Về lực lượng quân sự Nam Triều Tiên trong chiến tranh Việt Nam

Trao đổi đôi lời với các bác trong lúc giả lao xong rồi, bây giờ tôi xinh trình bày tiếp các bài viết của báo chí nước ngoài nhé!
Đây là bài viết tôi lấy từ trang web của tạp chí " Nhịp cầu hữu nghị " của Nhật Bản:
Lần đầu tiên đi xác nhận lại những nơi đã xảy ra các vụ thảm sát dân thường tại Việt Nam do lính Hàn Quốc gây ra
" Đã đến lúc chúng ta cần hướng tới và thông cảm với sự đau khổ của các nạn nhân...
{A...! Lính Hàn thật kinh tởm ! } Không biết các bạn có còn nhớ bài báo này không nhỉ? Đó là bài viết đã được đăng tại cột " Trái đất-Một ngôi làng" tờ "Hankyoreh 21" số 256 ra ngày 06.05.1999. Bài viết đã gây một cú sốc lớn trong giới độc giả về các tư liệu dẫn chứng các vụ thảm sát dã man dân thường Việt Nam của lính Hàn do một điều tra viên về tội ác chiến tranh cung cấp cùng các biên bản xác nhận tại hiện trường của một số vụ trong đó.
Vào thời gian đó, từ một bản báo cáo của một địa phương Việt Nam, phóng viên Ku Su-Jeong đã đi trực tiếp đi điều tra tận các nơi thuộc miền Trung Việt Nam vốn trước đây là trung tâm chiếm đóng của quân đội Đại Hàn . Những nơi mà cô Ku Su-Jeong đã đi điều tra lên tới vài chục ngôi làng, 13 thành phố, 9 xã trong vòng 5 tỉnh. Những lời kể của hơn một trăm nhân chứng mà cô đã gặp đã làm cho chúng ta thật sự xấu hổ và ăn năn..."
( Còn tiếp )
Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 21:57 ngày 16/08/2003
Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 22:44 ngày 16/08/2003

Tôi thì không biết tiếng Hàn, nhưng trong tiếp Nhật thì họ viết là:
"??,.,,ff? Tạm dịch là " Ku Su Juon " . Nếu có sai mong các bạn thông cảm nhé!

... Chà chà! Tôi đã nói rồi, đó là bạn vẫn may mắn cũng như tôi thôi bởi vì chúng ta mới chỉ gặp những người tốt. Xin lỗi " phần lớn " là những người tốt thôi đối với trường hợp của tôi.
Tôi đang đêm phải chạy từ tầng 2 xuống tầng một để băng tay cho một chú Hàn bị bạn rượu dùng kéo đâm chảy máu tay.
Hỏi nó tại sao thì nó nói rằng ở nước nó người trên được quyền mắng và ... thượng cẳng chân hạ cẳng tay với người dưới.
Vâng! Phần lớn người Hàn là lễ độ nhưng tôi đã nhìn thấy những chú Hàn đóng cửa xe tắc-xi rầm rầm ở Hà Nội. Rồi thì hai chú Hàn uống rượu tây tây liền chặn một tắc-xi và...sau khi đẩy anh lái xe còm nhom xuống đường liền phóng bạt mạng gây ra một loạt các vụ tai nạn ... sau khi bị dân Hà Nội đuổi liền dông thẳng vào Lake-Side Hotel cạnh hồ Giảng Võ rồi chuồn vào một phòng cố thủ và nhờ Khách sạn bảo vệ đấy!
Tiếp nhé! Nhiều cô gái làm trong các công ty Hàn bị xếp lịch sự vỗ thân mật vào...ngực rồi đó! Ở công ty cậu bạn tôi làm thì cái gạt tàn được chế tạo để đựng tàn thuốc mà lại biết ..bay từ tay xếp vào mặt nhân viên đấy!
Chưa hết đâu! Một chú Hàn ở cùng phòng với tôi đã ..tè từ ngoài cửa vào trong phòng sau khi bí tỉ đấy!!!
Tất nhiên là tôi không vơ đũa cả nắm nhưng nhìn chung thì người Hàn là như vậy.
Thế bạn có ý kiến gì về cái thằng giám đốc công ty Lady-Bon gì đó không? Thằng này chắc là "người hành tinh khác" chứ không phải dân Hàn nhỉ ???
Ấy đừng! Ta cũng vậy, cũng có người tốt và kẻ xấu! Đừng nhìn phiến diện như vậy!
Các cụ có câu: "Phú quí sinh lễ nghĩa" Vậy cái anh Hàn Quốc phú quí hơn ta nhiều tất phải tỏ ra lễ nghĩa ở Seoul chứ sao!
Từ " Trọc phú "lên tới ... "Phú ông" thì có lẽ dân Hàn còn phải cách mạng dài dài !
Chính mấy em Hàn Quốc đã phàn nàn với tôi như vậy đó!
Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 22:50 ngày 16/08/2003
Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 23:05 ngày 16/08/2003

Tôi tìm ra rồi! Tên cô ấy là Ku Su-Jeong nếu viết bằng tiếng Anh.
Ta thống nhất dùng tên này nhé!

Trước lúc đi ngủ tôi xin post tặng các bác bài viết sau đây. Vì lý do thời gian tôi copy nguyên bản bằng tiếng Anh :
VIETNAM, NEWS ANALYSIS, JANUARY 15, 2000


SOUTH KOREAN TROOPS IN THE VIETNAM WAR

For the last three decades, Western media reports on the Vietnam War mostly covered only a part of the armed conflict in which the American soldiers were participating, as if the American military were the only force that fought the Vietnam Communist army. The Republic of Vietnam Army (ARVN) was often ignored although its strength doubled the Americans in Vietnam and suffered losses twice more than that of the American forces.
Not only activities of the RVN soldiers were not appropriately reported but that of the other allied troops fighting beside the Americans were also ignored. The allies included Thailand with an infantry division including the King Cobra Regiment and its attached units, totaling about 11,000 soldiers; Australia with 9 infantry battalions and an attached artillery battalion from New Zealand; and the 47,000 soldiers of the Republic of Korea (RoK). The Philippines contributed a Civic Action Group of about 2,000 soldiers.
Early this week, there was a report about the alleged massacre committed by the Korean infantry unit in a village of Binh Dinh province in Central Vietnam coastal area. The report was made by Ms Ku Su-jeong who is working for the Hankyere newspaper in Seoul. She heard the story when she was visiting a village in Binh Dinh where the Vietnam Communist Party government had erected a monument in memory of 1,004 victims allegedly massacred by the South Korean troops during the 6-week operation in February 1966 in Binh Khe district, the place now called Tay Son district. The local authorities told her that the victims included 380 villagers who were killed in one day.
Her article was published in May 1999 but it has not been responded as she had expected from Republic of Korea veterans. Her article in Korean language could be found at the web site <www.hani.co.kr>.
This week, three officials of the local government told Reuters in a telephone interview that on February 26, 1966, the Koreans conducted a search-and-destroy operation in the area where 380 peasants in a village were killed at a place called Go Dai. The officials admitted that there had been a number of Communist guerrillas among the dead. Reuters as well as other foreign news agencies weren''t permitted to visit the area for more information.
When Reuters asked Hanoi Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam for a comment, Cam said he didn''t want to evoke the painful event and by the spirit of humanity and peace, his regime would put behind such stories of the past. When a Reuters correspondent asked if he could take a look at official reports of the massacre, that Hanoi said had been recorded, officials of Hanoi Foreign Ministry denied him a permission, saying that those who were in charge of the archives were too busy to do such favor.
The stories of South Korean troops'' atrocities in the Vietnam War is nothing new to the Vietnamese. It could be certain to say that the headquarters of USMACV and RVN Joint General Staff had full accounts of the incidents.
The first RoK infantry units arrived in Binh Dinh on February 26, 1965. Later on, RoK army strength reached the highest number of more than 47,000 troops, in two divisions, a separate brigade, and their supporting units. They were the Capital or "Tigers" Division, the 9th or "White Horse" Division, and the 2nd or Blue Dragon Marine Brigade.
Each was given a Tactical Area of Responsibility where it was responsible for fighting the enemy by their own initiatives and decisions. The Tigers was deployed in Binh Dinh and part of Quang Ngai provinces, the White Horse in Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa, and the Blue Dragon in Quang Nam province.
RoK troops were champions in close combat, renowned in the Vietnam War for their bold ambushes. The Koreans were considered one of the two best combat forces in the Vietnam War. The other was the Australians. Korean commanders were tough and authoritarian under the eyes of the Vietnamese who still remembered how rigid the discipline of the Japanese army had been in 1941-45. A major might beat, slap a captain, a captain might do the same to a lieutenant, and so on...
In their areas of responsibility, curfews were strictly enforced. A person -Vietnamese or Korean - going out at night without a lamp was to commit suicide.
Once a Popular Force (PF, village militia) squad moved about 50 yards into the Korean side of the railway tracks assigned as a boundary between the two areas of responsibility. The Korean troops opened fire without challenging and killed all the Vietnamese squad, whom they mistook as communist guerrillas, in order to have total surprise.
There had been several incidents in which innocent peasants were slain by Korean troops. Documents of those cases kept in the former ARVN Headquarters archives might have been destroyed by the communists after Saigon fell, but could still exist somewhere in the US Army archives.
The following well-known cases are related from memory of many Vietnamese.
Once an RoK battalion on the way of operation captured half dozen communist soldiers. They asked the local PF squad in a village to detain the enemy prisoners so that they could go on without bringing them along, and they would pick them up on the way back. The PF men all agreed and promised to do the best.
A few days later when the Koreans returned to pick up the VC prisoners, the village PF squad said that all the prisoners had escaped. After a short investigation indicating that the militia had either neglected their duty or deliberately let the VC prisoners free, the Koreans executed all the PF squad on the spot.
The massacre reported in the Hankyere might be the same incident that many Vietnamese heard in 1966. The rumor ran that in an operation, the Korean troops encountered strong fire from the communist unit in a village. The Korean unit encircled the village, sealed off all possible escape routes. They used megaphones to warn civilians to get out of their village in a given time or get killed when the Koreans came in.
After the deadline, the Koreans launched a fierce attack and seized the objective in a short time. In their search throughout the village, the Koreans shot to kill every single moving creature they met. According to the rumor, more than 300 peasants - old and young women and men, children - were massacred, plus several scores of enemy troops that mingled with the villagers.
News of the massacre quickly spread far and wide, and from then on, communist units dared not use villagers as their human shields against the Korean force. Some Koreans said that both sides in Korea had been doing the same during the Korean War.
The savage tactic proved effective, as security was maintained considerably in the Korean Force''s TAORs. Even thieves were scared off from the area. But no Vietnamese anti-Communist ever thinks of such inhuman tactic.
But despite the fact that a great number of Vietnamese were aware of the massacres, both RVN and American military authorities remained silent, apparently to avoid harmful publicity. Western reporters, who could have spared no time to snatch at such hot news, very seldom accompanied the Vietnamese, let alone the Korean combat units. Compared with the Vietnamese, fewer Korean soldiers who spoke fluent English.
South Vietnamese media of course, had to stay within certain limit in reporting military and war news, particularly an event so sensitive like the Korean massacres. Saigon newspapers only published some reports relating to the Korean force in Vietnam, for example the two rapists who were given death sentences by the RoK court-martial.
In one case in ca.1968, a 20-years-old Vietnamese girl in Ninh Hoa was raped and killed by a Korean soldier. Within an hour or so, the Korean command in the area found the rapist with undeniable proof and he pleaded guilty. A Korean court -martial with military judges sent from Seoul handed him death sentence. Although the victim''s parents petitioned the court for commutation, he was shot by a firing squad near the place he had raped the girl after the South Korean president refused to commute the death sentence.
The report evokes sad memory of war in many patriotic Vietnamese. They always condemn killing innocent people by the American soldiers in My Lai as well as by the Korean troops in Binh Dinh, and the 1968 Tet massacre done by the Communist force in Hue where about 10,000 unarmed people were killed or missing. Only about 3,000 bodies have ever been found in mass graves.
In every Tet festival of the Vietnamese émigrés abroad, there is a religious service in memory of the Hue 1968 massacre and other Vietnam War victims. This year, Tet falls on Saturday, February 5. Anyone who has fiercely voiced anger over the My Lai massacre but hasn''t had one word for the Hue 1968 victims would be cordially welcomed to the service.
***

Sau đây là danh sách các Sư đoàn và Lữ đoàn Đại Hàn đã tham chiến tại Việt Nam ( Bao gồm các chiến tích và thiệt hại bằng các con số cụ thể ). Tài liệu này do phía Mỹ cung cấp .Các bác tạm sài bằng tiếng Anh nhé !
Korean Divisions in Vietnam
From 1964 till their pull out at the end of March, 1973
Headquarters
Republic of Korea
Forces in Vietnam
Aug 19, 1964
thru
Mar 30, 1973
ROKA HQ, Vietnam
(September 25,1965-March 23,1973)
Total Strength Dispatched 131,333
(OFF:4,064 EM:9,069)
KIA: 45 (OFF:18 EM:27)
WIA: 54 (OFF:09 EM:45)
Total Operation Conducted: 577,476 times
Pacified more than 7,000 square meter and
resettled over 1,200,000 villagers in peace
Civil Supports Provided:
Medical aids & helps for 3,523,314 Vietnamese
Food Supply: 19,640 Tons
Clothes: 461,764
Agricultural Tools: 6,400 pcs
Housing & Schools: 3,319
Bridges built : 132
Roads Constructed: 394 Km
Number of people instructed in Tae Kwon Do: 902,060
Events held for the elders and the Youngsters: 6,848 times
Entertainments performed: 2,304 times
Sister ship made: 3,364

Tiger Division ( Sư đoàn Mãnh Hổ )
Arrived at Qui Nhon ( Ngày tới Qui Nhơn )
Sept 22, 1965
Returned Home ( Ngày rút quân về nước )
Mar 11, 1973
Headquartered at: ( Sở chỉ huy đặt tại : )
Qui Nhon
Order of Battle:
Divisional Headquarters and Headquarters Company
Cavalry Regiment, composed of three battalions
1st Infantry Regiment, three battalions
26th Infantry Regiment, three battalions
Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Division Artillery
10th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
60th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
61st Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
628th Field Artillery Battalion (155mm)
Divisional Engineer Battalion
Armor company
Reconnaissance Company
Signal Company
Military Police Company
Medical Company
Ordinance Company
Quartermaster Company
Replacement Company
Aviation Section
Total Strength Dispatched: 114,902
(OFF: 7,652 EM: 107,340)
KIA: 2,111 (OFF: 186 EM: 1,925)
WIA: 4,474 (OFF: 246 EM: 4,228)
Operations Conducted: 175,107


Patch not available
Sea Gull Division
The Naval Transport Group
Duration Dispatched: March 4, 1965 - January 4, 1973

White Horse Division ( Sư đoàn Bạch Mã )
(White Mare Infantry Div)
Arrived at Ninh Hoa ( Ngày đến Ninh Hoà )
Sept 22, 1966
Returned Home ( Ngày rút quân về nước )
Mar 11, 1973
Headquartered at: ( Sở chỉ huy đặt tại )
Ninh Hoa
Order of Battle:
Divisional Headquarters and Headquarters Company
28th Infantry Regiment, three battalions
29th Infantry Regiment, three battalions
30th Infantry Regiment, three battalions
Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Division Artillery
30th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
51st Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
52nd Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
966th Field Artillery Battalion (155mm)
Engineer Battalion
Armor Company
Reconnaissance Company
Signal Company
Military Police Company
Medical Company
Ordinance Company
Quartermaster Company
Replacement Company
Aviation Section
Total strength dispatched: 100,336
(OFF: 6,445 EM: 98,891)
KIA : 1,318 (OFF: 78 EM: 1,250)
WIA: 2,410 (OFF: 160 EM: 2,250)
Silver Horse Division ( Trung đoàn không vận Ngựa cánh bạc - Trực thuộc sư Bạch Mã )
Part of the White Horse Division
The Aerial Support Group
11th Aviation Company
Duration Dispatched: 1967 - 1971

Peace Dove Division ( Sư đoàn Cánh chim câu Hoà Bình )
Arrived at Bien Hoa ( Ngày đến Biên Hoà )
Feb 25, 1965
Returned Home ( Ngày rút quân về nước )
Mar 12, 1973
Headquartered at: ( Sở chỉ huy đặt tại )
Bien Hoa
Order of Battle:
A engineer battalion
A transport company
A Marine engineer company
A security battalion
A service unit
A control group
A MASH unit
1st Logistical Support Group
2nd Logistical Support Group
Construction Support Group
Duration Dispatched: March 16, 1965 - March 20, 1973

Cross Stars Division
Commands: 100th Logistical Command
Duration Dispatched: September 25 1966 - March 23, 1973
KIA 213 (OFF: 26 EM: 187)
WIA 439 (OFF: 27 EM: 412)

Blue Dragon Marine Division ( Lữ đoàn thuỷ quân lục chiến Rồng Xanh )
Arrived at the following: ( Đã đi chiếm đóng tại các nơi )
Cam Ranh Bay ( Vịnh Cam Ranh )
Tuy Hoa ( Tuy Hoà )
Phu Bai ( Phú Bài )
Hoi An ( Hội An )
Oct 9, 1965 ( Ngày cập bến quân cảng Đà Nẵng 9.10.1965 )
Returned Home ( Ngày rút quân về nước )
Feb 24, 1972
Headquartered at: ( Sở chỉ huy đặt tại )
Cam Ranh Bay
Tuy Hoa
Phu Bai
Hoi An
Order of Battle:
1st Battalion
2nd Battalion
3rd Battalion
5th Battalion
Total Strength dispatched: 37,340
(OFF: 2,166 EM: 35,174)
KIA : 1,202 (OFF: 42 EM: 1,160)
WIA: 2,904 (OFF: 99 EM: 2,805)
Operations Conducted: 151,522)

Army Elements:
Army Security Corps
Army Intelligence Unit
Battalions:
Signal: 5th Signal Battalion
Engineer: 127th Engineer Battalion
Service: Headquarters and Service Battalion
Transportation: 237th and 239th Transportation Battalions
Hospitals: 102nd and 106th Evacuation Hospitals
and the 201st Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit
Companies:
Facilities: Facilities Engineering Company
Engineer: 1st and 2nd Engineer Companies
Military Police: 26th Military Police Company
Transportation: 801st Transportation Company
Ordinance: 10th and 26th Ordinance Companies
Infantry: 51st Rifle and 101st Infantry Companies
Ammunition: 53rd and 102nd Ammunition Companies
Quartermaster: 257th and 258th Quartermaster Companies
Psychological Operations: Psychological Operations Company

Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 08:44 ngày 17/08/2003
Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 08:47 ngày 17/08/2003

Ý kiến của em là bác Vịnh Xuân cứ post tiếp, và nếu tiện bác đổi tên topic thành đại loại như "Những trận chiến đấu với quân Nam Hàn trong KC chống Mĩ" chẳng hạn cho nó tổng quát vì ta không chỉ đề cập đến 1 trận nữa rồi.
Mong bác tiếp tục post lên cho mọi người tham khảo

Roh -Tae- Woo trước khi trở thành Tổng thống Hàn Quốc cũng đã tham chiến ở Việt Nam. Bài báo này cho thấy quốc tế biết rõ lòng bao dung tha thứ của ta đối với Hàn Quốc, vậy thái độ của Hàn Quốc ra sao với quá khứ nhỉ? Ta cùng xem và suy ngẫm nhé:
"The Koreas
......
Today Vietnam is indeed friendly with Korea - but a different Korea. It''''''''s all the more staggering as South Korea was one of the few countries that sent troops - over 340,000 between 1966 and 1972, including future coup-maker and president Roh Tae-woo - to fight on Saigon''''''''s side. America paid them well, in dollars that fueled South Korea''''''''s industrial take-off. And fight they did, with a grim reputation for brutality (skinning victims alive a speciality, allegedly.) In bars in Seoul, hard-faced men still rant that, left to them, Vietnam would not have been lost. Last year when the Hankyore Shinmun, a radical Seoul daily, ran an expose of ROK forces'''''''' atrocities in Vietnam, irate veterans'''''''' groups trashed the paper''''''''s offices. There''''''''s a wider blind spot here. Koreans, North and South, endlessly rehearse their own grievances as victims: witness the current row over a revisionist Japanese school history textbook, which glosses over pre-1945 atrocities. Yet many an old POW recalls that the cruelest guards in Japanese camps were Korean.
[u]Vietnamese, by contrast, seem readier to forgive and forget - or at any rate to move on[/u]. South Korean business is welcomed, despite regular cases of violence by male Korean managers against female Vietnamese workers. (Lest I seem to harp on this theme, my defense is twofold: it''''''''s true, and Korean hypocrisy gets my goat.) But the odd slap hasn''''''''t stopped Hanoi from forging far warmer political ties over the past decade with Seoul than Pyongyang. This has its ironies. The first South Korean prime minister to visit Hanoi, ..."
Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 09:11 ngày 17/08/2003
Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 09:15 ngày 17/08/2003

Uỷ Ban Quyền Con Người Châu Á có ý kiến gì nhỉ? Chúng ta tham khảo nhé!
SOUTH KOREA: Exposed South Korean Soldiers Massacred Vietnamese during Vietnam War
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEAL PROGRAMME
AHRC UA Index: 000224 24 February 2000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UA 07/00: WAR CRIMES - civilians massacred
SOUTH KOREA: Exposed South Korean Soldiers Massacred Vietnamese during Vietnam War
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last year, the Associated Press reports exposed that U.S soldiers massacred Korean civilians during the Korean War and the most documented of these killing happen in Nogunri. It is well known that Korean soldiers participated in Vietnam war from 1963 to 1973. Recently, a Korean newspaper exposed that Korean soldiers had massacred innocent vietnamese civilians. The Asian Human Rights Commission supports the initiative of the Peace Committee of Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS] in this appeal to seek justice for victims of war crimes.
The painful history of Nogunri''''s victims has been ignored for fifty years, but at last the facts have come to light. Recently it has come to our attention that during the Vietnam War Korean soldiers also conducted massacres of innocent civilians. Testimony of such slaughter of Vietnamese
civilians by Korean soldiers in Vietnam war was given in an article of the Korean weekly magazine Hankyoreh 21, titled "Remember Vietnam''''s Soul".
Currently, discussion of these massacres has become a prominent issue in the Vietnamese media.
Korean soldiers participated in the Vietnam war from 1963 to 1973. They killed approximately 41,400 of the enemy. However, an unknown number of ordinary Vietnamese people tragically lost their lives as well. The Ministry of Culture and Communication of Vietnam has publicly estimated that the number of innocent victims killed in the provinces like QUANG NGAI, QUANG NAM, and BINH DINH was approximately 5,000 people. It was reported that most Vietnamese people have not forgotten the shock of the
massacres yet and the mental anguish of the survivors have had serious and had lasting effects.
The Korean citizens participated in various campaigns on massacres in Vietnam; writing cards to apology through the coordination of KHIS and collecting contributions with Hankyoreh 21 to build schools and hospitals in Vietnam in districts that suffered the most damage. Through these
activities, they have asked Vietnamese pardon of past crimes committed by Korean soldiers.
The Korean public opinion on this issue is shown below:
1. The real facts of the massacre should be publicly revealed 66.3%
2. There is a need to dispatch a fact-finding mission 66.9%
3. The Korean government should make a public apology and provide compensation to Vietnamese victims 77.9%
*source: Hankyoreh survey
Nonetheless,the Korean government has avoided addressing this matter at all. "Nogunri massacre" during the Korean War and "Vietnamese Civilians Massacre" during the Vietnam War are representative cases of the twentieth century in which Korea was at one time a victim, and at another, an oppressor.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
We are requesting yourself and your organization''''s support in solidarity to seek justice for victims of massacres in Vietnam. The statement below supports efforts to persuade the Korean government to:
* establish a fact-finding mission
* issue a public apology to the Vietnamese victims of the massacres.
Place your name and Organistion, endorsing the statement below and send it to KHIS. The statemen will be published in the Hankyoreh Newspaper with the list of supporters.
SEND TO:
Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS)
Fax: 822-3673-5627
E-mail address: <khis21@nownuri.net>
<khis21@hotmail.com>
---------------------------- STATEMENT ------------------------------
To : President Kim Dae jung
We ask that you make an inquiry to establish the facts concerning the "Vietnamese Civilian Massacre" by Korean soldiers and make a public apology for these incidents to the Vietnamese people.
We have heard that an estimated 5,000 Vietnamese civilians were massacred by Korean soldiers in the provinces of QUANG NGAI, QUANG NAM, and BINH DINH during the course of the Vietnam war. Many innocent people including
women, children and the elderly were killed without regard, and the massacres have left deep scars on the memories of the survivors. For this reason we request an official apology from those responsible in the military for ordering the operations and compensation to the innocent victims of the massacres. It is certain that we will not be able to enter
the new millenium with a clear conscience if we don''''t make an effort to console the grief of the Vietnamese. We must do our best to uncover the truth and prevent tragedies like these fromhappening in the future. Once more, we stress that the true peace will only be accomplished by having the
upright courage to uncover the facts of the case. Even during the passing from one millenium to the next, the truth of these tragic massacres cannot be suppressed.
We urge the Korean government to:
1. Establish the facts of the case. Soldiers who took part in the the war have suggested that first of all, the real facts of the massacre should be revealed. We have agree with this. The Korean government should establish a joint inquiry commission with the Vietnam government.
2. If the recent reports prove to be well-founded, the Korean government should apologize publicly to the Vietnam government and the people by accepting responsibility for the occurrence of the massacres.
3. The Korean government should give recompensation and to the survivors of the massacres.
4. The Korean government should compensate the Korean soldiers who were forced to commit these inhumane acts and have since been suffering from the guilty consciences until now.
5. Please, provide financial support for inquiry into the real events of the massacre.
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Organization:
Posted on 2000-02-24
Back to [2000 Urgent Appeal]
remarks:3



Asian Human Rights Commission

Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 09:29 ngày 17/08/2003

VẬY NGƯỜI HÀN ĐÃ LÀM NHỮNG GÌ ĐẰNG SAU NHỮNG NHỮNG HÌNH ẢNH ĐẸP ĐẼ TRONG BẢO TÀNG CHIẾN TRANH SEOUL NHỈ ? Tài liệu này của hãng thông tấn Reuters.
Lưu ý rằng ông Kim Tê Chung vẫn chưa thèm xin lỗi đâu nhé!
"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 ********* 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 ********* 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 tra***ions, 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. "
Được vinxuanquyen sửa chữa / chuyển vào 09:40 ngày 17/08/2003