South Korea's dark Vietnam war legacy lingers
HANOI - In central Vietnam's Binh Dinh
province stands a large gravestone with 1,004 names etched in
the granite -- victims, local officials say, of a killing spree by
South Korean troops during the Vietnam War.
The locals say 1,000 people, mainly civilians, died in the
six-week rampage in early 1966 -- including 380 in one day.
Now a Korean journalist who has spent several months
documenting harrowing accounts of survivors from the alleged
killings in Binh Dinh says it's time Seoul apologised for the
brutality of its troops and paid compensation to victims.
Ku Su-Jeong, who works part-time for South Korea's
Hankyoreh21 magazine, plans to give a speech on her findings
next month at a human rights conference on Korea's Cheju
island, just before the 25th anniversary of the end of the war in
April.
Ku stumbled upon the gravestone while doing research on
Seoul's involvement in the war, and began interviewing victims
whose stories invoked memories of an infamous massacre of
Vietnamese by U.S. troops at My Lai village two years later.
Ku hopes her paper will draw attention to the issue, although an
article she wrote for her magazine last May drew only a muted
response from Korean veterans who insisted it was unclear if
civilians were killed in Binh Dinh.
``South Koreans must know about these massacres. They cast
shame on us and we have a duty to apologise,'' Ku said.
During the Vietnam War, Seoul wholeheartedly supported
U.S.-backed South Vietnam, afraid that Washington might
withdraw American troops stationed in South Korea.
About 300,000 Korean troops fought in the war, and they had a
fearsome reputation among ordinary Vietnamese.
Women, Children and elderly killed
Three local officials, including one who said he survived the
alleged killings, spoke at length in telephone interviews with
Reuters about the events in Binh Dinh.
The officials, who declined to be identified, said that in early
1966, Korean troops entered the then Binh An commune, a
collection of villages within Tay Son district which they believed
was a Viet Cong stronghold.
The Koreans were intent on flushing out opposing forces but
civilians bore the brunt of their actions, the officials said.
An official at Tay Son's Communist Party history unit said the
attacks began in early 1966 and culminated in a massacre of
380 people on February 26, 1966, at a place called Go Dai.
``They (the Korean troops) herded people up onto the hill, shot
them and threw grenades,'' he said.
``In some cases they tied old men up... until they died. They tore
children apart and threw their (limbs) onto trees,'' he said,
adding that some Viet Cong were also killed.
The Korean troops threw some bodies into an existing 150-200
metre (500-650 ft) long trench, the official said. Survivors later
buried most of the rest of the dead.
The names of those who died at Go Dai, along with other
known victims of the six-week killing period, were carved on the
gravestone, the official said. The number totalled 1,004.
``There has been a lot of propaganda about this in the area, but
because no correspondents witnessed it, I think that is why no
one outside knows about it,'' he said.
One local official who said he survived the attacks reported that
the main victims were women, children and the elderly.
``It was all part of a Korean campaign called 'burn all, destroy
all and kill all'. They aimed to clear the whole area, which is why
they killed old people and children. They also killed cattle,
burned houses and paddy (rice),'' he said.
A People's Committee official in Tay Son district also confirmed
the details, saying 1,200 people were killed.
A government official in Hanoi said central authorities had later
investigated what happened at Binh Dinh and compiled detailed
reports, which showed more than 1,000 people were killed
during the period, including around 380 at Go Dai.
Let bygones be bygones, says Vietnam
However, when asked for comment and to confirm the alleged
killings, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said it did not want to dwell
on the matter.
Reuters could not visit Binh Dinh to interview survivors. Foreign
journalists need approval to report outside Hanoi, and the
Foreign Ministry said in December Binh Dinh officials were too
busy with the aftermath of recent floods to receive visitors.
``South Korean troops committed crimes against Vietnamese
people. With humanitarian and peaceful neighbourly traditions, it
is Vietnam's policy to close the past...,'' the Foreign Ministry
said in a statement in response to questions.
South Korea's embassy in Hanoi has declined to comment on
the general issue of Korean actions during the Vietnam War.
Asked if Reuters could view official reports on the killings kept
at the War Crimes Department within the Ministry of Labour,
War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Foreign Ministry said
officials there were also too busy.
The accounts of the killings by South Korean troops in Binh
Dinh come not long after Seoul launched a probe into an alleged
massacre at a village on its own soil by U.S. soldiers in the early
days of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Villagers and U.S. veterans were quoted as saying hundreds of
innocent people were killed by the U.S. military at No Gun Ri.
Professor Chun Kyung-soo at Seoul National University, who
has spent years researching the role of Korean troops in
Vietnam, feels there is a double standard.
``This issue (of Korean actions in Vietnam) has long been very
sensitive in Korea,'' Chun told Reuters.
Publicity about alleged Korean massacres during the Vietnam
War stands in sharp contrast to the events on March 16, 1968,
when U.S. troops commanded by Army Lieutenant William
Calley entered My Lai village and gunned down 500 civilians.
That massacre reverberated around the world when it was
exposed and became synonymous with the horror of the conflict.
Seoul expressed "regret" over wartime actions
During a visit to Hanoi in 1998, South Korean President Kim
Dae-jung expressed regret over Korean actions in the Vietnam
War, but he did not apologise. Vietnam responded by saying it
sought no apology from any nation that fought on its soil.
Long-time Vietnam watchers say Hanoi does not like to highlight
specific horrors from decades of wars against the French and
then the U.S.-backed South Vietnam.
Carl Thayer, an expert on Vietnam at the Asia-Pacific Center
for Security Studies in Hawaii, said the killing of civilians by
Koreans had largely faded from view because the Vietnam War
was mainly seen as an American war.
``Vietnamese propagandists always make a distinction between
the American government and the American people,'' he said.
``In their view the Vietnam War was a war launched by a
wicked government. Koreans, Thais and Australians were all
lackeys.
``It is easier to point the propaganda finger at one enemy,
several only clouds the issue,'' he said.
Hanoi also did not want historical baggage to weigh it down as it
sought aid and investment from the region, Thayer added.
Reuters - January 10, 2000.
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