Chung Eun-yong, 76, the chairman of the Nogeun-ri Massacre Committee, said on Wednesday that he felt as though he was paying back the debts owed to people who were killed in the incident now that the truth has been revealed some 50 years later. Chung is busy these days as he has to meet with delegates of the National Assembly and the government who are investigating the case. The following are the questions posed to Chung and his answers:
Q. Do you think the American soldiers had planned to kill the Nogeun-ri villagers?
A. I believe the decision to conduct such massive killing would have had to have been made at quite a high level..........if fighter planes were mobilized.
Q. What do you think of the possibility that the American soldiers mistook the refugees as disguised North Korean soldiers?
A. At that time, the North Korean Army had not appeared in the eastern part of South Korea. Furthermore, the villagers of Choogok-ri and Imge-ri, who were killed at Nogeun-ri, had originally left their villages to move down south as refugees, led by the US soldiers. The American soldiers searched the people's belongings before the fighter planes attacked. The soldiers knew that the people were all innocent peasants.
Q. There seems to be a few anti-American sentiments due to the Nogeun-ri massacre. What is your view?
A. I hope this case will not lead to an anti-American feeling. We do not want to deny that America helped our country during the Korean War. We just hope the US Government will take a responsible after measures in the near future.
Q. Why was the Nogeun-ri Massacre Committee formed in 1994?
A. On Dec. 1960, with 7 other people who had lost a member of their family in the killing, I had asked for compensation from the US Government but our request got denied because the application period had expired. After that time, it was not a suitable time to bring up such issues in public.
Q. What were the activities of your committee since its foundation?
A. We continuously asked for compensation from the Korean and the US Governments. However, we received no reply whatsoever.
Q. What are your plans for the future?
A. We plan to request for an official apology from the US Government and ask for reparation for injuries, and also will build a cenotaph for the massacre victims at the site in Nogeun-ri.
(Jang Il-hyun, ihjang@chosun.com)
