Jinhwawi, Truth Investigation of 'Civilian Casualty Incidents by Military and Police' in Eumseong and Jecheon

Official Apology Recommended to Bereaved Families

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has decided to investigate the truth regarding the 'civilian casualties caused by military and police forces.'

The TRC announced on the 6th, during its 86th meeting, that it has decided to investigate the truth of incidents such as the 'civilian casualties caused by military and police forces in Eumseong and Jecheon.'

This case involves 12 residents living in the Chungbuk region who were victims of military personnel, police, and the National Defense Corps from September 1949 to March 1951, due to accusations of collaboration or being family members of alleged collaborators.

The TRC comprehensively reviewed and analyzed various materials including family registers, genealogies, tombstones, lists of collaborators who surrendered in Daeso-myeon, lists of those executed among the collaborators in Daeso-myeon, lists of those executed on the hill behind Osan-ri in Daeso-myeon, records from the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as testimonies from applicants and witnesses, and determined these individuals to be victims.

The TRC recommended that the national and local governments issue official apologies to the victims and their families, take measures for damage restoration, support memorial projects, reflect the incidents in historical records, and conduct peace and human rights education.

Additionally, the TRC decided to investigate the truth of the 'civilian casualties caused by military and police forces in Boryeong and Cheongyang, Chungnam' and the 'casualty incidents caused by military and police forces in Cheonan and Daejeon, Chungnam.' The incident in Boryeong and Cheongyang, Chungnam, occurred from around October 1950, after the liberation on September 28, 1950, until around March 1951, after the retreat on January 4, 1951, where four civilians residing in Boryeong and Cheongyang were killed by police due to accusations of collaboration.

The incident in Cheonan and Daejeon, Chungnam, occurred from around the liberation on September 28, 1950, until January 1951, where eight civilians residing in Cheonan-si, Chungnam, and Daejeon were illegally killed by local police forces at the Yuseong Police Station in Daejeon (then Daedeok-gun), the Seongsan gold mine pit in Gundo-ri, Jiksan-eup, Cheonan-si, and near Mokcheon-eup, on grounds of being family members of collaborators or accused of collaboration during the period of People's Army occupation.