List of 2,867 Victims from High Military Court Order Records Secured
Wando Has the Highest Number of Victims with 125; Investigation to Be Completed by August
On July 4, Jeonnam Province announced that, in accordance with the Special Act on the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident, it has decided to conduct its first ex officio investigation in the region into victims of the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident from the Wando area, whose names were found in the military court order records.
Jeonnam Province and the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Honor Restoration Committee secured a list of 2,867 individuals who were imprisoned and perished in connection with the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident, based on the "1948 and 1949 High Military Court Order Records" held at the National Archives, during their investigation last year.
Upon reviewing the secured list, they found that, compared to the eastern region where most reports had previously been concentrated, the central-western region?especially the Wando area?contained the largest number of detainees, with 125 names. Jeonnam Province actively explained to the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Honor Restoration Committee the necessity of an ex officio investigation in the Wando area and formally requested the committee to conduct such an investigation.
As a result, at the end of June, the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Honor Restoration Committee resolved to initiate an ex officio investigation into the Wando area at its 13th committee meeting.
The scope of this ex officio investigation in Wando encompasses all individuals on the victim list. These victims are concentrated in six areas of Wando?Wando-eup, Geumil-eup, Sinji-myeon, Gogeum-myeon, Cheongsan-myeon, and Yaksan-myeon?and have been identified as civilians who were referred to military court and imprisoned for alleged cooperation with the 14th Regiment soldiers who refused government orders during the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident.
Jeonnam Province and the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Honor Restoration Committee will first establish a working task force for the ex officio investigation ((General) Committee/(Investigation) Jeonnam Province and Wando County). They plan to collect and cross-verify official documents stored at police stations and township offices with the list of victims. In addition, they will conduct on-site interviews with local informants, focusing on Sinji-myeon, which has the highest number of victims (112).
Accordingly, Jeonnam Province aims to complete the ex officio investigation by August. The committee will then prepare a review report based on the findings, which will serve as the basis for officially recognizing the individuals as victims of the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident.
Starting with this ex officio investigation in the Wando area, Jeonnam Province plans to expand the scope to all areas of Gwangju and Jeonnam, conducting additional preliminary field investigations to uncover the truth behind more civilian victim cases from the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident period.
Lee Kilyong, head of the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Support Team at Jeonnam Province, stated, "The ex officio investigation in the Wando area is an important step in confirming that the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident was not limited to major areas in the eastern part of Jeonnam as previously known, but was in fact a civilian massacre by state power that occurred throughout the entire province. We will continue to seek various ways to promptly uncover the truth about similar civilian victims and to restore the honor of all victims and their families."
The Yeosu-Suncheon Incident in the Wando area refers to the event in which 125 residents from six towns in Wando were imprisoned and perished, in accordance with Proclamation No. 2 (regarding insurrection and disruption of national order) during the incident period. Of these, 90 individuals were sentenced to one year in prison and released after serving their terms, but subsequently went missing. The remaining 35 are believed to have perished in a mass prisoner killing incident at the prison around July 1950.
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