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South Korean Survivors Air Stories of U.S. Military Atrocities

Air raid civilian survivor Kye Il Hwang. Photo by Ji Hyun Lim.

By Ji Hyun Lim

Fifty years after the Korean War, Kye Il Hwang vividly remembers the pain and suffering his family encountered as civilians living in the Kyung Sang province. With disfiguring scars on his face, loss of sight in his left eye, and deteriorating vision in the other, Hwang dabs his eyes with a towel as he recounts his memories.

“I was seven when the war broke out,” Hwang said in Korean. “One day, a person who was not police or a soldier came to warn us that if we did not take refuge, we would die.”

The family fled to a mountain area along with other refugees. Approximately 2,000 people gathered there, Hwang recounted. Then one day, they saw a plane observing them, followed by three jet bombers.

Left to right: Gloria La Riva, videographer; Richard Becker of the International Action Center; Kye Il Hwang; Hyun Ki Cho, executive director of the Korean Truth Comission. Photo by Ji Hyun Lim.

“A lot of families were annihilated,” Hwang said. “We all hid in the weeds and the bombing took place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. My father tried to cover me, running through the field, and a bullet came through and pierced through my father’s chin and went into my left eye.”

There was no trace of North Korean soldiers, according to Hwang. His family and other civilians could not understand why they were the targets.

Now, Hwang and other victims want the public to hear their stories. They are calling on the U.S. government to apologize and pay reparations.

On March 21, the Korea Truth Commission, an organization that has chronicled alleged atrocities against people during the Korean War, held a public hearing at San Francisco’s International Action Center to expose the U.S. war atrocities on civilians such as Hwang.

Since the Associated Press released a series of articles about the No Gun Ri massacre in 1999, uncovering evidence supporting charges that U.S. soldiers machine-gunned hundreds of civilian refugees in 1950, 2.5 million Koreans have alleged similar incidences, according to Richard Becker of the International Action Center.

Hyun Ki Cho, executive director of the Kyung Sang province chapter of the Korean Truth Commission, believes that the bombings and assaults on Korean civilians are greater than anyone had imagined.

“We have verified 60 places where this has occurred,” Cho said. “In Kyung Sang province alone, 20 places. Because investigation of civilian attacks are stifled by civilians moving residences or passing away, the urgency of redressing war atrocities immediately is important.”

Cho charged that the South Korean government is indifferent to the atrocities and that the “U.S. government has power over the Korean government.” After the No Gun Ri incident came to light, the Pentagon and South Korea opened investigations. Both countries reached a “mutual understanding” that American soldiers killed South Korean civilians. However, they found no evidence that the GIs were ordered to kill. In January of last year, then-President Clinton issued a statement of regret, but did not apologize or offer reparations.

Said Cho: “If we were to put it in one sentence, ‘If the U.S. government sneezes, the South Korean government comes down with the flu.’”

Becker, Western Region coordinator of the International Action Center, estimates that 3 to 5 million Koreans were killed during the war.

“Between two-thirds and three-fourths of all the casualties were civilians,” Becker claimed. “The country was leveled by the U.S. bombing. There was not a single two-story building left standing because the bombing was so intensive and extensive.”

Gloria La Riva, a videographer who toured with the Korea Truth Commission, explains, “The aim of the [Korea Truth Commission] is to expose the massacres, win justice, apology, and reparations to the victims who still suffer physically and economically.”

This San Francisco hearing is one of many held around the United States. The International Action Center, the Korea Truth Commission, Asian Left Forum, Korean Education and Exposure Project, and Veterans of Peace are some of the sponsors. The tour will culminate with a Korean International War Crimes Tribunal held in New York City on June 23, the Anniversary of the Korean War.

The Korean International War Crimes Tribunal — a joint effort between South Korea and the United States, composed of nonprofit, human rights organizations — will make recommendations based on the body of evidence from survivors. The judgment will be released to the media, the United Nations and the U.S. government. In the meantime, the Korea Truth Commission continues to mobilize support and collect data from survivors of the Korean War.

Hwang’s tearful recollection of his past reflects emotional and psychological scars. “For my entire life, I thought it was only in my village,” he said. “I’m enraged it could actually not be the case. I’m a strong witness to this.”