Dismissal of Ha My Massacre appeal exposes gaps in Korea’s truth-seeking framework
The Ha My Massacre Monument stands in Dien Duong Ward, Dien Ban Township, Quang Nam Province in central Vietnam, July 22. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg
A decades-old purported massacre committed by Korean troops in Vietnam has returned to the spotlight after a Seoul court rejected a request for an official investigation, deepening the debate over Korea’s willingness to confront its past wartime actions abroad. All this happened on the final day of a visit by the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The Seoul High Court’s 11th Administrative Division upheld a lower court decision on Aug. 13 to reject an appeal by five victims and bereaved families of the 1968 Ha My Massacre in Vietnam. Their appeal challenged the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) earlier dismissal of their request for a formal investigation into the killing of 135 civilians by Korean marines, including women, children, infants and the elderly.
The court affirmed the TRC’s dismissal, citing lack of jurisdiction: The applicants were foreign nationals, and the incident occurred outside Korean territory during the Vietnam War. Critics argue the ruling underscores the limits of Korea’s truth-seeking framework, which can leave historical wrongs involving foreign victims unexamined. Lawyers representing the victims plan to appeal to the Supreme Court.
One of the complainants, Nguyen Thi Thanh, was 11 years old at the time and lost multiple family members. She also served as a plaintiff in the 2018 Vietnam War People’s Peace Tribunal, a mock trial in which former Supreme Court Justice Kim Young-ran ruled that the Korean government was responsible for a “serious violation of human rights and a war crime.”
Nguyen Thi Thanh speaks via video call during a press conference outside the Seoul High Court building in Seocho District following the court’s ruling on Aug. 13. Courtesy of Jack Greenberg
The Ha My Massacre occurred in February 1968, shortly after the start of the Tet Offensive, in central Vietnam’s Quang Nam Province near Da Nang, a popular destination for Korean tourists today. Within two hours, Marines from Korea’s Blue Dragon Unit rounded up villagers and executed them. Many victims were women and children; only three military-age men were among them. Anthropologist Kwon Heon-ik notes that soldiers returned after the killings with bulldozers to flatten the hastily dug graves, desecrating the victims’ corpses.
Alongside the Phong Nhi and Phong Nhat massacres, Ha My has received some coverage in Korea since 1999. Bureaucratic obstacles and longstanding taboos, however, have kept these events uncommemorated, leaving public awareness low. Civil society, particularly the Korean-Vietnamese Peace Foundation (founded in 2016 following the “Sorry, Vietnam” movement), has taken the lead in investigations, public campaigns and support of survivors and families seeking recognition.
Korea sent more than 320,000 troops to Vietnam between 1964 and 1973, with combat forces arriving in February 1965, making Koreans the largest foreign contingent after the United States. Deployed as part of an alliance with Washington, the troops’ service has been commemorated through monuments and exhibitions emphasizing patriotism and anti-communist contribution.
The TRC, relaunched on Dec. 10, 2020, investigates historical injustices, including civilian deaths during the 1950-53 Korean War, human rights violations under authoritarian rule and casualties caused by hostile forces. Its mandate was later expanded to certain overseas cases, such as incidents involving Korean adoptees, though jurisdiction over non-Korean victims remains legally contested.
The court’s ruling on the Ha My Massacre came more than three years after the victims filed their applications to the TRC in April 2022, when the commission was chaired by Kim Kwang-dong. Their applications were rejected in May 2023. Nguyen traveled to Korea in June to appeal the decision in person. The Seoul High Court emphasized that domestic law does not clearly authorize inquiries into incidents outside the Korean Peninsula involving non-Korean victims.
Im Jae-seong, lawyer for the Minbyun (Lawyers for a Democratic Society) Vietnam War Task Force, criticized the ruling. “How crucial is the victim’s nationality?” he asked. “How crucial is the location of the unlawful act? Why discriminate, choosing not to pursue truth simply because the victim is foreign?”
By contrast, a Phong Nhi survivor, also named Nguyen Thi Thanh, pursued a compensation claim through Korean courts and in January received a favorable ruling from the Seoul Central District Court. The government, which had appealed a lower court decision, was ordered to pay 30 million won plus accrued damages, highlighting inconsistencies in legal outcomes for Vietnamese victims.
Even if the Ha My case had succeeded, the second TRC is nearing the end of its mandate, with final reports due in November. The Lee Jae Myung government has prioritized creating a replacement commission to continue truth-seeking and address structural issues.
Observers stress that legal or procedural obstacles should not block accountability. As Jang Wan-ik, lawyer with the Minbyun Vietnam War Task Force, said, “We must pursue truth and justice, regardless of bureaucratic hurdles. Our country should act on principle.”
After the Ha My applications were dismissed, current TRC Chairwoman Park Sun-young shared personal reflections on both Ha My and Phong Nhi on her Facebook page. Some passages blurred the line between civilians and combatants, drawing criticism that TRC officials should remain impartial and reinforcing calls for a future commission to center victims’ experiences.
Renewed attention to the case coincides with broader discussions in Korea about its Vietnam War legacy. Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party, visited Korea from Aug. 10 to 13. Ahead of the visit, President Lee Jae Myung stated that confronting historical wrongs committed by Korean forces abroad is necessary for moral consistency. This aligns with civic groups’ calls for the government to apply the same standards to both Japanese wartime actions and Korean conduct in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government has not formally requested apologies or compensation, and officials in both countries have largely downplayed the issue. Past expressions of regret by Presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in received only muted responses.
For Nguyen Thi Thanh of Ha My, the events of 1968 remain vivid. She survived but lost her mother, younger siblings and other relatives. “I was deeply disappointed and very saddened,” she said in a press conference via video link after the ruling. “I cannot understand why such a ruling was issued, [even after] I went to Korea and told my story many times. The court seems indifferent to us victims.”
The Seoul High Court’s decision underscores significant gaps in Korea’s truth-seeking framework. By denying jurisdiction over foreign victims abroad, the ruling leaves serious historical wrongs unexamined and highlights disparities in recognition between domestic and overseas victims.
While legal avenues sometimes yield accountability, as in Phong Nhi, Ha My demonstrates the limits of current law and TRC mandates. Civil society and legal advocates remain committed to pursuing the truth, emphasizing that moral responsibility should not be constrained by nationality or geography.
As Jeon Hong-sik, a citizen attending the hearing, reflected, “Why is there such fear of even trying to reveal the truth?… Although today is bitter, my visit has been meaningful, and I would like to come again if a similar event happens.”
His words underscore the human and civic stakes at the heart of truth-seeking, reminding us that uncovering history matters as much to ordinary people as to the law.
Jack Greenberg works as a consultant, researcher and freelance writer. His current focus is on heritage and conservation issues, historical memory debates, truth-seeking and reconciliation, and civilian massacres of the 1950-53 Korean War. He was the recipient of the Global Korea Scholarship and earned a master’s in international studies at Korea University. He is also an alum of McGill University in Canada.