People's Democracy

URVIVORS of the Rogun-ri massacre in South Korea and civic groups have rejected the outcome of the 15 months long, joint investigation by the US and South Korean governments into the massacres the US troops committed in the course of their war against North Korea in 1950-53. They also denounced President Bill Clinton’s "regret" statement as a total whitewash, as an attempt to cover up the bloody incident. They have called for an explicit apology and compensation from the US.

Clinton had said in his statement of regret released on January 11: "On behalf of the United States of America, I deeply regret that Korean civilians lost their lives at Rogun-ri." Describing the incident as one of the "tragedies of war," he then added: "To those Koreans who lost loved ones at Rogun-ri, I offer my condolences." This way he avoided a specific acknowledgement of the US responsibility for the July 1950 killings in Rogun-ri village. Evidently, his statement stopped far short of a genuine apology that many South Korean people have demanded.

The USA's not-guilty conclusion --- that no orders were given to the American soldiers to kill the civilians at Rogun-ri --- was immediately challenged by South Korean survivors of the massacre, their family members and their supporters.

"The US government's denial, saying no orders were given for the massacre, is quite natural as it wanted to play down the incident from the beginning," Chong Ku Do, a spokesman of the US Committee on Rogun-ri Civilian Massacre, said while expressing his deep disappointment. "We don't accept the statement as an official apology," he added.

Do further said: "The US government is committing a treachery before history by refusing to admit that the Rogun-ri killings were a massacre of innocent civilians by US troops." He also accused Washington of seeking to cover up other similar killings committed by US troops during the Korean war "by taking advantage of the Rogun-ri case."

Reversing its previous stance, the US Army acknowledged the Rogun-ri deaths in its investigation report but not its own role --- that the US troops were involved in the massacre. It sought to project the said deaths as something like normal consequences of war, saying that an unknown number of Korean civilians were killed or injured by small-arms fire, artillery and motor fire and strafing by US war planes at Rogun-ri in the early days of the Korean war. On the other hand, a joint report released on January 11 this year by Washington and Seoul concluded that panicky and poorly trained US troops had shot at civilians who were huddled under a bridge between July 26 and 29, 1950.

Yet, denying its active involvement in the massacre, the Pentagon said that there was no firm evidence to substantiate the fact that US soldiers were ordered to kill.

"Any final report that does not mention the responsibility of the commanders has a serious defect," said Chung Koo-do, another spokesman for the survivors' group.

The investigation began after The Associated Press (AP) reported in September 1999 about the massacre of civilians by US troops at the hamlet during the Korean war. Its investigation report was based on dozens of US and South Korean witnesses and declassified documents from the US military archives. The first revelation of the USA’s war massacre at Rogun-ri was made by the South Korean progressive monthly magazine Mal in 1994.

Civic groups say they would take the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and to a US court to seek compensation. They also plan to hold a mock trial to be attended by some of the soldiers involved, by the families of victims and by lawmakers.

"By defining the incident as just accidental, the US government is trying to evade its responsibility," said Li So Hwi, secretary general of the National Campaign for Eradication of Crimes by US Troops in Korea. The organisation called for a thorough reinvestigation, an official US apology and compensation.

Another major civic group, the People's Action for Reform of Unjust ROK-US SOFA, also made the same demand, accusing the US of a dishonest attempt to draw a non-committal conclusion.

The US has offered to finance the construction of a monument for villagers and civilian victims of the war, and to create a memorial scholarship for children of the Rogun-ri victims and others to honour "these and all other innocent Korean civilians." But the measures fall far short of meeting the demands of the victims’ relatives who have called for compensation and an explicit apology from Washington.

"If the US is going to build a memorial, it should be a memorial exclusively for Rogun-ri victims," Chong said, adding that "Other massacre incidents have not yet been investigated. Clinton's announcement of a memorial for all civilians killed during the Korean war is an attempt to cover up other massacres."

According to the AP's 1999 report, US soldiers who took part in the Korean war, spoke of 100, 200 or simply hundreds killed. Koreans survivors, however, said 300 were shot to death and 100 died in a preceding air attack.

Meanwhile, civic groups also denounced the revised Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between South Korea and the US on January 18. They condemned the agreement as nothing more than an attempt to deceive the South Korean people.

"We are very disappointed at this ridiculous agreement," Li Hyon Chol, an official of the Green Korea United, was quoted as saying. "What they have agreed to revise is not the SOFA but the agreed minutes and agreed understanding which are not legally binding."

Chol then added: "The attached documents are to be implemented on the basis of the two sides' confidence in each other, and the agreement has no biding power. Therefore, if one side violates it, that's it. There is no way to enforce the agreement."

Under the revised agreement, US soldiers accused of murder, rape, arson, drug trafficking or any of eight other serious crimes would be turned over to the South Korean authorities upon indictment.

But some fundamentally unfair articles remain to be revised. The South Korean government not only signed the agreement but even sought to justify its stand in the name of Washington's concessions including those on environmental and labour clauses.

The popular demand for a drastic revision of the SOFA was triggered by the serious crimes committed by US soldiers stationed in South Korea. These crimes attracted keen media attention and led to powerful anti-US protests by South Koreans.