Choe Sang-hun: Korean War survivors tell of carnage inflicted by U.S.
[Choe Sang-hun is a South Korean correspondent for the International Herald Tribune.]
When U.S. troops stormed this island more than half a century ago, it was a hive of Communist trenches and pillboxes. Now it's a park where children play and retirees stroll along a tree-shaded esplanade.
From a hilltop across a narrow channel, General Douglas MacArthur, memorialized in bronze, gazes at the beaches at Incheon where his troops splashed ashore in September 1950, changing the course of the Korean War and making him a hero here. At the harbor below, rows of cars, gleaming in the sun, wait to be shipped around the world - testimony to South Korea's economic might and a reminder of which side ultimately emerged the victor in the conflict that ended 55 years ago.
But inside a ragged tent at the entrance of the Wolmi park, a group of aging South Koreans want to tell the world of a hidden side of the U.S. military's triumph, a story of burning carnage not mentioned in South Korea's official histories or textbooks.
"When the napalm hit our village, many people were still sleeping in their homes," said Lee Beom Ki, 76. "Those who survived the flames ran to the tidal flats. We were trying to show the American pilots that we were civilians. But they strafed us, women and children."
On Sept. 10, 1950, five days before the Incheon landing, 43 U.S. warplanes swarmed over Wolmi, dropping 93 napalm tanks to "burn out" its eastern slope, according to declassified U.S. military documents reviewed by South Korean government investigators.
Wolmi was not the only target. Starting last November, the government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission began releasing a series of reports on Wolmi and two other sites where residents said large numbers of unarmed civilians were killed in indiscriminate U.S. airstrikes. Calling the attacks violations of international conventions on war, the commission recommended that the government negotiate with the United States to compensate the victims.
The government has not disclosed its plans, while the commission, established in 2005 to examine outstanding grievances from South Korea's history, continues its investigations...
Read entire article at International Herald Tribune
When U.S. troops stormed this island more than half a century ago, it was a hive of Communist trenches and pillboxes. Now it's a park where children play and retirees stroll along a tree-shaded esplanade.
From a hilltop across a narrow channel, General Douglas MacArthur, memorialized in bronze, gazes at the beaches at Incheon where his troops splashed ashore in September 1950, changing the course of the Korean War and making him a hero here. At the harbor below, rows of cars, gleaming in the sun, wait to be shipped around the world - testimony to South Korea's economic might and a reminder of which side ultimately emerged the victor in the conflict that ended 55 years ago.
But inside a ragged tent at the entrance of the Wolmi park, a group of aging South Koreans want to tell the world of a hidden side of the U.S. military's triumph, a story of burning carnage not mentioned in South Korea's official histories or textbooks.
"When the napalm hit our village, many people were still sleeping in their homes," said Lee Beom Ki, 76. "Those who survived the flames ran to the tidal flats. We were trying to show the American pilots that we were civilians. But they strafed us, women and children."
On Sept. 10, 1950, five days before the Incheon landing, 43 U.S. warplanes swarmed over Wolmi, dropping 93 napalm tanks to "burn out" its eastern slope, according to declassified U.S. military documents reviewed by South Korean government investigators.
Wolmi was not the only target. Starting last November, the government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission began releasing a series of reports on Wolmi and two other sites where residents said large numbers of unarmed civilians were killed in indiscriminate U.S. airstrikes. Calling the attacks violations of international conventions on war, the commission recommended that the government negotiate with the United States to compensate the victims.
The government has not disclosed its plans, while the commission, established in 2005 to examine outstanding grievances from South Korea's history, continues its investigations...