate any following-upmeasures for the following government TheCommiss ion a l so needs to p lan theenshrinement of the victimsrsquo remains andprepare for future exhumation work byinstituting regulations or laws and securing thenecessary finances and procurement measuresDocumentation of investigative recordsincluding biannual reports to the NationalAssembly and the president and the utilizationof these materials are essential for futureacademic research and public promotion of theissues Relevant laws and systems must also besupplemented and all documented reportsfrom the Commissionrsquos investigations should besystematically categorized filed and stored atan institute such as the National Archives

The work of the Commission has been focusedon these two strong requests from thebereaved families and civil groups Howeverthe Commissionrsquos efforts to achieve these goalshas encountered resistance as a result of thepresent governmentrsquos strong influence onmajor media outlets The petitioners are nowasking for substantial visible results of theCommissionrsquos mandates and the need torespond to those demands remains the duty ofKorean law makers and society

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

5

Their call for full clarification of the massacresand relief to the survivorsrsquo suffering wassilenced

The Jeju April 3 incident of 1948 occurredshortly before the first general election andwas unique in the number of victims and thelasting effect on the Jeju Island [6] Embeddedin a strong collective regional identity the Jejupeoplersquos tragedy became a popular theme fornovels and poems While the victimsrsquo familiesfought alone to settle the Guchang incident theJeju Incident succeeded in drawing the activesupport of intellectuals and activists andreceived wide local media attention Itshistorical importance in the road to theestablishment of the divided governments inthe Korean peninsula and the strong sense ofcollective victimization of Jeju peoplecontributed to making it a national agendaafter democratization The transformation ofthe political and ideological landscapeconditioned by democratization along withsupporters petitioning for reconciliationemboldened the surviving families to divulgetheir stories Scholars and journalists haveconfirmed that most of the victims of theIncident were innocent civilians whose storiesare now told in the April 3 Peace Park andMemorial Museum which opened in 2008

Prayers at the wall inscribing the names ofthe estimated 30000 Jeju victims in the

Jeju Peace Memorial Park

Over the opposition of right‐wing forcescivilian governments under Kim Young‐Samand Kim Dae‐jung eventually passed severallaws to settle these two unresolved historicalcases The Guchang Special Law was passed in1996 with the objective of restoring the honorof the victims This was followed by the JejuSpecial law Special Act for Investigating theJeju April 3 Incident and Recovering the Honorof Victims (2000) The final law Restoring theHonor of the Vict ims was enacted toinvestigate the facts and restore the honor ofv ic t ims who had long been brandedcommunists

The two special committees tasked withinvestigating and restoring the honor of thevictims faced difficult assignments In accordwith the Guchang Special Law the tasks ofrestoring the honor of victims and establishinga memorial are nearly complete and thevictimsrsquo families are currently demandingreparations The Jeju committee also completedits investigation and began preparing forreconciliation However doubts remain as towhether the Jeju committee can fully reveal thetruth of the Jeju Massacres and and identitiesof the victims The most sensitive investigationhas involved the role of the US military duringcounterinsurgency operations against rebelforces While the final report failed to confirmor spell out a US role it concluded that 86of the 14373 deaths reported were committedby security forces including the NationalGuard National Police and rightist groups[7]

President Roh Mu‐hyun visited Jeju on April 32006 and officially apologized for the abusesperpetrated by the previous government andexpressed his condolences to the Jeju April 3victims The report officially changed theexisting name of the incident from the April 3Jeju Rebellion Incident to the ldquoJeju April 3Incidentrdquo The official name change fromlsquoRebellion Incidentrsquo to lsquoIncidentrsquo signified a re-understanding of history Under successivedictatorships the South Korean government

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

6

had highlighted the aspect of guerilla rebellionagainst the US designed state-building in adivided Korea while neglecting the civiliancasualties through the suppression policy While controversy continues over the nameand nature of the events the Koreangovernmentrsquos official recognition of the JejuApril 3 Incident civilian victims is a crucial stepon the road of historical settlement of KoreanWar massacres The recognition makes itpossible for most victims and their bereavedfamilies who were long stigmatized aslsquocommunist riotersrsquo to restore their honor

The Associated Pressrsquos reports on the No GunRi Massacre of some 300 civilians by USforces in July 1950 and the release of reportsconcerning similar incidents attracted publicconcern about mass killings by US forcesAfter the publication of the US Armyrsquos reportPresident Bill Clinton ordered an officialinvestigation and issued a statement of lsquoregretrsquofor the killing of Korean refugees but thisfailed to satisfy many Koreans who expected aformal apology[8] The US made a gesturetoward the victims by offering one milliondollars to erect a monument and created a$750000 scholarship fund However the USprovided no restitution to the victims and madeno judgment on charges that the massacre wascommitted under direct orders by US officersThe No Gun Ri victimsrsquo families rejected theUS gesture above all because it included noofficial apology but also because the smallscholarship fund was meant to cover all US-inflicted civilian casualties that occurred duringthe Korean War A No Gun Ri Peace Park isnow under construction by the Koreangovernment

The activities on behalf of the victims of Jejuand No Gun Ri attracted national attention andencouraged leaders of other bereaved familyassociations to petition the National Assemblyto sett le their grievances Howeverrecognizing the injustice of settling isolatedincidents while ignoring hundreds of other

cases they called for the enactment of theSpecial Act on Unveiling the Truth of theMassacres of Civilians in order to ldquocorrect thedistorted historyrdquo

After over half a century social movementshave emerged in response to the outcry of thebereaved families to campaign for therestoration of honor to the victims andsurvivors by rectifying the distorted historythat buried the truth Civil rights activistssympathetic lawmakers and the Roh Mu‐hyungovernment concluded that a special law withcomprehensive measures should be enacted toaddress the many outstanding issues ofmassacres After both the public andgovernment approved of this the FrameworkAct for the Truth and Reconci l iat ionCommission was drafted and passed

The Petitions 55 Years Later

The death of the head of a family brought totalruin to a house In order to survive manywidows remarried resulting in a situation inwhich some children became virtually orphanswho were cared for by grandparents orrelatives A lack of education property andsocial welfare reduced them to the loweststatus of Korean society

Victims and bereaved families deserve to beinformed of the truth of illegal killings andreceive official recognition by government andsociety The families also deserve sympathy andcompensation for their losses The primarystimulus for the government to initiate pastsettlement has been the bereaved familiesrsquopetitions The victimsrsquo familiesrsquo persistentdemand for truth‐confirmation and officialrecognition of victimization finally culminatedin 2005 in the establishment of the Truth andReconciliation Commission and has influencedits work

As the voices of the bereaved families opensthe way for Korean society to confront its tragicpast the primary objective for the families is to

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

7

restore their family membersrsquo dignity Thescope of their concern is usually restricted tofamilial problems The familiesrsquo long period ofsuffering and estrangement from societyprevented them from trusting nonfamilyrelationships While desiring officialrecognition of their parentsrsquo illegal executionand government abuse many struggled with adilemma Should they demand settlement fromthe same state that condoned or even orderedthe killings Although the governmentperpetrated the massacre and discriminatedagainst families the bereaved familiesrsquo onlyoption was to appeal to the same state forgrievance settlement The change of regimefrom dictatorship to democracy emboldenedmany to appeal

Since the Commissionrsquos inception bereavedfamilies have submitted petitions for truthverification More than five decades since manyof the victimsrsquo executions occurred thegovernment prepared to receive petitions frombereaved families In some cases all of thefamily members were killed in the incident orthe remaining members had either passedaway or relocated Without survivors orwitnesses the exact details of the victimizationremained unknown The fifty-year lapse of timeand the social dislocation of the era limited thenumber of petitioners For many families itwas too late to apply for truth verificationwhich is why they did not petition after theCommission called for applications

Some families who were well aware of theCommissionrsquos work were reluctant to applyremembering the oppression and abuse theysuffered under the military government in 1961and their subsequent estrangement fromsociety These traumatic experiences preventedmany from submitting petitions

People who had reached high socioeconomicstatus also refrained from applying based onthe fear that truth‐confirmation couldundermine their status For Koreans the

welfare of the child is most significant and theyforgo the restoration of dignity through truthverification due to the threat it poses to thedescendantsrsquo happiness Thus the act ofpetitioning for the most part has involved thedisadvantaged among victimized families

The experience of segregation ignorance andsuffering led to avoidance or resignation by thevictimsrsquo families This demonstrates the extentof their trauma It is estimated that the 7800applications received by the Commissionrepresent only ten percent of the total numberof victims

Investigation and Confirmation by theCommission

The basic questions raised by the victimsrsquofamily members concern the identity of thekiller the circumstances time and motive forthe killing The Commission must answerquestions beyond individual cases and alsoinvestigate a second type of truth ndash thehistorical and societal truth that includes thebackground cause situation perpetratorsmechanism of killing death toll identificationof victims and legal responsibilities of thegovernments involved While the Commissioncan confirm the legal political or moralresponsibility of the government and chain ofcommand the law includes no provisions forpunishing the perpetrators The law doesstipulate that ldquofor a perpetrator activelycooperating with the Commission by confessinghisher crime during the investigation andhisher confession is consistent with the facts ofthe investigation the TRC may recommend tothe relevant institution that immunity begranted or punishment be minimized duringcriminal investigation or trial procedurerdquo Butthis article is meaningless since the Truth andReconciliation Commission has no authority topunish perpetrators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

8

The Commission is assigned the task ofresponding to the bereaved families andKorean societyrsquos questions concerning pastincidents By verifying the truth of historicalevents the Commission seeks to fosterreconci l ia t ion between v ic t ims andperpetrators It is also entitled to offerrecommendations to reinstate the honor of thevictims to promote reconciliation betweenconfessed perpetrators and victims revisepolicies in order to prevent similar atrocitiesfrom reoccurrence and establish truth‐findingresearch institutes Although these duties arecritical the chief task of the Commission istruth confirmation and these results arepublished in a bi‐annual report

The verification of most petitions filed at theCommission has been difficult and protractedThis is partially due to the time passed sincethe inc idents occurred Despi te theCommissionrsquos careful approach to evidencethere remained constant doubts as to whetherthe truth could be verified without strongauthority to investigate alleged perpetratorsSince most concerned figures and witnesseshave already passed away and many relateddocuments have been systematically destroyedor disappeared it is almost impossible toreconstruct many events from fifty to sixtyyears ago This has not prevented theCommission from acquiring some crucialtest imonies and documents from the

government and this has contributed to thereconstruction of the countryrsquos uncoveredhistory[9]

Thorough listening to the bereaved familiesrsquostatements proved to be a crucial initial steptowards healing The investigatorsrsquo visits tovictim families were often the governmentrsquosfirst acknowledgement of the petitions Somepetitioners confided that they hadnrsquot told theirfamiliesrsquo tragic stories to anyone including theirchildren in more than 50 years When finalconfirmation of the truth regarding thepetit ionerrsquos parents is issued by theCommission and it is confirmed that innocentparents were ki l led by the state theCommission found that there was a great senseof relief from the burden of repressed traumaThis was clear in the mood and voices of thebereaved families during official memorialservice following the Commissionrsquos decision

According to the Commission the truth isexpected to be decided through deliberationand discussion among the commissioners Thecommissioners are expected to represent thedifferent social sectors of Korean societyincluding judicial religious and academiccircles The investigators conduct research onthe cases or incidents and submit a final reportafter investigating the petitionersrsquo statementswitnessesrsquo testimonies and related documentsWhile most human rights abuses cases areinvestigated on the basis of individual petitionsmassacre cases are generally divided intoseveral big incidents such as the NationalGuidance League Incident US bombing-related incidents or the collaborationincidents Afterwards the sub‐commissionexamines the results before transferring thecase to the Commission

The resolution of the Commission is reachedafter long discussions and disputes duringmeetings The Commissionrsquos final decision isthen issued and is entitled to be regarded asthe official verdict Although verification

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

9

follows a rigorous process to ensure fairnesseach party concerned may still reject it Whilemost petitioners accept the verdict somedismiss it as incomplete for example for thefa i lure to name responsib le of f ic ia lperpetrators whether Korean or AmericanPerpetrators who are military officials andpolice officers for their part often blame theCommission for tarnishing their honor sincethey have long officially enjoyed the position ofnational heroes in fighting against the NorthKorean communists In one case a group ofextreme rightists filed a lawsuit against thepresident of the Commission accusing him ofbetraying the truth and defaming their honorHowever the truth confirmed by theCommission should be valued because of itscareful investigation and deliberation

Remaining Tasks

The Commission may not be the only path forsettlement of historical grievances but itstruth‐confirmation activities constitute acornerstone The Commission must completeits remaining tasks and achieve closure byrevealing suppressed stories thereby leadingtoward reconciliation Upon successfullycompleting its mission the Commission willassist in building a more unified nation andprovide a model for other nations that chooseto pursue truth‐seeking activities

Subsequent measures are to be implementedby the Recommendations Follow‐up Boardunder the Ministry of Public Administration andSecurity However little progress has beenmade toward establishment of a truth‐findingresearch institute A specific example of theimportance of creating such an institute is the54 cases of civilian deaths from US Air Forcebombings (ten incidents) Recommendationsfrom the TRC include an official state-sponsored memorial event as well as effortsseeking compensation for the victims throughnegotiations with the US government Somemeasures like sponsoring memorial services

have been taken Both the South Korean andUS governments [10] however have failed torespond to other recommendations of theCommission

On January 24 of 2008 President Roh Mu‐hyunpublicly apologized for the governments illegalexercise of public power in the case of theUlsan National Guidance League victims andfamilies President Roh expressed thegovernments position regarding the settlementof historical issues and officially recognized theillegal exercise of power by past governmentsThis official recognition and presidentialapology to the Ulsan victims however was onlya symbolic expression before finishing his termand did not stipulate any following-upmeasures for the following government TheCommiss ion a l so needs to p lan theenshrinement of the victimsrsquo remains andprepare for future exhumation work byinstituting regulations or laws and securing thenecessary finances and procurement measuresDocumentation of investigative recordsincluding biannual reports to the NationalAssembly and the president and the utilizationof these materials are essential for futureacademic research and public promotion of theissues Relevant laws and systems must also besupplemented and all documented reportsfrom the Commissionrsquos investigations should besystematically categorized filed and stored atan institute such as the National Archives

The work of the Commission has been focusedon these two strong requests from thebereaved families and civil groups Howeverthe Commissionrsquos efforts to achieve these goalshas encountered resistance as a result of thepresent governmentrsquos strong influence onmajor media outlets The petitioners are nowasking for substantial visible results of theCommissionrsquos mandates and the need torespond to those demands remains the duty ofKorean law makers and society

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

6

had highlighted the aspect of guerilla rebellionagainst the US designed state-building in adivided Korea while neglecting the civiliancasualties through the suppression policy While controversy continues over the nameand nature of the events the Koreangovernmentrsquos official recognition of the JejuApril 3 Incident civilian victims is a crucial stepon the road of historical settlement of KoreanWar massacres The recognition makes itpossible for most victims and their bereavedfamilies who were long stigmatized aslsquocommunist riotersrsquo to restore their honor

The Associated Pressrsquos reports on the No GunRi Massacre of some 300 civilians by USforces in July 1950 and the release of reportsconcerning similar incidents attracted publicconcern about mass killings by US forcesAfter the publication of the US Armyrsquos reportPresident Bill Clinton ordered an officialinvestigation and issued a statement of lsquoregretrsquofor the killing of Korean refugees but thisfailed to satisfy many Koreans who expected aformal apology[8] The US made a gesturetoward the victims by offering one milliondollars to erect a monument and created a$750000 scholarship fund However the USprovided no restitution to the victims and madeno judgment on charges that the massacre wascommitted under direct orders by US officersThe No Gun Ri victimsrsquo families rejected theUS gesture above all because it included noofficial apology but also because the smallscholarship fund was meant to cover all US-inflicted civilian casualties that occurred duringthe Korean War A No Gun Ri Peace Park isnow under construction by the Koreangovernment

The activities on behalf of the victims of Jejuand No Gun Ri attracted national attention andencouraged leaders of other bereaved familyassociations to petition the National Assemblyto sett le their grievances Howeverrecognizing the injustice of settling isolatedincidents while ignoring hundreds of other

cases they called for the enactment of theSpecial Act on Unveiling the Truth of theMassacres of Civilians in order to ldquocorrect thedistorted historyrdquo

After over half a century social movementshave emerged in response to the outcry of thebereaved families to campaign for therestoration of honor to the victims andsurvivors by rectifying the distorted historythat buried the truth Civil rights activistssympathetic lawmakers and the Roh Mu‐hyungovernment concluded that a special law withcomprehensive measures should be enacted toaddress the many outstanding issues ofmassacres After both the public andgovernment approved of this the FrameworkAct for the Truth and Reconci l iat ionCommission was drafted and passed

The Petitions 55 Years Later

The death of the head of a family brought totalruin to a house In order to survive manywidows remarried resulting in a situation inwhich some children became virtually orphanswho were cared for by grandparents orrelatives A lack of education property andsocial welfare reduced them to the loweststatus of Korean society

Victims and bereaved families deserve to beinformed of the truth of illegal killings andreceive official recognition by government andsociety The families also deserve sympathy andcompensation for their losses The primarystimulus for the government to initiate pastsettlement has been the bereaved familiesrsquopetitions The victimsrsquo familiesrsquo persistentdemand for truth‐confirmation and officialrecognition of victimization finally culminatedin 2005 in the establishment of the Truth andReconciliation Commission and has influencedits work

As the voices of the bereaved families opensthe way for Korean society to confront its tragicpast the primary objective for the families is to

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

7

restore their family membersrsquo dignity Thescope of their concern is usually restricted tofamilial problems The familiesrsquo long period ofsuffering and estrangement from societyprevented them from trusting nonfamilyrelationships While desiring officialrecognition of their parentsrsquo illegal executionand government abuse many struggled with adilemma Should they demand settlement fromthe same state that condoned or even orderedthe killings Although the governmentperpetrated the massacre and discriminatedagainst families the bereaved familiesrsquo onlyoption was to appeal to the same state forgrievance settlement The change of regimefrom dictatorship to democracy emboldenedmany to appeal

Since the Commissionrsquos inception bereavedfamilies have submitted petitions for truthverification More than five decades since manyof the victimsrsquo executions occurred thegovernment prepared to receive petitions frombereaved families In some cases all of thefamily members were killed in the incident orthe remaining members had either passedaway or relocated Without survivors orwitnesses the exact details of the victimizationremained unknown The fifty-year lapse of timeand the social dislocation of the era limited thenumber of petitioners For many families itwas too late to apply for truth verificationwhich is why they did not petition after theCommission called for applications

Some families who were well aware of theCommissionrsquos work were reluctant to applyremembering the oppression and abuse theysuffered under the military government in 1961and their subsequent estrangement fromsociety These traumatic experiences preventedmany from submitting petitions

People who had reached high socioeconomicstatus also refrained from applying based onthe fear that truth‐confirmation couldundermine their status For Koreans the

welfare of the child is most significant and theyforgo the restoration of dignity through truthverification due to the threat it poses to thedescendantsrsquo happiness Thus the act ofpetitioning for the most part has involved thedisadvantaged among victimized families

The experience of segregation ignorance andsuffering led to avoidance or resignation by thevictimsrsquo families This demonstrates the extentof their trauma It is estimated that the 7800applications received by the Commissionrepresent only ten percent of the total numberof victims

Investigation and Confirmation by theCommission

The basic questions raised by the victimsrsquofamily members concern the identity of thekiller the circumstances time and motive forthe killing The Commission must answerquestions beyond individual cases and alsoinvestigate a second type of truth ndash thehistorical and societal truth that includes thebackground cause situation perpetratorsmechanism of killing death toll identificationof victims and legal responsibilities of thegovernments involved While the Commissioncan confirm the legal political or moralresponsibility of the government and chain ofcommand the law includes no provisions forpunishing the perpetrators The law doesstipulate that ldquofor a perpetrator activelycooperating with the Commission by confessinghisher crime during the investigation andhisher confession is consistent with the facts ofthe investigation the TRC may recommend tothe relevant institution that immunity begranted or punishment be minimized duringcriminal investigation or trial procedurerdquo Butthis article is meaningless since the Truth andReconciliation Commission has no authority topunish perpetrators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

8

The Commission is assigned the task ofresponding to the bereaved families andKorean societyrsquos questions concerning pastincidents By verifying the truth of historicalevents the Commission seeks to fosterreconci l ia t ion between v ic t ims andperpetrators It is also entitled to offerrecommendations to reinstate the honor of thevictims to promote reconciliation betweenconfessed perpetrators and victims revisepolicies in order to prevent similar atrocitiesfrom reoccurrence and establish truth‐findingresearch institutes Although these duties arecritical the chief task of the Commission istruth confirmation and these results arepublished in a bi‐annual report

The verification of most petitions filed at theCommission has been difficult and protractedThis is partially due to the time passed sincethe inc idents occurred Despi te theCommissionrsquos careful approach to evidencethere remained constant doubts as to whetherthe truth could be verified without strongauthority to investigate alleged perpetratorsSince most concerned figures and witnesseshave already passed away and many relateddocuments have been systematically destroyedor disappeared it is almost impossible toreconstruct many events from fifty to sixtyyears ago This has not prevented theCommission from acquiring some crucialtest imonies and documents from the

government and this has contributed to thereconstruction of the countryrsquos uncoveredhistory[9]

Thorough listening to the bereaved familiesrsquostatements proved to be a crucial initial steptowards healing The investigatorsrsquo visits tovictim families were often the governmentrsquosfirst acknowledgement of the petitions Somepetitioners confided that they hadnrsquot told theirfamiliesrsquo tragic stories to anyone including theirchildren in more than 50 years When finalconfirmation of the truth regarding thepetit ionerrsquos parents is issued by theCommission and it is confirmed that innocentparents were ki l led by the state theCommission found that there was a great senseof relief from the burden of repressed traumaThis was clear in the mood and voices of thebereaved families during official memorialservice following the Commissionrsquos decision

According to the Commission the truth isexpected to be decided through deliberationand discussion among the commissioners Thecommissioners are expected to represent thedifferent social sectors of Korean societyincluding judicial religious and academiccircles The investigators conduct research onthe cases or incidents and submit a final reportafter investigating the petitionersrsquo statementswitnessesrsquo testimonies and related documentsWhile most human rights abuses cases areinvestigated on the basis of individual petitionsmassacre cases are generally divided intoseveral big incidents such as the NationalGuidance League Incident US bombing-related incidents or the collaborationincidents Afterwards the sub‐commissionexamines the results before transferring thecase to the Commission

The resolution of the Commission is reachedafter long discussions and disputes duringmeetings The Commissionrsquos final decision isthen issued and is entitled to be regarded asthe official verdict Although verification

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

9

follows a rigorous process to ensure fairnesseach party concerned may still reject it Whilemost petitioners accept the verdict somedismiss it as incomplete for example for thefa i lure to name responsib le of f ic ia lperpetrators whether Korean or AmericanPerpetrators who are military officials andpolice officers for their part often blame theCommission for tarnishing their honor sincethey have long officially enjoyed the position ofnational heroes in fighting against the NorthKorean communists In one case a group ofextreme rightists filed a lawsuit against thepresident of the Commission accusing him ofbetraying the truth and defaming their honorHowever the truth confirmed by theCommission should be valued because of itscareful investigation and deliberation

Remaining Tasks

The Commission may not be the only path forsettlement of historical grievances but itstruth‐confirmation activities constitute acornerstone The Commission must completeits remaining tasks and achieve closure byrevealing suppressed stories thereby leadingtoward reconciliation Upon successfullycompleting its mission the Commission willassist in building a more unified nation andprovide a model for other nations that chooseto pursue truth‐seeking activities

Subsequent measures are to be implementedby the Recommendations Follow‐up Boardunder the Ministry of Public Administration andSecurity However little progress has beenmade toward establishment of a truth‐findingresearch institute A specific example of theimportance of creating such an institute is the54 cases of civilian deaths from US Air Forcebombings (ten incidents) Recommendationsfrom the TRC include an official state-sponsored memorial event as well as effortsseeking compensation for the victims throughnegotiations with the US government Somemeasures like sponsoring memorial services

have been taken Both the South Korean andUS governments [10] however have failed torespond to other recommendations of theCommission

On January 24 of 2008 President Roh Mu‐hyunpublicly apologized for the governments illegalexercise of public power in the case of theUlsan National Guidance League victims andfamilies President Roh expressed thegovernments position regarding the settlementof historical issues and officially recognized theillegal exercise of power by past governmentsThis official recognition and presidentialapology to the Ulsan victims however was onlya symbolic expression before finishing his termand did not stipulate any following-upmeasures for the following government TheCommiss ion a l so needs to p lan theenshrinement of the victimsrsquo remains andprepare for future exhumation work byinstituting regulations or laws and securing thenecessary finances and procurement measuresDocumentation of investigative recordsincluding biannual reports to the NationalAssembly and the president and the utilizationof these materials are essential for futureacademic research and public promotion of theissues Relevant laws and systems must also besupplemented and all documented reportsfrom the Commissionrsquos investigations should besystematically categorized filed and stored atan institute such as the National Archives

The work of the Commission has been focusedon these two strong requests from thebereaved families and civil groups Howeverthe Commissionrsquos efforts to achieve these goalshas encountered resistance as a result of thepresent governmentrsquos strong influence onmajor media outlets The petitioners are nowasking for substantial visible results of theCommissionrsquos mandates and the need torespond to those demands remains the duty ofKorean law makers and society

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

7

restore their family membersrsquo dignity Thescope of their concern is usually restricted tofamilial problems The familiesrsquo long period ofsuffering and estrangement from societyprevented them from trusting nonfamilyrelationships While desiring officialrecognition of their parentsrsquo illegal executionand government abuse many struggled with adilemma Should they demand settlement fromthe same state that condoned or even orderedthe killings Although the governmentperpetrated the massacre and discriminatedagainst families the bereaved familiesrsquo onlyoption was to appeal to the same state forgrievance settlement The change of regimefrom dictatorship to democracy emboldenedmany to appeal

Since the Commissionrsquos inception bereavedfamilies have submitted petitions for truthverification More than five decades since manyof the victimsrsquo executions occurred thegovernment prepared to receive petitions frombereaved families In some cases all of thefamily members were killed in the incident orthe remaining members had either passedaway or relocated Without survivors orwitnesses the exact details of the victimizationremained unknown The fifty-year lapse of timeand the social dislocation of the era limited thenumber of petitioners For many families itwas too late to apply for truth verificationwhich is why they did not petition after theCommission called for applications

Some families who were well aware of theCommissionrsquos work were reluctant to applyremembering the oppression and abuse theysuffered under the military government in 1961and their subsequent estrangement fromsociety These traumatic experiences preventedmany from submitting petitions

People who had reached high socioeconomicstatus also refrained from applying based onthe fear that truth‐confirmation couldundermine their status For Koreans the

welfare of the child is most significant and theyforgo the restoration of dignity through truthverification due to the threat it poses to thedescendantsrsquo happiness Thus the act ofpetitioning for the most part has involved thedisadvantaged among victimized families

The experience of segregation ignorance andsuffering led to avoidance or resignation by thevictimsrsquo families This demonstrates the extentof their trauma It is estimated that the 7800applications received by the Commissionrepresent only ten percent of the total numberof victims

Investigation and Confirmation by theCommission

The basic questions raised by the victimsrsquofamily members concern the identity of thekiller the circumstances time and motive forthe killing The Commission must answerquestions beyond individual cases and alsoinvestigate a second type of truth ndash thehistorical and societal truth that includes thebackground cause situation perpetratorsmechanism of killing death toll identificationof victims and legal responsibilities of thegovernments involved While the Commissioncan confirm the legal political or moralresponsibility of the government and chain ofcommand the law includes no provisions forpunishing the perpetrators The law doesstipulate that ldquofor a perpetrator activelycooperating with the Commission by confessinghisher crime during the investigation andhisher confession is consistent with the facts ofthe investigation the TRC may recommend tothe relevant institution that immunity begranted or punishment be minimized duringcriminal investigation or trial procedurerdquo Butthis article is meaningless since the Truth andReconciliation Commission has no authority topunish perpetrators

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

8

The Commission is assigned the task ofresponding to the bereaved families andKorean societyrsquos questions concerning pastincidents By verifying the truth of historicalevents the Commission seeks to fosterreconci l ia t ion between v ic t ims andperpetrators It is also entitled to offerrecommendations to reinstate the honor of thevictims to promote reconciliation betweenconfessed perpetrators and victims revisepolicies in order to prevent similar atrocitiesfrom reoccurrence and establish truth‐findingresearch institutes Although these duties arecritical the chief task of the Commission istruth confirmation and these results arepublished in a bi‐annual report

The verification of most petitions filed at theCommission has been difficult and protractedThis is partially due to the time passed sincethe inc idents occurred Despi te theCommissionrsquos careful approach to evidencethere remained constant doubts as to whetherthe truth could be verified without strongauthority to investigate alleged perpetratorsSince most concerned figures and witnesseshave already passed away and many relateddocuments have been systematically destroyedor disappeared it is almost impossible toreconstruct many events from fifty to sixtyyears ago This has not prevented theCommission from acquiring some crucialtest imonies and documents from the

government and this has contributed to thereconstruction of the countryrsquos uncoveredhistory[9]

Thorough listening to the bereaved familiesrsquostatements proved to be a crucial initial steptowards healing The investigatorsrsquo visits tovictim families were often the governmentrsquosfirst acknowledgement of the petitions Somepetitioners confided that they hadnrsquot told theirfamiliesrsquo tragic stories to anyone including theirchildren in more than 50 years When finalconfirmation of the truth regarding thepetit ionerrsquos parents is issued by theCommission and it is confirmed that innocentparents were ki l led by the state theCommission found that there was a great senseof relief from the burden of repressed traumaThis was clear in the mood and voices of thebereaved families during official memorialservice following the Commissionrsquos decision

According to the Commission the truth isexpected to be decided through deliberationand discussion among the commissioners Thecommissioners are expected to represent thedifferent social sectors of Korean societyincluding judicial religious and academiccircles The investigators conduct research onthe cases or incidents and submit a final reportafter investigating the petitionersrsquo statementswitnessesrsquo testimonies and related documentsWhile most human rights abuses cases areinvestigated on the basis of individual petitionsmassacre cases are generally divided intoseveral big incidents such as the NationalGuidance League Incident US bombing-related incidents or the collaborationincidents Afterwards the sub‐commissionexamines the results before transferring thecase to the Commission

The resolution of the Commission is reachedafter long discussions and disputes duringmeetings The Commissionrsquos final decision isthen issued and is entitled to be regarded asthe official verdict Although verification

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

9

follows a rigorous process to ensure fairnesseach party concerned may still reject it Whilemost petitioners accept the verdict somedismiss it as incomplete for example for thefa i lure to name responsib le of f ic ia lperpetrators whether Korean or AmericanPerpetrators who are military officials andpolice officers for their part often blame theCommission for tarnishing their honor sincethey have long officially enjoyed the position ofnational heroes in fighting against the NorthKorean communists In one case a group ofextreme rightists filed a lawsuit against thepresident of the Commission accusing him ofbetraying the truth and defaming their honorHowever the truth confirmed by theCommission should be valued because of itscareful investigation and deliberation

Remaining Tasks

The Commission may not be the only path forsettlement of historical grievances but itstruth‐confirmation activities constitute acornerstone The Commission must completeits remaining tasks and achieve closure byrevealing suppressed stories thereby leadingtoward reconciliation Upon successfullycompleting its mission the Commission willassist in building a more unified nation andprovide a model for other nations that chooseto pursue truth‐seeking activities

Subsequent measures are to be implementedby the Recommendations Follow‐up Boardunder the Ministry of Public Administration andSecurity However little progress has beenmade toward establishment of a truth‐findingresearch institute A specific example of theimportance of creating such an institute is the54 cases of civilian deaths from US Air Forcebombings (ten incidents) Recommendationsfrom the TRC include an official state-sponsored memorial event as well as effortsseeking compensation for the victims throughnegotiations with the US government Somemeasures like sponsoring memorial services

have been taken Both the South Korean andUS governments [10] however have failed torespond to other recommendations of theCommission

On January 24 of 2008 President Roh Mu‐hyunpublicly apologized for the governments illegalexercise of public power in the case of theUlsan National Guidance League victims andfamilies President Roh expressed thegovernments position regarding the settlementof historical issues and officially recognized theillegal exercise of power by past governmentsThis official recognition and presidentialapology to the Ulsan victims however was onlya symbolic expression before finishing his termand did not stipulate any following-upmeasures for the following government TheCommiss ion a l so needs to p lan theenshrinement of the victimsrsquo remains andprepare for future exhumation work byinstituting regulations or laws and securing thenecessary finances and procurement measuresDocumentation of investigative recordsincluding biannual reports to the NationalAssembly and the president and the utilizationof these materials are essential for futureacademic research and public promotion of theissues Relevant laws and systems must also besupplemented and all documented reportsfrom the Commissionrsquos investigations should besystematically categorized filed and stored atan institute such as the National Archives

The work of the Commission has been focusedon these two strong requests from thebereaved families and civil groups Howeverthe Commissionrsquos efforts to achieve these goalshas encountered resistance as a result of thepresent governmentrsquos strong influence onmajor media outlets The petitioners are nowasking for substantial visible results of theCommissionrsquos mandates and the need torespond to those demands remains the duty ofKorean law makers and society

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

8

The Commission is assigned the task ofresponding to the bereaved families andKorean societyrsquos questions concerning pastincidents By verifying the truth of historicalevents the Commission seeks to fosterreconci l ia t ion between v ic t ims andperpetrators It is also entitled to offerrecommendations to reinstate the honor of thevictims to promote reconciliation betweenconfessed perpetrators and victims revisepolicies in order to prevent similar atrocitiesfrom reoccurrence and establish truth‐findingresearch institutes Although these duties arecritical the chief task of the Commission istruth confirmation and these results arepublished in a bi‐annual report

The verification of most petitions filed at theCommission has been difficult and protractedThis is partially due to the time passed sincethe inc idents occurred Despi te theCommissionrsquos careful approach to evidencethere remained constant doubts as to whetherthe truth could be verified without strongauthority to investigate alleged perpetratorsSince most concerned figures and witnesseshave already passed away and many relateddocuments have been systematically destroyedor disappeared it is almost impossible toreconstruct many events from fifty to sixtyyears ago This has not prevented theCommission from acquiring some crucialtest imonies and documents from the

government and this has contributed to thereconstruction of the countryrsquos uncoveredhistory[9]

Thorough listening to the bereaved familiesrsquostatements proved to be a crucial initial steptowards healing The investigatorsrsquo visits tovictim families were often the governmentrsquosfirst acknowledgement of the petitions Somepetitioners confided that they hadnrsquot told theirfamiliesrsquo tragic stories to anyone including theirchildren in more than 50 years When finalconfirmation of the truth regarding thepetit ionerrsquos parents is issued by theCommission and it is confirmed that innocentparents were ki l led by the state theCommission found that there was a great senseof relief from the burden of repressed traumaThis was clear in the mood and voices of thebereaved families during official memorialservice following the Commissionrsquos decision

According to the Commission the truth isexpected to be decided through deliberationand discussion among the commissioners Thecommissioners are expected to represent thedifferent social sectors of Korean societyincluding judicial religious and academiccircles The investigators conduct research onthe cases or incidents and submit a final reportafter investigating the petitionersrsquo statementswitnessesrsquo testimonies and related documentsWhile most human rights abuses cases areinvestigated on the basis of individual petitionsmassacre cases are generally divided intoseveral big incidents such as the NationalGuidance League Incident US bombing-related incidents or the collaborationincidents Afterwards the sub‐commissionexamines the results before transferring thecase to the Commission

The resolution of the Commission is reachedafter long discussions and disputes duringmeetings The Commissionrsquos final decision isthen issued and is entitled to be regarded asthe official verdict Although verification

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

9

follows a rigorous process to ensure fairnesseach party concerned may still reject it Whilemost petitioners accept the verdict somedismiss it as incomplete for example for thefa i lure to name responsib le of f ic ia lperpetrators whether Korean or AmericanPerpetrators who are military officials andpolice officers for their part often blame theCommission for tarnishing their honor sincethey have long officially enjoyed the position ofnational heroes in fighting against the NorthKorean communists In one case a group ofextreme rightists filed a lawsuit against thepresident of the Commission accusing him ofbetraying the truth and defaming their honorHowever the truth confirmed by theCommission should be valued because of itscareful investigation and deliberation

Remaining Tasks

The Commission may not be the only path forsettlement of historical grievances but itstruth‐confirmation activities constitute acornerstone The Commission must completeits remaining tasks and achieve closure byrevealing suppressed stories thereby leadingtoward reconciliation Upon successfullycompleting its mission the Commission willassist in building a more unified nation andprovide a model for other nations that chooseto pursue truth‐seeking activities

Subsequent measures are to be implementedby the Recommendations Follow‐up Boardunder the Ministry of Public Administration andSecurity However little progress has beenmade toward establishment of a truth‐findingresearch institute A specific example of theimportance of creating such an institute is the54 cases of civilian deaths from US Air Forcebombings (ten incidents) Recommendationsfrom the TRC include an official state-sponsored memorial event as well as effortsseeking compensation for the victims throughnegotiations with the US government Somemeasures like sponsoring memorial services

have been taken Both the South Korean andUS governments [10] however have failed torespond to other recommendations of theCommission

On January 24 of 2008 President Roh Mu‐hyunpublicly apologized for the governments illegalexercise of public power in the case of theUlsan National Guidance League victims andfamilies President Roh expressed thegovernments position regarding the settlementof historical issues and officially recognized theillegal exercise of power by past governmentsThis official recognition and presidentialapology to the Ulsan victims however was onlya symbolic expression before finishing his termand did not stipulate any following-upmeasures for the following government TheCommiss ion a l so needs to p lan theenshrinement of the victimsrsquo remains andprepare for future exhumation work byinstituting regulations or laws and securing thenecessary finances and procurement measuresDocumentation of investigative recordsincluding biannual reports to the NationalAssembly and the president and the utilizationof these materials are essential for futureacademic research and public promotion of theissues Relevant laws and systems must also besupplemented and all documented reportsfrom the Commissionrsquos investigations should besystematically categorized filed and stored atan institute such as the National Archives

The work of the Commission has been focusedon these two strong requests from thebereaved families and civil groups Howeverthe Commissionrsquos efforts to achieve these goalshas encountered resistance as a result of thepresent governmentrsquos strong influence onmajor media outlets The petitioners are nowasking for substantial visible results of theCommissionrsquos mandates and the need torespond to those demands remains the duty ofKorean law makers and society

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

9

follows a rigorous process to ensure fairnesseach party concerned may still reject it Whilemost petitioners accept the verdict somedismiss it as incomplete for example for thefa i lure to name responsib le of f ic ia lperpetrators whether Korean or AmericanPerpetrators who are military officials andpolice officers for their part often blame theCommission for tarnishing their honor sincethey have long officially enjoyed the position ofnational heroes in fighting against the NorthKorean communists In one case a group ofextreme rightists filed a lawsuit against thepresident of the Commission accusing him ofbetraying the truth and defaming their honorHowever the truth confirmed by theCommission should be valued because of itscareful investigation and deliberation

Remaining Tasks

The Commission may not be the only path forsettlement of historical grievances but itstruth‐confirmation activities constitute acornerstone The Commission must completeits remaining tasks and achieve closure byrevealing suppressed stories thereby leadingtoward reconciliation Upon successfullycompleting its mission the Commission willassist in building a more unified nation andprovide a model for other nations that chooseto pursue truth‐seeking activities

Subsequent measures are to be implementedby the Recommendations Follow‐up Boardunder the Ministry of Public Administration andSecurity However little progress has beenmade toward establishment of a truth‐findingresearch institute A specific example of theimportance of creating such an institute is the54 cases of civilian deaths from US Air Forcebombings (ten incidents) Recommendationsfrom the TRC include an official state-sponsored memorial event as well as effortsseeking compensation for the victims throughnegotiations with the US government Somemeasures like sponsoring memorial services

have been taken Both the South Korean andUS governments [10] however have failed torespond to other recommendations of theCommission

On January 24 of 2008 President Roh Mu‐hyunpublicly apologized for the governments illegalexercise of public power in the case of theUlsan National Guidance League victims andfamilies President Roh expressed thegovernments position regarding the settlementof historical issues and officially recognized theillegal exercise of power by past governmentsThis official recognition and presidentialapology to the Ulsan victims however was onlya symbolic expression before finishing his termand did not stipulate any following-upmeasures for the following government TheCommiss ion a l so needs to p lan theenshrinement of the victimsrsquo remains andprepare for future exhumation work byinstituting regulations or laws and securing thenecessary finances and procurement measuresDocumentation of investigative recordsincluding biannual reports to the NationalAssembly and the president and the utilizationof these materials are essential for futureacademic research and public promotion of theissues Relevant laws and systems must also besupplemented and all documented reportsfrom the Commissionrsquos investigations should besystematically categorized filed and stored atan institute such as the National Archives

The work of the Commission has been focusedon these two strong requests from thebereaved families and civil groups Howeverthe Commissionrsquos efforts to achieve these goalshas encountered resistance as a result of thepresent governmentrsquos strong influence onmajor media outlets The petitioners are nowasking for substantial visible results of theCommissionrsquos mandates and the need torespond to those demands remains the duty ofKorean law makers and society

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

10

Kim Dong-choon is a former StandingCommissioner of the Truth and ReconciliationCommission ROK and professor of sociologySungKongHoe University Seoul

He served the Korean government as astanding commissioner of the Truth andReconciliation Commission from December 12005 to December 10 2009 As a commissionerhe directed the first government investigationof the Korean War massacres since theincidents

His book The Unending Korean War has beentranslated into German Japanese and EnglishHe wrote this article for The Asia-PacificJournal

Recommended citation Kim Dong-choon TheTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea Uncovering the Hidden Korean War The Asia-Pacific Journal 9-5-10 March 1 2010

This article is part of a seriescommemorating the sixtieth anniversary

of the Korean War

Other articles on the sixtieth anniversary ofthe US-Korean War outbreak are

bull Mark Caprio Neglected Questions on theldquoForgotten Warrdquo South Korea and the UnitedStates on the Eve of the Korean War

bull Steven Lee The United States the UnitedNations and the Second Occupation ofKorea 1950-1951

bull Heonik Kwon Korean War Traumas

bull Han Kyung-koo Legacies of War TheKorean War ndash 60 Years On

Additional articles on the US-Korean Warinclude

bull Mel Gurtov From Korea to Vietnam TheOrigins and Mindset of Postwar USInterventionism

bull Tessa Morris-Suzuki Remembering theUnfinished Conflict Museums and theContested Memory of the Korean War

bull Sheila Miyoshi Jager Cycles of HistoryChina North Korea and the End of theKorean War

bull Tim Beal Korean Brinkmanship AmericanProvocation and the Road to War TheManufacturing of a Crisis

bull Wada Haruki From the F ir ing atYeonpyeong Island to a ComprehensiveSolution to the Problems of Division and Warin Korea

bull Nan Kim with an introduction by JohnMcGlynn Factsheet West Sea Crisis inKorea

Notes

[1] lsquoBodorsquo (保道) literally means ldquocaring andguidingrdquo South Korearsquos National GuidanceLeague drew on approaches pioneered underJapanese rule notably ldquoThe League forServicing the Staterdquo to reeducate andrehabilitate released Korean politicaldissidents Later South Korean prosecutorswho had been trained under Japanese rulethought that such an organization would beuseful for controlling left-affiliated politicaldissidents so as to ldquopreserve national securityand maintain law and orderrdquo

[2] North Korean troops killed many POWs andrightists when they retreated northwardParamilitary youth groups and civilianscommitted state-sponsored political or personalreprisals Oftentimes when a family member

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

11

was killed in a village by a band of paramilitaryyouths under the authority of occupying forcesrelatives would avenge a family memberrsquosdeath by killing the entire family of their enemywhen the attackers eventually retreated Thissort of revenge occurred in every corner of theKorean peninsula during the war

[3] Some reporters argued that the AmericanCIC ordered the massacre but this has notbeen confirmed (Hangeore21)

[4] On the question of US military involvementin Korean civilian massacres see Charles JHanley and Martha Mendoza The Massacre atNo Gun Ri Army Letter reveals US intentBruce Cumings The South Korean Massacre atTaejon New Evidence on US Responsibility andCoverup Charles J Hanley Sang-hun Choe andMartha Mendoza The Bridge at No Gun Ri AHidden Nightmare from the Korean War (NewYork Henry Holt 2001)

[5] From February 6-9 1951 when the ROKarmyrsquos Eleventh Division was conductingsuppression operations against guerrillaremnants in mountainous areas of SouthKeongsang Province more than 700 unarmedcivilians including children women andelderly were killed after being suspected ofassisting the guerillas The Guchang incidentwas officially recognized by the Truth andReconciliation Commission among numerousmass killings See Dong-Choon Kim TheUnending Korean War

[6] The April 3 Incident was a series of eventsin which thousands of islanders were killed inclashes between guerilla and governmentforces The Jeju branch of the South KoreanLabor Party organized an uprising against the

American-sponsored rightist governmentDuring the suppression of leftists andguerrillas nearly 30000 civilians were killedby National Police Northwest youth andNational Guard Since the incident occurredduring the period of US military governmentthe operation which resulted in numerouscivilian deaths was conducted under thesponsorship of US forces

[7] See ldquoSummary of the Reportrsquos Conclusionrdquo

[8] The final US Army report on No Gun Ri isavailable hereThe Presidentrsquos statement isavailable at The White House statement is onthe Web here Secretary of Defense William SCohenrsquos press conference of January 11 2001on the issues is here Cohen stated ldquoAs asymbol of our deep regret over the tragedy theUnited States will erect a memorial in thevicinity of No Gun Ri which will be dedicatedto the innocent Korean civilians who lost theirlives during the struggle to preserve theindependence of their countryrdquo

[9] The investigation has been repeatedlyhampered by lack of cooperation by somegovernment organizations

[10] Some US veterans were angered by theAP report They retorted ldquoEvery combatveterans knows that the only law during war isto kill or be killedhellipNot one single Americanwho served in South Korea owes the people ofthat country an apology for anythingrdquo (LynnitaBrown ldquoThe Anguish of US Veterans ndash No GunRirdquo Korea Herald October 161999)

APJ | JF 8 | 9 | 5

12

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