WAR CRIMES AND ATROCITIES (True Crime) (29 page)

Part Six: War Crimes And Atrocities 1950–2000

 No Gun Ri Massacre And Other Korean Atrocities

1950–53

During the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, the Korean people were subjected to the most atrocious war crimes, which resulted in the loss of about 6 million lives. Of these, it is estimated that as many as 4 million were civilians, not even soldiers in the bloody war between North and South. These people were exposed to immoral massacres and indiscriminate napalm or germ-bombing.

The principal combatants in the war were the North Koreans, later joined by the People’s Volunteer Army (PVA) of the People’s Republic of China and advisors, aircraft pilots and weapons from the Soviet. South Korea fought alongside the USA, the UK, Canada and the Philippines, with many other nations joining in under the flag of the United Nations. Soldiers from all the armies seemed to target civilians and/or prisoners of war and there were reports of many massacres taking place during the three-year war.

However, one thing is clear: US troops were certainly under orders, following a total defeat at Taejon, to treat any approaching Korean civilians on the battlefield as hostile and were instructed to ‘neutralize’ them before they could inflict any harm. This order led to fear among the US military and led to the indiscriminate killing of hundreds, if not thousands, of Korean civilians. One such atrocity occurred at a village called No Gun Ri.

UNNECESSARY SLAUGHTER

The village of No Gun Ri is a remote and mountainous region, about 160 km (100 miles) south of Seoul. From 26–29 July, 1950, around 400 Korean refugees fled from their villages and headed towards the small hamlet of No Gun Ri. Many rode on ox carts, while others walked, carrying their children. All were in fear of what lay behind them – the North Koreans. The invasion was in full force and members of the Seventh Cavalry Regiment, First Cavalry Division of the US army, had positioned themselves at either end of a bridge. There were fears that the North Koreans had already infiltrated the refugees, and that if they were allowed to cross the US line, the Koreans would then be able to attack from the rear.

The US soldiers ordered the refugees to leave the road and follow the railway track until they were underneath the bridge. The refugees were forced to stay under the bridge, and at dusk on the third day the soldiers heard sporadic gunfire coming from the direction of the enemy. Next the battalion runner came by with orders to shoot and kill anyone standing under the bridge. Unsure of where the order came from, one of the soldiers asked exactly who had given such an instruction. He said it had come from the executive officer who was assigned to the Second Battalion of the Seventh Cavalry. All of a sudden, machine guns started firing randomly into the crowd of people under the bridge. Bodies fell everywhere and terrified parents dragged their screaming children into a narrow culvert beneath the tracks. The refugees resorted into pulling the already dead bodies around themselves for protection. Mothers wrapped their children with blankets and hugged them with their backs turned towards the entrance.

Some of the US soldiers refused to shoot what one of them described as ‘civilians just trying to hide’. Another soldier at the scene described the event as ‘unnecessary wholesale slaughter’. Both veterans and survivors of the horrendous event are haunted by the memories of those three nights. They say they can still hear the sound of the little children crying and the screams of their desperate parents. The haunting sight of the children clinging desperately to their blood-sodden mothers is a nightmare that will possibly never leave them.other incidents.

When the Associated Press (AP) started investigations into the killings at No Gun Ri, they uncovered other incidents. On 3 August, 1950, a US general and other army officers ordered the destruction of two bridges just as South Korean refugees started to cross, killing hundreds of civilians.

Earlier the same day, just 40 km (25 miles) downriver at Tuksong-dong, a steel-girder bridge was blown up, while it was crowded with women, children, old men and ox carts carrying their belongings. Many of the refugees drowned when they jumped into the river and tried to swim to the shore.

Unfortunately, these were not isolated incidents. Instead, they were rather characteristic of one of the bloodiest wars in the chapters of history. Although the survivors of the No Gun Ri massacre sought compensation for the unprovoked attack in 1960, the US claims office pointed out that they had left it too long, and that prosecution so many years later was practically an impossibility. On top of that, Korean officials warned against the survivors speaking to anyone about what had happened.

NORTH
 
KOREAN
 
WAR
 
CRIMES

On the other side of the coin, there are many reports of war crimes committed by the North Korean armies during the Korean War against captured United Nations military personnel and innocent civilians. From the onset of the war in 1950, the North Koreans committed a series of war crimes that constituted one of the most heinous and barbaric epochs of recorded history.

In an effort to get detailed evidence on what had occurred during the Korean War, a War Crimes Division in Korea was set up. It was divided into several branches – the Case Analysis Branch, the Investigations Branch and the Historical Branch – each one having their own important role to play in the investigations. The evidence produced before the committee conclusively proved that US prisoners of war, who were not deliberately murdered at the time of capture, were beaten, wounded, starved, tortured, molested, displayed in public and openly humiliated before Korean civilians. On top of this, they were forced to march long distances without food, water, shelter, clothing or adequate medical attention. In specially set-up Communist prison camps, there were further acts of human indignities, as well as massacres on an extremely large scale.

The following cases, which were presented to the War Crimes Division, represent just a few of the atrocities commited by the North Korean and Chinese Communist armies:

THE
 
HILL
 303 
MASSACRE

A group of 26 US soldiers were captured by the North Koreans on 14 August, 1950. The soldiers were stripped of their combat boots and personal belongings and their hands were tied behind their backs. The following day a further 19 soldiers joined their group, bringing the total number to 45. On the third day the prisoners were led to a ravine and, with their hands still tethered, were shot in cold blood. One by one the soldiers fell, and only four managed to survive the ordeal to tell exactly what had happened.

THE
 
SUNCHON
 
TUNNEL
 
MASSACRE

In October 1950, when the fall of the city of Pyongyang seemed imminent, the North Koreans loaded about 180 US war prisoners into open railway carriages to be transported to the north. These men were already weak from lack of food and water, having been survivors of the Seoul-Pyongyang death march. For five days they were exposed to the raw Korean climate, and on 30 October they arrived at the Sunchon tunnel.

Late in the afternoon, the prisoners were taken from the railway carriages in small groups and marched towards some nearby ravines, under the pretext of being given their first food for several days. Instead, they were ruthlessly shot, using Russian burp guns.

A total of 138 US soldiers lost their life on that fateful occasion – 68 were murdered, seven died of malnutrition and the remainder of pneumonia, malnutrition and dysentery on the horrendous ride from Pyongyang.

TAEJON
 
MASSACRE

On 27 September, 1950, approximately 60 US soldiers who had been imprisoned at Taejon had their hands wired together and were taken in small groups out into the prison courtyard. They were forced to sit hunched together in previously dug ditches, and then shot at point-blank range by North Korean soliders. Only one soldier lived to tell his gruesome tale.

In addition to this slaughter, a number of Korean civilians, believed to be as many as 5,000–7,000, together with soldiers of the Republic of Korea, were killed at Taejon between 23 and 27 September, 1950.

BAMBOO
 
SPEAR
 
CASE

In December 1950, five US airmen were killed when their convoy of trucks was ambushed by North Korean forces. When their bodies were later discovered by a South Korean patrol, it showed that their flesh had been punctured in as many as 20 different places. The instrument of severe torture was a heated bamboo stick, and the soldiers were literally left to bleed to death from their perforations.

MURDER
 
AT
 
NAEDAE

On 13 October, 1950, a dozen US soldiers were held captive in a Korean hut in a village near Naedae. Without any warning the North Koreans opened fire, killing all but five. One of the survivors said that he heard the first shot and one of his companions, who had been hit in the chest, slumped forward. He said he reacted quickly and hid under a nearby desk, playing dead. A little later he felt someone kick him, still he remained inactive and, even after being shot in the leg he continued to play dead. Eventually, the Korean soldiers left and he lived to tell the tale.

CHAPLAIN
-
MEDIC
 
MASSACRE

North Korean forces surprised and slaughtered approximately 20 US soldiers on 17 July, 1950. At the time of the killings, the soldiers were being tended to by a regimental surgeon wearing a Red Cross armband. Also present was an army chaplain, who could easily be identified by his Christian cross; neither of these men carried a weapon. The chaplain was killed with the soldiers, but the surgeon, despite being badly wounded, managed to survive the ordeal.

JEJU
 
MASSACRE

The Jeju massacre was a suppression against an armed rebellion on Jeju island, South Korea, during the period of 3 April, 1948 to 21 September, 1954. A number of elements led to the massacre, including a complex cooperation between guerilla forces, police, youth groups, local and national armies with a strong US influence. The South Korean right-wing government decided to carry out nationwide campaigns in an effort to flush out communists and their sympathizers. Communist influence was strong on Jeju island and the campaign led to nationwide unrest. Many decided to resort to armed resistance against the actions of the government.

When the US government backed out of helping to organize the Korean elections, labour party leaders staged massive rallies to demand reunification. In the first of the rallies, police killed six protestors. On 3 April, 1948, rebels relaliated by attacking police stations and government offices, killing an estimated 50 policemen.

When the trouble first started, rebels were given the label ‘communist’ purely for political reasons, when in truth their motives had nothing to do with communism. The trouble had really started when there was a major crackdown on the islanders’ smuggling activities, which was their main source of income. Locals, who were accused of being either smugglers or Communists, were subjected to torture, rape, killings and random incarcerations. This resulted in an angry attack by the locals on all the police stations on the island. The rebels broke into the police stations, freed their relatives and stole arms before retreating. This gave them the upper hand until support arrived from the mainland. Stripped of both arms and ammunition, the police were left in a vulnerable state. The Korean’s 9th regiment who, although they were armed, had not been allowed any ammunition as the USA still held power over the island.