http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/08/356_235084.html

Remains of 153 victims who were killed in government-sponsored killings in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province in 1950 / Courtesy of Geumjunggul Human Rights and Peace Foundation

Human rights atrocities by Japanese, Korean governments remain unresolved

By Choi Ha-young

The southern part of the Korean peninsula, once trampled by Japanese imperialism from 1910 to 1945 and ruled with an iron hand until 1993, has innumerable unresolved cases of human rights atrocities.

The 1950-53 Korean War drenched the soil with blood. Researchers estimate that around 1 million civilians were killed by the government-led massacres during the war.

As depicted in this year's box-office hit movie "The Battleship Island," directed by Ryoo Seung-hwan, around 8 million Koreans were either forced into slave labor or to fight in the imperialists' battles in Southeastern Asian countries and at least 600,000 them were missing.

The tragedies continued after the country's independence on Aug. 15, 1945. As the Korean War loomed, civilians branded as pro-North Korea were shot to death or buried at sea without judicial process by government-sponsored forces. Some of them were actually anti-colonialists who argued against the possible division of the peninsula amid the Cold War.

Military dictators were not hesitant to torture student activists or fabricate espionage charges against progressive students, artists or even fishermen. Further, another government-led slaughter occurred in the southern city of Gwangju in 1980. 

To comfort the victimized souls, the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-08) set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2005 to look into government-led killings. The commission inspected over 20,000 cases for four years, before it was dismissed in December 2010 by the conservative President Lee Myung-bak administration.

Military dictators were not hesitant to torture student activists or fabricate espionage charges against progressive students, artists or even fishermen. Further, another government-led slaughter occurred in the southern city of Gwangju in 1980.

"Under the conservative administration, the team wrapped up the research even though we knew there were remaining tasks," Shin Ki-cheol, former lead researcher of the TRC, told The Korea Times. "At that time, some victims refused to apply for fact-finding for fear of being labeled as members of a pro-communist's family."

Now, the new liberal government led by President Moon Jae-in, former human rights lawyer and anti-dictatorship fighter, is attempting to revive the commission, one of his 100 goals for his five-year term. In the 200-page roadmap unveiled in July, the government vowed to complete fact-finding of the past human rights atrocities and the distribution of financial compensation. The Ministry of Inferior and Safety estimated that 4.8 trillion won ($4.2 billion) is necessary to compensate the 36,000 victims, mostly of state violence after 1945.

This is the first time the government has revealed a budget for the victims' sacrifices. Earlier, President Roh formally apologized to Jeju residents for the 1947-54 massacres but his administration failed to compensate the individual victims for their shattered lives. To be compensated, each victim or bereaved family member had to file a lawsuit against the government, but most of them didn't dare to challenge Goliath.

If Moon's initiative goes smoothly, a law designed to investigate the truth and indemnify the victims will be revised within this year and the TRC will resume its duties. In 2018, the TRC will begin to collect cases from the victims or their bereaved families. The government will draw up a scheme to establish a foundation for commemorative events and educate future generations in 2019.

In the National Assembly, three revision bills to resume the TRC are pending. Ruling party lawmaker So Byung-hoon submitted one of them earlier this year along with 60 lawmakers. "This time, I designed the bill to double the duration of the TRC to ensure thorough investigation," Rep. So said.

"The revision bill is dedicated to all of the victims who have not gained public attention. If the Japanese government is obliged to apologize to and compensate the victims for its war crimes, then the Korean government should do so as well. Financial burden is not a reasonable pretext," he added.

President Moon Jae-in consoles Kim So-hyung, who lost her father in the suppression of the Gwangju Democratic Movement in 1980, during a state ceremony commemorating the movement held at the May 18th National Cemetery in Gwangju, May 18. / Korea Times file

The moves in the legislature will gain momentum in tandem with Moon's determination. The president warmly hugged bereaved family members during a tearful commemorative event in Gwangju, May 18. 

He promised the victims and bereaved families to look into the National Forensic Service's discovery that government forces allegedly used helicopters to indiscriminately fire on civilians.

In addition, in his Liberation Day speech on Aug. 15, Moon signaled that he will deal with Japan's wartime crimes squarely. "The stumbling block between Korea and Japan is not historical affairs itself, but Japan's attitude on the issue," Moon said.

"The government will firmly uphold international principles over historical issues ― regaining the victims' dignity, providing the victims proper compensation, uncovering the truth and making efforts not to repeat such brutalities."

Moon reaffirmed his determination to look into the unresolved cases, Thursday, in his commemorative speech for Chang Jun-ha, a renowned political dissident who fought against military dictator Park Chung-hee. Chang was found dead in 1975 and relatives have suspected that he was murdered.



Urgent issues

Kim Han-soo, 99, who was forced into slave labor under Japanese colonial rule, sheds tears in front of a statue of Korean slave, Aug. 12. On the day, ruling party floor leader Woo Won-shik participated in the unveiling ceremony. / Yonhap

"The most urgent task is collecting fallen soldiers' bodies in Okinawa, Burma, the Philippines and New Guinea," Kim Yeong-hwan, researcher from the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, told The Korea Times.

The Japanese government has been collecting bodies of Japanese nationals who were killed in the battles waged by the Empire of Japan. Two years ago, some Japanese lawmakers responded to the center's demand to collect Koreans' bodies as well, in accordance to a specific proposal by the South Korean government.

"The bereaved families have called for their parents' repatriation through DNA matching. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under ex-President Park Geun-hye didn't reach out," Kim said.

Since the repatriation of the bodies is a humanitarian issue, Kim thinks diplomatic talks over it may thaw the icy bilateral relationship. "Seoul and Tokyo's cooperation for finding the bodies can initiate their diplomatic talks," Kim added.

The bodies of some of Koreans workers who were forced to labor at mines and factories under the colonial rule remain in Japan. In 2015, 115 bodies were returned to Seoul, but there has not been a governmental negotiation to fully resolve the issue.

Judiciary processes regarding the issue, which may trigger diplomatic frictions, stalled under two conservative administrations led by Presidents Lee and Park. In 2012, the Supreme Court clarified that the Korean victims have a legal right to demand compensation from Japanese businesses that oversaw the forced labor, annulling lower courts' original judgments. However, the Supreme Court has been reluctant to give its final ruling on existing cases filed by the victims and their families.

"Old victims in their 80s and 90s are passing away as they await the results of the lawsuits against Japanese businesses in charge of the forced labor. The court's rapid final ruling is necessary," said lawyer Chang Wan-ick, advocating for some of the victims.

Given Moon's remarks during his latest press conference, the current administration may make a breakthrough on the issue: "Despite the mutual agreement signed in 1965, Korean courts have endorsed the individual victims' right to file a civil suit against the Japanese companies."

A man who is about to be shot dead looks at a camera in a massacre in Daejeon, July 1950. / Courtesy of Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Tombs: Erased and forgotten

From 2007 to 2009, the TRC selected around 30 tomb sites where people who were killed before and during the Korean War were buried. However, the commission excavated only 13 sites and afterward, civic groups excavated three others. The total number of such tomb sites is unknown, because many of them have been erased or forgotten by topography change or urban developments.

"For 23 years, I've fought for (the victims of) the massacre that occurred in the Geumjeong cave, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in 1950. However, things are being forgotten, and memories are fading away quickly," said Shin, a longtime activist and researcher.

Shin has committed his efforts to the issue to give voice to the victims, who were courageous and conscientious under the prevailing influence of Cold War. "Most of them were targeted by the first president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, because they refused to think of North Korea as an enemy. For those who observed the ideological turmoil, it was natural choice to oppose the division of the peninsula."

Protesters on Jeju Island, who resisted against the United States Army Military Government in Korea from 1947 to 1954, were in the same shoes. They stirred up a revolt to deter the division of the nation, but two previous conservative administrations diminished the importance of their struggles.

"The uprising, which once regained its historical meaning, was distorted and disregarded for the last nine years," ruling party lawmaker Kang Chang-il said. "Along with Moon's inauguration, Jeju residents are looking forward to further research, excavation of massacre sites and commemorative events to mark the historical message of the struggle ― reconciliation and coexistence."