Korean troops’ killings in Vietnam still unresolved
Academics call for Seoul to apologise to Vietnamese war victims and looking back would help Korea reflect on its own unresolved historical issues
'Peace is possible when putting myself in the shoes of an assailant'
By Choi Ha-young
Koreans usually see themselves from the point of view of the victims, for example, of wartime sex slavery under Japanese imperialism. So, more than 40 years after the Vietnam War ended, it is difficult to find any feelings of guilt here over Korea’s role in that war, even if the nation sent over 300,000 soldiers to Vietnam. There, 16,000 of them died and some still suffer long-term effects from exposure to defoliants.
According to a Vietnamese military report published in the 1980s, South Korean soldiers killed about 5,000 Vietnamese civilians. Some researchers speculate the number could be as high as 9,000.
In September 1964, South Korean soldiers landed in civil war-ravaged Vietnam to support U.S. attacks on communist forces. Then President Park Chung-hee, President Park Geun-hye’s father, signed a deal with the U.S. to get long-term loans for economic growth. The troops were dedicated to building humanitarian facilities and providing necessities, but also were involved in battles.
From December 3 to December 6, 1966, the 2nd Marine Division of Korea killed about 430 civilians in Binh Hoa, in Vietnam’s south. Reportedly, more than half the victims were women and seven were pregnant. Among them were 166 children.