ⓒ JoongAng Ilbo / JoongAng Ilbo Japanese version2022.08.10 08:09
–
–
“People were gathering and they were shot dead by soldiers. After they fell,[the soldiers]threw grenades.”
For the first time, a South Korean court has testified that there was a massacre of civilians by the South Korean army during the Vietnam War.
Judge Park Jin-soo of the 68 civil affairs division of the Seoul Central District Court said on the 9th that Nguyen Thi Tan (62), a Vietnamese citizen, filed a lawsuit against the Korean government against the South Korean government. Nguyen Duc Choi (82) was questioned as a witness.
Doc Choi, who testified that day, is Thi Tan’s uncle. During the trial, Duc Choi testified that he personally witnessed the Phong Nhi Incident, in which Korean soldiers killed dozens of residents in Phong Nhi Village, Dien Van Province, Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, on February 12, 1968. . Duc Choi asserted that it was “Korean soldiers” who killed the residents. He said that he knew the faces of Korean soldiers because he often saw them in the village. He said he saw this scene at the entrance of the village and magnified it with a telescope.
“In the square next door, most of the corpses of the villagers were burned.”
Duk Choi described the scene that the South Korean soldiers saw directly after they left the area, pointing out with their hands where the heap of corpses was found on a map depicting the village at the time. He said he found dozens of corpses piled up everywhere and saw many houses in the village on fire.
Prior to this, Ryu Jin-sung, who appeared in court as a witness on Nov. 16, 2018, was also a member of the Marine Corps and was dispatched to the Vietnam War. He testified that he had witnessed the corpses of people being killed piled high.
At a press conference related to the “Vietnam War civilian massacre” held prior to the trial, Lim Jae-sung, a lawyer representing the victims, said, “At the time, this incident was unusual even from the perspective of the US military, and the US military There is also a record of listening to the opinion of the South Korean military.” “The South Korean military avoided responsibility by making the person who carried out the incident the Viet Cong wearing the clothes of the South Korean army, but after that, village residents protested to the Vietnamese parliament. It made the problem worse,” he said. “At the time, the South Korean government investigated the incident but did not submit any materials,” he said, adding, “The victims and their supporters are working hard to gather evidence and be recognized in court.”
This lawsuit was filed against the South Korean government in April 2020 by Nguyen Thi Tan, a survivor of the Phong Nhi Incident during the Vietnam War, for damages equivalent to 30 million won (approximately 3.09 million yen). Lawsuit. Soldiers belonging to the 2nd Brigade (Blue Dragon Unit) of the South Korean Marine Corps dispatched to Vietnam are suspected of killing 74 residents of Phong Nhi Village. Thi Tan, who was 8 years old at the time of the incident, lost five members of his family.
The South Korean government does not accept the fact that such an incident occurred. Prior to this, the government’s defense lawyers argued that “what was done by the South Vietnam National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) disguised as Korean soldiers” and “even if it was committed by a Korean soldier, it can be tolerated because it is a war.” did.
–
