wfn.org | Survivors, veterans seek investigation of Korean War massacre

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Nov. 11, 1999   News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212)870-3803·New York
10-21-35-71B{606}

NOTE:  For other coverage of the National Council of Churches' meeting, see
UMNS stories #604 and 605.

CLEVELAND (UMNS) -- 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 Nov. 10 press conference arranged by the
National Council of Churches in Christ (NCCC) during its 50th anniversary
celebration. Yang was part of a group of four massacre survivors and three
U.S. veterans brought together for a "first encounter" since that 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 has been launched.

Although she was only 13 at the time, 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, she said. To survive, Yang said she hid under the bodies of the dead
for six days and nights.

Korean survivors and eyewitnesses believe 400 civilians died at No Gun Ri.
The U.S. veterans, according to AP, spoke of 100 to 200 or just "hundreds"
dead. Once classified documents found by AP in U.S. military archives showed
that U.S. commanders ordered their troops to shoot the civilians as a
defense against disguised enemy soldiers.

Kum Cho Ja, 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.

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, now retired, also wants a "total, complete,
impartial, honest investigation." Gray, who was master sergeant in the
reconnaissance platoon at the time of the massacre, said he had come to get
an understanding of what happened at No Gun Ri.

The encounter in Cleveland was initiated by the NCCC 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 had
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. Chung, a
Christian, lost two children there; his wife, Park Sun-Yung was seriously
injured. He first submitted a request for compensation to the U.S. Embassy
in Korea in 1960. More recently, he has been aided in his quest by his
44-year-old son, Goo-Do, who accompanied the group. 

The process of healing and reconciliation began with a noon service of
recognition and remembrance at Old Stone Presbyterian Church.

Gray and Daily, who had been 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, he was a sergeant in the battalion's F Company.

Chung, Yang and Keum were joined by Chung Goo-Hak, 57, whose nose was
disfigured by bullets as he hid in the tunnels. The Rev. Kim Dong Wan, a
Korean Methodist and general secretary of the NCC, Korea, accompanied them.

 
In a statement on behalf of the survivors, Eun Yong Chung said they believed
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,'" Chung added.
"We wish that the friendship between Korea and the U.S. to be more solid
when we have genuine reconciliation made possible between the victims and
the veterans through the proper and satisfactory investigations..."

In his response for the three veterans during the service, 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
beings should live, side by side," he added.

Standing with Gray, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, NCCC 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
NCCC who also was a refugee at the time of the Korean War - lit his 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.

Campbell and 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." They made a joint commitment of the two councils to
continue to advocate for a "just resolution" of No Gun Ri.

# # #

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://www.umc.org/umns