wfn.org | Survivors of Korea Massacre Encounter American Veterans at NCC

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National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Office of News Services
Email: news@ncccusa.org
Web: www.ncccusa.org
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
	50th Anniversary Newsroom - Nov. 8-12, 1999 call 216-696-8490

NCC11/10/99						FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SURVIVORS OF KOREA MASSACRE ENCOUNTER AMERICAN VETERANS

	Nov. 10, 199, CLEVELAND, Ohio, -- Sixty-one-year-old Hae Sook Yang has a 
constant reminder of the massacre at No Gun Ri, the hamlet where hundreds 
of refugees fleeing the Korean War were killed in July, 1950.

	She took that reminder - an artificial glass eye - and held it for a 
moment while telling her story during a Wednesday afternoon press 
conference arranged by the National Council of Churches in Christ (NCC). 
Ms. Yang was part of a group of four massacre survivors and three U.S. 
veterans brought together for a "first encounter" since the tragic event 
nearly 50 years ago.

	While survivors have long claimed that U.S. soldiers, on foot and in the 
air, were the ones who gunned down the helpless refugees, both the U.S. 
military and South Korean government had denied their accounts. However, in 
the wake of a Sept. 29 Associated Press story in which a dozen U.S. 
veterans confirmed the incident, a new investigation was launched.

Although she was only 13 at the time, Ms. Yang remains quite clear on what 
happened. She and her family had headed south, as directed by the American 
soldiers. They were on a railroad track when the bombs began dropping. "I 
saw a blast in front of me," she recounted through a translator,"  Then my 
eyeball came out from my eye."

She eventually found shelter from the bombing with many other refugees in a 
tunnel. Then, inexplicably, U.S. soldiers opened fire at both ends of the 
tunnel. To survive, Ms. Yang said she hid under the bodies of the dead for 
six days and nights.
	
Korean survivors and eyewitnesses believe that 400 civilians died at No Gun 
Ri. The U.S. veterans, according to the AP, spoke of 100 to 200 or just 
"hundreds" dead. Once-classified documents found by AP in U.S. military 
archives indicate that U.S. commanders ordered their troops to shoot the 
civilians as a defense against disguised enemy soldiers.
-more-

NCC11/10/99 Encounter, Page 2

Cho Ja Keum, then 12, watched in terror as the bombs began dropping on 
refugees, saw the American soldiers open fire on them as they huddled for 
protection in the tunnel, and later lay helpless in a field with a stomach 
wound. An American medic eventually took her to a hospital.
	
Ms. Yang said she is eager for both the South Korean and U.S. governments 
to conduct a proper investigation of the incident that has made her life a 
tragedy.

Major Robert "Snuffy" Gray, retired, also wants a "total, complete, 
impartial, honest investigation." Major Gray, who was master sergeant in 
the reconnaissance platoon at the time of the massacre, said he came to 
Cleveland to get an understanding of what happened at No Gun Ri.
	
The encounter in Cleveland, held in the context of the NCC's 50th 
anniversary General Assembly, was initiated by the NCC at the request of 
Edward Daily, a U.S. veteran involved in the massacre. In cooperation with 
the National Council of Churches in Korea, the U.S. ecumenical agency asked 
the Pentagon last December to respond to detailed testimony from Korean 
survivors and eyewitnesses of the massacre.
	
One of the survivors present, Chung Eun Yong, 77, is chairman of the 
Committee for Unveiling Truth about the No Gun Ri Massacre. Mr. Chung, a 
Christian, lost two young children there; his wife, Park Sun-Yung was 
seriously injured. He first submitted a request for compensation to the 
American Embassy in Korea in 1960. More recently, he has been assisted in 
his quest by his son, Koo Do Chung, who accompanied the group.
	
The process of healing and reconciliation began with a noon service of 
recognition and remembrance at Old Stone Presbyterian Church in Cleveland.

Major Gray and Mr. Daily, who was a corporal in H Company, Second Battalion 
of the Seventh U.S. Calvary, were joined by a third veteran, Donald Down. 
At the time of the massacre, Mr. Down was a sergeant in the F Company of 
that battalion.
	
Mr. Chung, Ms. Yang, and Ms. Keum were joined by Ku Hak Chung, 57, whose 
nose was disfigured by bullets as he hid in the tunnels. The Rev. Dong Wan 
Kim, general secretary of the NCC, Korea, accompanied the group.
  	
In a statement on behalf of the survivors, Eun Yong Chung said they believe 
God will forgive the U.S. government and veterans involved in the massacre 
when they repent, take responsibility for their actions and officially 
apologize for the wrongdoings.
	
"Koreans say that 'after the rain, the soil becomes solid,'" Mr. Chung 
added. "We wish the friendship between Korea and the U.S. to be more solid 
when genuine reconciliation is made possible between the victims and the 
veterans through the proper and satisfactory investigations..."				-more-
NCC11/10/99 Encounter, Page 3

In his response to the three veterans during the service, Major Gray noted 
the need for an understanding of the events that occurred at No Gun Ri. "We 
need a joining of ways, to see if we can put things behind us and live as 
human being should live, side by side," he said.

Standing with Major Gray, the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC general 
secretary, lit a candle to symbolically illuminate "the deepest corners of 
our hurt and our fear and our guilt."  The Rev. Syngman Rhee -- a past 
president of the NCC who also was a refugee at the time of the Korean War - 
lit a candle "in pursuit of human hope" and as a symbol against the 
darkness of fear and hate.

	The Rev. Gary Kornell, pastor at Old Stone Church, lit a candle for the 
congregation at the service, symbolizing the renewal of life and experience 
of hope.
	
Dr. Campbell and Pastor Kim concluded the service by recognizing a common 
history and faith and the fact "that there is still much unresolved anger, 
anguish and pain among our people" and made a joint commitment of the two 
councils of churches to continue to advocate for a "just resolution" of No 
Gun Ri.

-end-