Truth and Reconciliation Commission Decides to Investigate 'Daejeon, Gongju, Cheongju Prisoner Sacrifice Incident'

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on the 18th decided to investigate the truth regarding the 'Daejeon, Gongju, and Cheongju Prisoner Victim Incident' and other cases of mass civilian casualties around the Korean War.

Yonhap News

At the 93rd commission meeting held that day, the TRC confirmed the mass casualties in the 'Daejeon, Gongju, and Cheongju Prisoner Victim Incident' and decided to investigate the truth. This case involves prisoners classified as political and ideological offenders in Daejeon, Gongju, and Cheongju prisons who were collectively killed by military and police forces in the Daejeon and Chungcheong areas without due process from June to July 1950, immediately after the outbreak of the Korean War, and who applied for truth investigation.

The TRC comprehensively investigated 21 cases (20 individuals) submitted this time by collecting correctional records such as prisoner registers, execution records, and criminal case files from the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office and Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office, school life records, testimonies from applicants and witnesses for truth investigation, and records from the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As a result, it was confirmed that the victims were political and ideological prisoners incarcerated in Daejeon, Gongju, and Cheongju prisons after liberation for violating the National Security Act, Proclamation No. 2, and Ordinance No. 19, and that they were illegally and collectively killed by military and police forces without due process immediately after the outbreak of the Korean War.

Prisoners from Daejeon Prison were killed in the Goryeonggol area of Sannae, Daejeon; prisoners from Gongju Prison were killed in the Wanchon Salgujaengi area of Gongju by military police, CIC, and local police. Prisoners from Cheongju Prison were killed in areas including Buntegol in Nam-il-myeon, Hwadanggyo in Nam-il-myeon, Ssangsu-ri hills in Nam-il-myeon, Dojanggol in Nangseong-myeon, and the park cemetery area in Gadeok-myeon of Cheongwon-gun, Chungbuk, by the Chungbuk District CIC, the 16th Regiment Military Police, and Cheongju local police. The TRC identified the circumstances of the deaths of a total of 21 victims: 3 from Daejeon Prison, 4 from Gongju Prison, and 13 from Cheongju Prison, and is conducting further truth investigations.

The TRC recommended that the state issue an official apology to the victims and their families, take measures for damage restoration, support memorial projects, reflect the events in historical records, and conduct peace and human rights education. In addition, the TRC also investigated 12 other cases, including civilian casualties caused by military and police forces in the Gangwon region and victims caused by hostile forces in Muan, Jeonnam.