Opinion on the Bill on Fact-Finding into Civilian Victimization Before and After the Korean War and Restoration of Victims’ Hono

-2004.6.18. Bill No. 62, proposed by Representative Wonwoong Kim-

I. Purpose of the Proposed Bill

This proposed bill consists of a total of 36 articles and supplementary provisions. It states that its purpose is to restore the honor of the victims, those harmed, and their bereaved families through fact-finding into incidents in which civilians were unlawfully killed by the South Korean military, police, public officials, and United Nations forces in the course of operations before and after the Korean War (1948.8.15–1953.7.27), and to contribute to the advancement of human rights and national reconciliation through compensation for damages.

II. Problems with the Proposed Bill and Its Ripple Effects

1. Undermining Equity and National Reconciliation

Article 1 (Purpose) of this proposed bill states that its purpose is to contribute to the advancement of human rights and national reconciliation by uncovering the truth about civilian victimization incidents before and after the Korean War, restoring the honor of the victims, those harmed, and their bereaved families, and implementing compensation measures.

If so, then what is to be done about fact-finding and compensation measures for the countless civilians who were innocently killed, either collectively or individually, before and after the Korean War by North Korean forces or left-wing elements merely because they supported the free democratic system or refused to cooperate with North Korean forces or left-wing elements?

This would create a serious problem in terms of legal equity, and unless this issue is resolved, it would by no means contribute to national reconciliation but instead appear likely to cause only national division. In addition, considering the priority of the issue, it would be more desirable to legislate and provide relief first for matters related to the latter.

2. Undermining Trust in State Public Authority and Promoting Its Enfeeblement

Article 2 of this proposed bill states that it covers incidents from August 15, 1948 to July 27, 1953 in which civilians were unlawfully killed by the South Korean military, police, public officials, and United Nations forces in the course of operations.

This fails to take into account the special circumstances of the time—the political, economic, and social turmoil of the early years of the Republic, as well as wartime conditions—and instead, from the standpoint of the stable present, magnifies certain situations that unavoidably occurred during operations to defend the country and protect the free democratic system, thereby branding the South Korean military, police, public officials, and United Nations forces as “criminals” in the eyes of the public and ultimately undermining trust in, and enfeebling, public authority, which is the foundation of national security.

Given the priorities of national policy, the government should first uncover the truth about, and provide compensation for, the mass slaughter of innocent civilians and other civilian victimization carried out by North Korean forces.

3. Fostering International Conflict and Damaging the National Interest

This proposed bill even includes among its subjects of investigation the United Nations forces dispatched under a United Nations resolution during the Korean War.

It should be noted that, except in clearly revealed cases such as the No Gun Ri incident, approaching ambiguous cases in this way—and taking issue with victimization incidents that occurred during operations amid the confusion of war rather than deliberate massacres—could provoke conflict between the Republic of Korea and the United Nations and the countries that participated in the war.

In particular, branding as “criminals” the countries that entered the war under the name of the United Nations to help Korea against the North Korean forces’ illegal invasion is an act of ingratitude. If the Republic of Korea were to be invaded again in the future, who would be willing to come to our aid? From the standpoint of the national interest as well, this is by no means desirable.

4. Enormous Waste of the National Budget

In the explanatory note to the proposed bill, the total budget required to carry out this project is presented as 81.22 billion won. In light of Korea’s current national economy and state budget (118 trillion won),

① it would require an enormous budget and would not be equitable in relation to other sectors, such as the public welfare budget; ② rather than investing budget resources in such a divisive project, if policy priorities are considered, spending on this scale would be more beneficial to the national interest if directed toward securing an independent national defense capability in preparation for the already confirmed withdrawal of U.S. forces (in a situation where increasing the defense budget is difficult due to budget shortages); ③ more than 35% of the budget, 31.4 billion won, would be spent on establishing the committee, operating expenses, and the personnel costs of roughly 160 staff members, and given current youth unemployment, this budget could create 1,570 jobs for one year (based on an annual salary of 20 million won); and ④ above all, this appears to be a waste of an enormous budget when the project’s performance remains uncertain.

5. Other Problems

In addition, this proposed bill has other problems, including ① doubts about the project’s effectiveness due to the breadth of the investigation period (1948.8–1953.7) and the wide scope of the investigation; ② the excessive scale of the committee’s powers; and ③ the possibility of glorifying left-wing elements.

III. Conclusion

As pointed out above, this proposed bill carries problems such as legal inequity and harm to national reconciliation, undermining trust in state public authority and promoting its enfeeblement, damage to the national interest through international conflict, and the waste of an enormous national budget. Accordingly, I recommend a cool-headed reconsideration of this legislation.

Nevertheless, if fact-finding and compensation regarding civilian victimization incidents before and after the Korean War must be pursued, I propose that this issue be handled in the following manner.

First, the government should reduce legislative resistance by going through procedures to draw out national consensus, such as public hearings.

Second, together with this bill, it should also address civilian victimization cases during the same period involving civilians killed by North Korean forces and left-wing elements, thereby contributing to legal equity and national reconciliation.

Third, in light of the difficulties facing the national economy and the state budget, rather than creating a new committee, the government should amend the relevant National Human Rights Commission Act so that this issue can be investigated by the National Human Rights Commission.

Dongyeol Yoo (Lecturer, Dankook University)

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Original title: 6.25전쟁전후민간인희생사건진상규명및희생자명예회복등에관한법률안에 대한 의견

Author: Dong-yeol Yoo

Date: 2004-07-22

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=bill&pn=4&idx=25831