Text Fwd: The Darker Side of South Korea’s Past

* Text informed by Bruce Gagnon

http://bostonkap.com/detail.php?number=6737&thread=21r12r01
The Darker Side of South Korea’s Past
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Reports Shock BC Students
Date: 2009-04-13

On March 26th, Professor Kim Dong-chun, standing commissioner of South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, delivered a talk titled “Uncovering the Hidden Story of the Korean War” before a capacity audience at Boston College.

The event was a collaborative effort sponsored by Boston College Center for Human Rights and International Justice, and co-sponsored by Asian Caucus, Asian Studies Program, Asian American Studies Program, the History Department, Korean Students Association, Lynch School of Education, and the Theology Department.

Mr. Kim first gave a portrait of the commission, from its establishment in 2005 under the Roh Moo Hyun administration, then addressed reports and fact-finding studies that point to numerous atrocities committed by the South Korean government under President Syngman Rhee and the U.S. forces around the time of the Korean War, 1950-53.

The No-gun-ri Massacre in the early days of the war resulted in the killing of over 200 South Korean civilians by soldiers of the U.S. 7th Calvary Regiment. The “4.3” (April 3, 1948) Jeju Massacre, a brutal government crackdown of an uprising that led to the death of approximately 30,000, or ten percent of Jeju inhabitants, still haunts South Koreans’ collective memory.

Massacres of civilians took place in several locations during the war, according to Mr. Kim: Kochang, Uiryong, Hamyang, Tanyang, and the Nakdong River area, were identified as sites of massacres, where grave and brutal acts that violated the principles of civilian distinction, proportionality, and military operation took place.

This revelation seemed to take by surprise some of Korean-American students in attendance. The personalization of the war seemed to stir the students’ hitherto belief that unjust suffering in war is a necessary evil, and that, particularly in the case of South Korea, collateral damage was an unavoidable phenomenon in the transition from a war-torn battleground to relative stability.

"I knew about the war, but not this—this is just bewildering," said a graduate student from Boston College. Mr. Kim's monotonous tone of voice was susceptible to sliding over critical passages. But the photographs of various massacres, shot from the overhead projector, more than effectively captured the unspeakable cruelty and suffering.

Another student remarked at the conclusion of the two hour-long presentation, “Commissioner Kim’s call to rectify history made moral truth an important part of our contemporary responsibility, beyond the Korean peninsula.”

A number of slides showed the remains of unearthed bodies at Daewongol, near the Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine. The dead bodies of political prisoners and civilians who had allegedly collaborated with communist North Korea lay on top of another. The vivid images of lifeless bodies and helpless prisoners being carried in a small pick-up truck to the massacre site left the audience in silence.

Mr. Kim said that he was dismayed by the low turnout numbers of petitions filed calling for investigation. He attributed this apathy to people dedicated to maintaining the status quo and the public’s lack of trust in the government to establish justice.

During the Q&A session, KAP asked Mr. Kim if the commission is still enjoying considerable power under the conservative Lee administration. The Commissioner replied that the commission will be turned over to civilian authorities, and that it will be merging with other governmental departments at the end of the year.

Mr. Kim expressed his confidence in the commission to establish the truth in Korea’s modern history and record the recent evidence of U.S. and South Korean responsibility for the massacre of civilians before and during the Korean War. "The commission will still have its mandate over the issue," said Mr. Kim.

Professor Ramsey Liem, an advisor to the Asian Caucus and Korean Student Association at Boston College, offered brief concluding remarks. “Truth is a product of many perspectives influenced by historical and contemporary socio-political landscape. And the commission’s initiative, as limited and imperfect as it is, is a wonderful model that brings responsibility historically and to the present.”

http://bostonkap.com/detail.php?number=6737&thread=21r12r01

(C)보스턴캡 한인연합신문 KAP, The Korean American Press, 73호.



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