S Korean veteran admits massacre of civilians during Vietnam War
SEOUL: South Korean marines massacred dozens of unarmed villagers during the
Vietnam War, a retired marine officer was quoted as saying in a magazine
published on Tuesday.
Several news reports have carried accounts of such killings. But until
former marine Capt. Kim Ki-tae spoke out, all South Korean veterans
interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity. "It was a wholesale slaughter,"
Kim told the weekly Hankyoreh-21. "I was the executioner."
On November 14, 1966, Kim said his company arrested 29 young unarmed
Vietnamese men in a jungle in Quang Ngai, central Vietnam. Kim said he meant
to hand them over to South Vietnamese authorities. But a radio call came
from the battalion to hurry and move to support another unit ambushed by
Viet Cong guerrillas. "We didn't know what to do with these Vietnamese. They
were all trussed together with electrical wire. They were trembling with
fear," said Kim, 65. "Finally I said, `Take them away!"' Soldiers pushed the
Vietnamese into a bomb crater and threw grenades in.
Kim said he shouted, "I want a thorough job!" With that, soldiers climbed
down into the crater and checked each body, shooting anyone who was still
breathing. Kim said he suspected that not all of those killed were Viet Cong
guerrillas. "I told the truth as a way of repenting," Kim said in a
telephone interview with The Associated Press.
In his interview with the magazine, Kim gave gruesome details of South
Korean atrocities during the war. Kim said South Korean soldiers went wild
when they were ambushed.
Four days before the 29 Vietnamese were killed, Kim said, his unit wiped out
an entire village of 30 to 40 huts in Quang Ngai. "Two platoons of my
company advanced in front of us. They shot at everything that moved. By the
time I got there, the village was strewn with corpses - children, women and
old men," Kim said. "I yelled on the raid to stop the killings."
Kim's company continued moving on. On the afternoon of that day, the
advancing platoons rounded up 40 to 50 people in another village and
distributed candies and cigarettes. Kim saw the villagers and told the
platoon picking up the rear to free the villagers.
"But when I left the village, I heard shooting and grenade explosions
behind. I asked what was going on. The answer came back saying nothing was
happening," Kim said. "I just told them to do a thorough job if they started
it." Kim said he wanted to make sure that no one would survive to testify.
"It is just one man's confession, and right now it is impossible to verify
the claim," Seoul's Defense Ministry said in a statement. It added it has no
immediate plan to investigate.
The Vietnam government says that it wants to leave the past behind and build
friendly relations with all countries. South Korea is a major investor in
Vietnam.
South Korean veterans said ambushes were rampant during the war and it was
often impossible for them to distinguish between guerrillas and innocent
villagers. About 320,000 South Koreans fought in the Vietnam War between
September 1964 and March 1973, alongside U.S. troops. They were the largest
foreign contingent after Americans. Of them, 5,077 were killed and 10,962
wounded.
Accounts of South Korean atrocities have been current here for years. "One
of my unit members kept a Viet Cong eyeball in alcohol. Another kept a
string of dried ears. They said they wanted to take them home as souvenirs,"
Kim said. (AP)
For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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