Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Korea) - Survey To Identify Massacre Victims

Survey To Identify Massacre Victims

This project was a survey of the number of civilian victims of the mass killings the took place during the Korean War and was carried out in collaboration with outside research teams. In 2007, the Seokdang Research Institute at Dong-a University carried out a survey of civilian victims in the cities of Gimhae and Gongju as well as rural areas in Jeolla, Chuncheong, Gyeongsang, and Gyeonggi provinces. The selected regions were chosen after estimating the scale and the representative-ness of each mass killing. In particular, Ganghwa County, near Incheon, was included because it was on the military borderline between the two conflicting powers at the time, and Gimhae was significant because a large number of mass killings against civilians occurred there even though the region was never taken by the North.

In 2007, the above-mentioned investigative process was conducted on a total of 3,820 individuals including bereaved family members and witnesses. As a result, some 8,600 victims were uncovered.

Categorized by region, there were found

  1. 356 victims in Ganghwa County,
  2. 385 victims in Cheongwon County,
  3. 65 victims in Gongju,
  4. 373 victims in Yeocheon County,
  5. 517 victims in Cheongdo County,
  6. 283 victims in Gimhae,
  7. 1,880 victims in Gochang County,
  8. 2,818 victims in Youngam County, and
  9. 1,318 victims in Gurye County.

Divided by the type of victim, there were found

  1. 1,457 leftist guerillas killed by the army or police forces of South Korea,
  2. 1,348 Bodo League members,
  3. 1,318 local leftist victims,
  4. 1,092 victims from the Yeosun Incident,
  5. 892 victims accused of being collaborators of North Korea, etc.

Read more about this topic:  Truth And Reconciliation Commission (South Korea)

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