Reconciliation Foundation

By Ahn Byung-ook

Through fact-finding activities, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea (TRCK) has shed light on past tragedies and incidents that brought tribulation to victims and their families.

By doing so, the commission has discovered how great and heavy the pain and suffering was for many victims and families over the past 60 years.

Through its investigations, the TRCK has been able to relieve victims and bereaved families of pain incurred by the illegal activities of the state in the past and through this, they have achieved meaningful results toward forgiveness and reconciliation.

The settlement of past misdeeds can only be fulfilled through a process of truth-finding, relief and restoration of honor for victims, and reconciliation and memorial events. It is difficult to settle past incidents at one stroke. The only way is to resolve each case in stages according to its own characteristics.

The main role of the TRCK is to find the truth. Separate tasks must now be implemented to complete the objective of past settlement.

Therefore, it is now necessary to initiate follow-up measures to the truth-finding results. Soon, when the activities of the commission are completed, a foundation for the settlement of past incidents is needed to complete the objective of past settlement.

The Basic Law for the Settlement of Past Incidents stipulates the establishment of a Reconciliation Foundation to oversee follow-up tasks such as reconciliation.

The foundation's activities include 1) memorial services and the operation and management of an historical archive by the government, 2) support for additional fact finding investigations, 3) and support for cultural and academic events related to truth-finding.

First, as stipulated in the basic law, a Reconciliation Foundation dedicated to the follow-up of truth-finding decisions must be established to achieve the ultimate goal of past settlement.

Second, through the establishment of the foundation, broad and deep measures to overcome the past must be taken to seek national unity by resolving social and political conflicts, and mistrust which have accumulated due to past incidents.

Third, even after the completion of the TRCK's activities, the state must implement the results and take necessary measures to restore the honor of the victims of truth-finding cases and achieve national reconciliation and unity.

The Reconciliation Foundation will greatly contribute to reconciliation and co-existence in our society as well as the development of democracy and the enhancement of human rights.

Another major problem is the absence of any person or party responsible for illegal massacres conducted under state power. The state, although acknowledging the illegalities to this day, has been avoiding its reparation responsibilities.

However, this year, in a reparation lawsuit issued by the bereaved families of the Ulsan Bodo League, victims of the government, judges made a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.

This event sparked a train of litigation filed by the bereaved families of the victims of civilian massacres and gave them high hopes for reparations.

The bereaved families are filing for claims against the government based on the findings of the TRCK. Under the current system, the only way for these people to claim reparations against the state is through litigation, so depending on the thousands of cases decided by the TRCK, a number of reparations lawsuits will take place.

If the court dismisses the claims of the bereaved families when the families file a lawsuit against the government upon verification of the truth which took decades to be revealed, the pain of the families will be further exacerbated.

Therefore, instead of a method of reparation and compensation through individual lawsuits, the process should be treated the same across the board by enacting a special law which sets a consistent standard and method for reparation.

Although the massacres occurred in all parts of the nation, the characteristics of the cases are similar and they share a common background, not to mention that the suffering of the bereaved families is also more or less similar. So it is possible enough to deal with these cases through an overall settlement.

In consideration of this situation and the duty of the government in reconciliatory measures, the government should establish a broad and fair special law on reparations for victims, which would be a more fundamental approach to this issue.

For decades, most of the families of the victims of massacres knew nothing of the truth, nor did they feel any relief. Even if some knew about the facts, as the socially weak, they could not take the state to court let alone submit a request for the truth to be sought.

Under the current system and law, it is difficult to undo the damages suffered by the victims and families who have grieved for such a long period. In particular, even now after the truth is finally uncovered, the state is trying to avoid reparations on the grounds that the victims lost their right to compensation because they had not exercised it within five years of the incident taking place.

Establishing a measure that can fundamentally solve the reparation requests of the families of massacres and not one-time measures is the way to achieve the true meaning of past settlement as it is also an execution of the state's basic duty.

The global trend is to also broadly acknowledge reparations for civilian massacres. Global society long ago established various legal devices for the punishment of crimes against humanity and massive killings.

In particular, the ``Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations,'' which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly, details specifically the principles and modalities of reparations for the victims of state violence. Korea should also respect and refer to this.

Although there is a difference in the amount according to the political situation and financial status, most countries that implement past settlement strategies operate a program based on monetary reparations. Now, after restoring the victim's honor, punishing wrongdoers and uncovering the truth, we should focus on this.

The broad and consistent remedy of cash grants to victims through the establishment of a special law on reparations for victims is way of acknowledging the illegal activities committed by our government in the past and is an act of taking responsibility while realizing social justice.

Dr. Ahn Byung-ook is president of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea.