By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter

Almost 5,000 members of a nationwide network of former and converted communists were massacred during the first few months of the Korean War (1950-1953) by the South Korean police and army, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said Thursday.

“We have confirmed the deaths of 4,934 members of the National Guidance League (NGL), or Bodoyeonmang,” Park Young-il, a director with the Commission said Thursday during a press conference at the Press Center in central Seoul.

Founded shortly before the outbreak of the Korean War in 1949, the NGL consisted of former communists and anti-government activists. Most were involuntarily registered by authorities, who wanted to easily monitor their activities and location.

By the end of 1949, there were as many as 300,000 NGL members, with 20,000 in Seoul alone. Because regional police chiefs were mandated to fill a quota of NGL memberships, many innocent citizens with no political or ideological ties to North Korea or anti-government organizations were forced into the league as well.

The Commission said that the establishment of the NGL was initiated by the prosecution. Police investigators and intelligence officials of the army led the massacres, but the commission did not clearly define who was responsible for the orders.

“We suspect officials at the highest level of the Syngman Rhee administration were involved in the arrests and killings of the NGL members,” Kim Dong-choon, a senior researcher with the commission said.

It has been documented that in the process of retreating during the early stages of the war, the South Korean government and army killed numerous NGL members. Some researchers have said they did so because the government feared that the members might join the North Korean army.

The massacre is one of the earliest instances of mass civilian killings during the Korean War.
The commission said that it will urge for an official apology from the government to the surviving families of the victims and seek measures for compensation.

It has been conducting research on the massacre at the request of surviving family members since 2006. The families have filed more than 2,500 complaints with the commission. It is the first time that an official investigation into the massacres has been conducted.

It found that in some counties, as many as 1,000 NGL members were killed. “The 4,934 confirmed deaths represent only about 10 percent of the estimated number of victims,” Kim said.

The commission is tasked with investigating cases of human rights abuses, violence, and massacres that occurred during Korea’s modernization, especially during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945) and the country’s authoritarian rule.

It was founded during the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration for national harmony and reconcilation, but its operation will be terminated in April 2010.

jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr