Vietnam massacre victims testify at mock trial

Two survivors of a Vietnam War massacre, both named Nguyen Thi Thanh, take part in a press conference held at the National Assembly, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Choi Ha-young

Two survivors of a 1968 Vietnam War massacre, allegedly committed by South Korean soldiers, gave their testimonies in a hypothetical court hosted by local civic groups over the weekend, calling on the nation to admit to and apologize for the wartime crime.

The two Vietnamese women who have the same name ― Nguyen Thi Thanh ― respectively from Phong Nhi Village and Ha My Village, where massacres took place, relived their distressing memories during the "People's Tribunal" held at Oil Tank Culture Park in western Seoul.

Though it was a mock trial, it was held in preparation for their envisioned lawsuit for state compensation against the Korean government. Neither the Korean nor Vietnamese government has officially recognized the alleged massacre of Vietnamese civilians by Korean soldiers.

Former Supreme Court Justice Kim Young-ran, who is more famous for the anti-graft law named after her, presided over the trial.

The plaintiff from Phong Nhi Village, 58, lost her mother, older sister, younger brother and an aunt in a grenade attack by Korean soldiers on Feb. 12, 1968.

"Feeling suspicious about the atmosphere, my aunt told us to hide in the dugout in my home," she said. "About three Korean soldiers, holding a grenade, beckoned us to come closer. Then my brother moved toward the soldiers and they shot him."

The woman who was then a nine-year-old girl vividly remembers the bloody scene after the killings. "After gunshots, a Korean soldier started a fire in my home. My aunt, holding her baby, tried to stop him and he stabbed her in the stomach."

She and her older brother ran away from the burning home. Out of thirst she drank water and saw her intestines coming out through the wounds in her stomach. Later, she figured out one of the bodies piled in the rice paddies was that of her mother.

The other woman named Nguyen from Ha My Village, 61, said she survived a grenade attack by South Korean soldiers, thanks to her mother who protected her children under her body.

"Recovering from fainting, I learned my mother was killed. I couldn't save my younger brother," she said with sobs. "Later, my older brother went to the dugout and buried corpses of the villagers, but later found their tombs were destroyed."

Lawyers for the plaintiffs claimed Korean soldiers intentionally damaged their bodies to conceal their actions. The lawyers also revealed videotaped interviews of some of the former Korean soldiers who admitted to the killings. One of the soldiers, 72, said he served as an advance guard for the second squad.

"I heard it was the first squad that committed the massacre in Phong Nhi Village," he said in the interview. "On the next day, I went to Phong Nhi Village for reconnaissance and witnessed corpses placed in a row in front of me. Later I heard a company commander was summoned to Korea (who was in charge of the incidents) after being investigated."

At the end of the trial, the judge ruled against the defendant, the Korean government. "The court rules the government should compensate the victims and officially admit its responsibility for the massacres to restore their dignity. Further, it recommends the government investigate the military's wartime crimes during their war participation from 1964 to 1973."

The judge especially urged the government to make clear its wartime atrocities at facilities about Korean soldiers' participation in the war, such as exhibitions at the War Memorial of Korea.

Still, doubts remain about the motivation of the atrocities. The victims commonly said the villagers had friendly relations with the Korean soldiers, saying the soldiers often distributed food and snacks to the children. A villager of Ha My said he survived thanks to a Korean soldier he had made acquaintance with.

Civic activists who organized the event said authorities should answer to such matters. For this, they are planning to urge the National Assembly to set up a special taskforce to look into the cases and are also considering helping the victims file compensation suits against the Korean government.

"If the real court rules in favor of the victims, it will spur an official apology by the Korean President and initiate a state-led investigation into the case," said lawyer Lim Jae-sung, one of the event organizers.

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