DATE=10/28/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=KOREA MASSACRE - SURVIVORS
NUMBER=5-44638
BYLINE=ALISHA RYU
DATELINE=NOGUN-RI, SOUTH KOREA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// EDS: This is a companion piece to 5-
44637, which moved on this wire earlier ///
INTRO: As the United States and South Korea begin
investigating allegations that U-S soldiers massacred
Korean civilians during the early weeks of the Korean
War almost 50 years ago, survivors are speaking out
about their own experiences. V-O-A's Alisha Ryu
recently traveled to the village of Nogun-ri, 160-
kilometers southeast of Seoul, where the atrocities
are said to have occurred.
Text: Survivors of the alleged massacre at Nogun-ri
say their stories may be disturbing, but they insist
they are the truth.
/// Sound of train passing by - Establish
and Fade ///
Almost a dozen people gathered recently beneath the
now-famous twin-arched railroad bridge. It is here
that American soldiers are accused of gunning down as
many as 300 civilians over a three-day period (July
26-29) in July of 1950.
/// Sound of a train whistle - Establish
and Fade ///
A train passes overhead as 65-year-old Lee Byung-hae,
points to a spot under the bridge. He says his mother
died there on the night of July 26th. There were no
trains that night, he says, only the cries of women
and children amid the gunfire.
/// Lee Act in Korean - Establish and Fade
///
He says he heard loud noises and looked up to see his
mother's body crumple to the ground. He soon realized
many others around him were dead as well.
Ten-year-old Chung Koo-ho, his mother and younger
brother were crouched under the other end of the
bridge that night, taking cover beneath dead bodies as
the shooting continued. Mr. Chung, now 60, says they
survived the first night of killing. But the next
day, gunfire rang out again.
/// Chung Act in Korean - Establish and
Fade ///
He says he felt something sharp hit his arm and saw
blood trickling from his elbow. He remembers saying,
"Mom, I've been shot." He then saw that she was dead,
hit four times in the chest.
The survivors' accounts of the shooting at Nogun-ri
are similar to the recollections of former U-S Army
machine-gunner Edward Daily. In recent interviews,
the veteran said he had orders to shoot the refugees
because some of them were suspected of being North
Korean infiltrators disguised as civilians.
But Mr. Daily says he did not begin shooting until he
saw gunfire coming from among the refugees. Sixty-
seven-year-old Chung Koo-hun rejects that claim,
saying none of the refugees under the bridge could
have had a weapon.
/// First Chung Act in Korean - Establish
and Fade ///
Mr. Chung says U-S soldiers had thoroughly searched
the refugees before they reached the bridge,
confiscating even small kitchen knives. He says the
refugees were innocent victims who trusted the
Americans to lead them out of danger. Instead, they
died because the Americans did not trust them.
Korean survivors say there is more to the story than
what has been reported by American media. They claim
U-S atrocities against the refugees actually began the
day before the alleged bridge massacre.
Chung Koo-hun, who was 17 years old at the time, says
U-S troops on July 25th forced people to evacuate their
villages 14 kilometers away from the bridge. The U-S
Army was retreating south as North Korea's communists
advanced deep into the peninsula and heavy fighting
had broken out in the area.
Mr. Chung says the U-S soldiers began killing
civilians during the two-kilometer march.
/// Second Chung Act in Korean - Establish
and Fade ///
Mr. Chung says the refugees had been walking above a
steep embankment parallel to the railroad tracks. He
says U-S soldiers suddenly ordered them to run down to
the bottom of the embankment. When some began lagging
behind, Mr. Chung says an American soldier next to him
shot and killed three young children as a warning to
others of what the penalty would be for moving too
slowly.
Mr. Chung claims U-S troops committed more atrocities
the following day before the refugees reached the
bridge. As the refugees walked on, he says American
soldiers stopped them and searched their belongings.
Then, Mr. Chung says the U-S soldiers withdrew and
minutes later American planes swooped in and began
dropping bombs and firing on the refugees.
/// Third Chung Act in Korean - Establish
and Fade ///
Mr. Chung says he remembers seeing people hit by
bullets and shrapnel. He says when the air strikes
stopped, U-S troops reappeared and began another
search. He says he vividly remembers seeing at least
two of the soldiers walking among the wounded and
shooting them at point-blank range.
Kum Cho-ja says she, too, remembers the aerial attack.
She says she and many others sought shelter in a
narrow culvert near the bridge. Ms. Kum says when
they saw U-S troops approaching, they thought the
soldiers were coming to rescue them.
/// Kum Act in Korean - Establish and Fade
///
Instead, she says the soldiers ordered them to come
out and then opened fire. She says a bullet hit her
in the abdomen as she tried to leap over the dead
bodies in front of her. The Americans then directed
the remaining refugees to the bridge underpass.
Some of the dozen American Korean War veterans who
have spoken out about Nogun-ri have admitted that U-S
planes strafed the area where the refugees had
stopped. They say the air strikes were supposed to
prevent all Koreans, North and South, from crossing
their front lines.
But the U-S veterans disagree sharply on what happened
under the railroad bridge after the refugees took
shelter there. Some, like Mr. Daily, say they had
orders to shoot. Some say there were no such orders.
Mr. Daily says there was hostile fire. Others say
there was not. One U-S veteran says he found
disguised North Korean soldiers among the dead. But
the others say they found none.
Korean survivors claim U-S troops killed at least 300
people. U-S veterans say the death toll was much
lower. And so far, none of the American veterans has
talked about atrocities being committed before the
alleged attack under the railroad bridge.
Professor Ra (pronounced Na) Jong-yil at Kyung Hee
University in Seoul says that as a boy, he saw many
acts of violence during the Korean War. After nearly
a half a century, he says he is not surprised that
there are differing accounts of what happened at
Nogun-ri.
/// Ra Act ///
In any situation of violence, I think these
things can happen. To my experiences, battle
scenes were complete chaos. Nobody seemed to
have a grasp of what was happening around them.
That does not nullify the criminal nature of
what was done, but we can probably go so far as
to say that both were victims, the civilians and
the soldiers.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Ra says the important task now is to get to the
truth quickly and fairly. He notes that many Koreans
received medical treatment and other help from
American troops during the war. And about 37-thousand
U-S soldiers are still stationed here, helping defend
South Korea against another possible attack from the
North.
Mr. Ra urges the South Korean public to reserve
judgment about Nogun-ri until all the facts are
uncovered.
But survivors in Nogun-ri say they are telling the
truth. They say the Unites States should acknowledge
what its soldiers did and apologize. Only then, they
say, can the matter be put to rest. (Signed)
NEB/AR/JP
28-Oct-1999 12:19 PM EDT (28-Oct-1999 1619 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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