Re: Typhoon Rusa Exposes a Korean War Massacre Kept Secret for 52 Years.

["swan" <swan@haysco.net>]

Source '?'?'? ??? '50? doesn't look very credible to me.

Bob Dove

----- Original Message -----
From: "ysk" <ysk@kimsoft.com>
To: <KOREAN-WAR-L@raven.cc.ku.edu>
Sent: Saturday, September 07, 2002 1:51 PM
Subject: Typhoon Rusa Exposes a Korean War Massacre Kept Secret for 52
Years.


> Typhoon Rusa Exposes a Korean War Massacre Kept Secret for 52 Years.
> South Korean police in army uniforms did the killing at Yuhyang-ri, Masan
>
> Source: '??'? ??? '50? ?? ?' ?? "???? ???? ???"
>
> A few days after the Korean War started on June 25, 1950, the South Korean
> police murdered a large number of Korean civilians in the mountains near
> Masan.  The victims were buried in hidden mass graves.  In the past, there
> were only rumors of these massacres, but the recent Typhoon #15, Rusa, has
> exposed the grisly evidence of the civilians killed and buried so many
> decades ago.
>
> Photo: Remains of the massacre victims, stacked like fire wood, were
exposed
> by Typhoon Rusa - as if the Mother Nature wanted justice done.
>
> The remains were uncovered on a small pepper farm field on a mountain
slope
> near Yuhyang-ri. The victims had been in a hidden mass grave for 52 years.
> The 52-year old owner of the pepper farm, a Mr. Park, and his wife made
the
> discovery when they went to tend their farm early in the morning of
> September 4th, 2002.
>
> To their utter disbelief and astonishment, they saw a white gourd dipper
and
> small white objects, too white to be bleached wood, beneath the red
peppers.
> The moment he saw the white objects, Mr. Park recalled the story he had
> heard in his childhood - the story of 200 or so suspected leftists shot
and
> buried near his village. He rushed to the village office to inform of his
> discovery. Thus the rumor of a mass murder has become an undeniable fact.
>
> 200+ victims' remains see the light for the first time in 52 years
>
> The scene of the mass grave was hard to view without getting overwhelmed
> with strong emotions. The skeletons were all over and appeared to be
trying
> to tell us the story of their unjust death.
>
> Photo: The village chief and the myon chief make an offering to the
victims'
> spirits.
>
>  The remains were stacked in neat rows like so many chords of firewood.
> They had remained undisturbed for 52 years - they looked as if they were
> stacked there only yesterday.
>
> Among the remains was a tiny skull, about the size of a cigarette box, of
an
> infant or an embryo. Although some villagers claim that the infant's skull
> may be from a child's grave nearby, the location and condition of the
skull
> leave no doubt that the infant was killed at the time of the massacre or
> even worse, the infant may have been buried alive.
>
> Photo: A skull no bigger than a cigarette box was found at the site. It
may
> be that the infant was buried alive.
>
> Some months ago, at another mass murder site at Guhchang, a skeleton of a
> young child was found with his elementary school badge and name tag. The
> Korean police were not beyond killing young innocent children and the
> discovery of the infant's skull is no surprise. The police did not
hesitate
> to shoot infants being carried on their mother's back.  The seven sets of
> remains uncovered so far were carefully removed by the villagers from
their
> cold dark mass graves; they saw the blue warm skies of the early Fall for
> the first time in 52 years.
>
> Typhoon Ruso has brought much destruction and devastation to the rest of
the
> nation - but it had a silver lining as well; it has brought to light a
crime
> against humanity committed and hidden for so many decades.  Had it not
been
> for Ruso, this horrible crime might have never been exposed.
>
> Who were the victims?
> According to the villagers, several trucks loaded with about 200 civilians
> arrived at Yuhyang-ri soon after the war began.  They were shot and buried
> in mass graves at Santai-gol and Toduk-gol. It is believed that some 2,000
> inmates from the Jinju and Masan prisons were brought to the Yuhyang-ri
and
> Yuhyang-san region and killed.  Typhoon Rusa has yielded material evidence
> for this crime - which has been only a rumor until now.  It is believed
that
> there are several mass graves in this area.  The Yuhyang-ri site is
believed
> to contain about 200 remains.
>
> An old villager told the story of a young man, who had managed to survive
> the massacre, only to be arrested next day and shot. This unfortunate
young
> man was forced to dig his own grave before he was killed.
>
> Photo: Park Jin Gyu, 80, one of the few witnesses still living, recalls
the
> massacre.
>
> Mr. Park and his wife are a dirt-poor farming couple of the village.  They
> have a tiny patch of land some 100 m from the grave site exposed by
Typhoon
> Ruso.  Their crop was ravaged by Ruso.  The reporters found the couple
> picking up what was left of their crop after the storm.
>
> Reporters: When was the massacre?
>
> Park: It was right after the 38th Parallel came down - June or early July,
I
> believe.  It rained 'dog and cat' in those days.
>
> Reporters: Where is the massacre place?
>
> Park:  At the Sntai-gol and Toduk-gol valleys, both have been leveled
since
> then. Korean police in army uniforms shot the victims and then asked us to
> bury them.
>
> Reporters: Did you see the victims before they were shot?
>
> Park: Yes.  They were brought here in four trucks. The victims were seated
> huddled in the middle of the trucks. Two armed police guarded the
prisoners
> on each truck. After they arrived, the victims were ordered to stand up
and
> get off the trucks. The police mercilessly beat repeatedly those who were
> slow getting up with rifle butts.
>
> Reporters: How come they couldn't get up?
>
> Park: Their arms were tied behind their backs. How could they get up fast?
>
> Reporters: How many were there and what time did they get here?
>
> Park: From 1 pm to 2 pm. The police said there were about 200 prisoners.
>
> Reporter: Do you remember where they came from?
>
> Park: I heard later that they came from Jinju.
>
> Reporters: Any survivors?
>
> Park: Yes, there were three survivors. I know one of them well.
>
> Photo: The site where a Mr. Yu was shot and buried.  Yu managed to survive
> the massacre, only to be caught and shot next day. He was turned in by the
> villagers.  Park fed Yu his last meal and buried him.
>
> Reporters: Please tell us more.
>
> Park: I believe it was in the evening of the massacre. One survivor hid in
a
> house by the elementary school but the villagers told the police on him.
The
> police caught him next day and shot him.  I was there to bury him.
>
> Reporters: How did you happen to be there?
>
> Park: The day after the massacre, I was ordered by a policeman to prepare
> and bring a lunch to a field.  When I went there, Yu was already there.
He
> was a tall man in his 20s.  The policemen told me that Yu was about to die
> and that he deserved to eat his last meal.  Yu was quite an extraordinary
> man.
>
> Reporters: Why?
>
> Park: Well, few people can eat knowing that they would be killed soon. But
> Yu gulped the food down with no problem. After his last meal, the
policeman
> asked Yu if he had anything to say.  Yu said: "I don't regret my death but
I
> feel sorry for the people who will be joining me in one hundred years from
> now. My only regret is that I must die at a strange place far from my
home.
> I am the sole son of three generations of my family tree and so, do not
> shoot me in the face." After which, he shouted "Long live the Korean
> People's Democratic Republic!" three times and jumped into the hole he dug
> himself.  The police shot him and Yu died still after a few convulsions.
>
> Reporters: Do you know anything more about the police and Yu?
>
> Park: Yes.  Yu's father was a barber and the policeman's last name was
Roh.
>
> Reporters: Any women or children among the victims?
>
> Park: No. The victims were mostly healthy men.
>
> Reporters: Has any of the victims' relatives come here?
>
> Park: Yes. About 2-3 years after the war ended, some women and children
came
> and cried at the burial sites.  I believe they came back about two years
> ago.
>
>


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