5,000 civilians killed by US during Korean War

By Kim Rahn

More than 5,000 civilians were killed by U.S. forces during the Korean War (1950-1953), a state agency said Tuesday, providing the first official tally on the figure.

The report released by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea indicated that at least 5,291 civilians were killed by the U.S. forces after the three-year war broke out on June 25, 1950.

Most deaths took place by Sept. 28 that year, when South Korea reclaimed the capital after retreating to southern parts of the peninsula — 4,091 people were killed in 141 battles.

Among the 141, 90 cases of aerial bombing claimed 3,607 lives. This was because the U.S. forces, with their superior air force, bombed routes the North Korean military was likely to take or facilities the military was likely to use as bases.

“While carrying out the bombing, the U.S. forces didn’t properly protect civilians and facilities, resulting in numerous deaths. The South Korean government and allied forces also failed to alert civilians to evacuate the bombing areas,” the report said.

Women, children and the elderly made up a large portion in the death toll: Of 1,218 victims killed before the reclamation of Seoul, 45.5 percent were women. By age group, 18.3 percent of the 1,218 were aged under 10, and 18.7 percent, aged over 50.

“It is because many of the victims were killed while at their residence or finding shelter together with family members. Therefore, the ratio of victims, who were supposed to be protected according to the Geneva Convention, was quite large,” the report said.

The convention stipulates that civilians who are wounded, sick, old, children under 15, expectant mothers or mothers of children under seven should be specially protected.

After the reclamation of the capital, an additional 1,200 civilians were killed in 31 incidents involving the U.S. forces. Of these, 21 took place between January and February 1951 during the forces’ scorch operations.

The report is the first official data on such victims.

“We drew up the statistics based on reports from the victims’ bereaved families or related civic groups. The actual number of victims may be larger if unreported cases are included,” an official of the commission said.

The commission concluded its mission on Dec. 31 after dealing with 11,175 cases which people had asked it to investigate since April 2006.