Korea Truth Commission: Report of the 8th International Fact-Finding Mission of the Korea Truth Commission

Date: Oct 19-26,2002

Delegation:
Yoomi Jeong,Deputy Secretary General,Korea Truth Commission
Philip Fernandez, the Ontario spokesperson, People's Front
Lorne Gershuny, lawyer and political activist in Toronto

The 8th International Fact-Finding Mission of the Korea Truth Commission (KTC) visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from October 19 to 26, 2002, as part of the ongoing work of the KTC to conduct a scientific investigation into massacres of civilians by the United States military during the time of the Korean War. The delegation consisted of the Secretary-General of the KTC, Yoomi Jeong, and two Canadian members -- Philip Fernandez, the Ontario spokesperson for the People's Front, and Lorne Gershuny, a Toronto lawyer and political activist. Besides recording the testimonials of survivors and eyewitnesses, the delegation also had a specific mandate to learn more about the use of biological and chemical weapons by the U.S. military against the Korean people during the war. The delegation also hoped to observe as much about the current reality of life in the DPRK as could be seen in a visit of one week.

Upon arrival in Pyongyang, the delegation was welcomed by members of the host organization, the Korean Democratic Lawyers' Association, as well as by officials from the DPRK chapter of the KTC. A full schedule was laid out for the duration of the week, including interviews with ten survivors, briefings by three experts concerning the use of chemical and biological weapons by the U.S. military, lectures given by professors of history and economics, and visits to various historical, cultural, educational and recreational sites. To the visitor, Pyongyang leaves the impression of a clean, modern world capital. It is a city of two million people with an efficient public transit system, wide, tree-lined streets, and all the cultural amenities, hospitals, schools, parks and sports facilities that one would expect to find in a large metropolis. Industry has been located on the perimeter of the city to avoid the problem of pollution as much as possible. The residential areas consist of a sea of high-rise apartment buildings, reflecting the socialized nature of housing for the population. It is remarkable that at the end of the Korean War in 1953, only one building was left intact in the city. During the war, the U.S. dropped over 400,000 bombs on Pyongyang, more than one for each person living in the city at the time, and boasted that it would take 100 years to rebuild it.

The people of Pyongyang present themselves as cultured and purposeful. There is no sign of vagrancy or homelessness. Instead of billboards with product advertising, the streets are adorned with posters, banners and inscriptions exhorting citizens to work together to build a powerful nation. Many signs and monuments, most notably the unification monument erected in 2001, evoke the deep desire for reunification of the Korean nation. Everywhere, the map of Korea is shown as the entire Korean peninsula.

A particular emphasis is placed on having an educated population. Education is free in the DPRK, even at the university level. The aim is to have everyone receive a university education but that is not yet possible at the country's current level of development. There are 6,000 applications each year for the 2,000 available spaces at Kim Il Sung University. Prospective students must successfully write entrance exams in six subjects over ten days in order to gain admission.

Our investigations began on October 21, when the delegation had the opportunity to hear testimony from five women survivors of U.S. army brutality committed during the Korean War. These women, now in their late sixties and seventies, had each witnessed first hand the barbarity of the U.S. military at the time when its troops temporarily occupied the territory north of the 38th parallel. It was clear from the testimonials that the invading U.S. forces sought to conduct a war of annihilation against the civilian population, contrary to their oft-repeated claim that it was a defensive "police action".

Mrs. Lee Ok Hui, who was a young girl living in Park Chun county of Pyung Buk province during the war, lost both her arms when the U.S. army occupied her village. She was caught by American GIs who demanded that she divulge information about the whereabouts of her father, a member of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) who had escaped custody. When she refused and tried to open a door to leave, they shot her in one hand and then the other. The American soldiers then took her to a military base where her arms were cut off. When her mother found out what had happened and came to find her, the soldiers kicked her mother and threw her daughter's arms at her. Somehow she survived, and when the Korean People's Army (KPA) re-occupied the county, she was able to get treatment. After the war, she was able to attend university, get married and raise four children -- one son and three daughters -- but the passage of time has not diminished Mrs. Lee's anger at the U.S. soldiers for the atrocity they committed. She told the delegation that she still wishes to avenge the crime committed against her by the U.S. forces and to make them apologize and pay her compensation.

Mrs. Choi Ki Ok was 25 years old when she was captured because she was a member of the Women's League of the Workers' Party of Korea. She was heavily tortured by U.S. soldiers using electrical prods on various parts of her body in an effort to get information. Her legs and arms were injured and she became permanently deaf. She recounted that 92 people were massacred by U.S. troops in her village of Rim Hyung Ri, including her mother and father-in-law. She also reported that, on December 4, 1950, 600 people were taken to the banks of a stream and shot. Of the 600 people, four survived including herself. She mentioned that she had given testimony about her experiences to the commission of the Women's International Democratic Federation, which had sent a delegation to Korea in 1951 to investigate atrocities committed by the U.S. military and Syngman Rhee forces.

Mrs. Kim Ok Ran testified that in October 1950, U.S. aircraft came over her village in Chosan county, Cha Kang province, and dropped many bombs, but no explosions were heard. The next morning, the area around her village was foggy and she and others went out to pick maize from the fields. She saw that a blue powder had settled on the ground and remembered feeling a sharp pain in her eyes, which began to produce tears, blocking her vision. Her mother tried to get an ox to take her back to the village, but the ox was also blind. When they returned to the village, they found that most of the people had become blind. When they tried to get to the nearest hospital, they discovered that it had been bombed. Eventually they were able to find some medicine, but even after treatment, Mrs. Kim still felt pain in her head. In all, 29 people from the village and all the livestock became blind from the chemical weapon. Mrs. Kim said that, because of the chemical attack, she lost the sight of one eye.

Mrs. In Bok Nyo was born in 1932. She became a Korean People's Army (KPA) medic during the war. In January 1951, U.S. planes dropped bombs near her unit but there were no explosions. Soon after, patients with high fever began coming to the hospital where she worked. In February 1951, more such bombs were dropped, resulting in more victims. The KPA did tests and found that the bombs carried germs that were infecting the people. Mrs. In said that she was also infected and narrowly escaped death. She mentioned that the U.S. military dropped many such bombs in the south of the county, including in Seoul. In the end, all her family members died from being contaminated from germ weapons.

Mrs. Han In Hua was living in Wonsan City when the Korean War began. She was a primary school student when one day, while gathering at a friend's home to go on a picnic, they heard the air raid siren and ran to a shelter. Heavy bombing by U.S. planes followed, after which her family decided to go to the countryside, to the village of Pochan Ri in Hei Yung county, Kang Won province. There she witnessed U.S. planes drop metal drums on the village. Out of these drums came flies. Days later, she and her mother as well as many other villagers came down with high fever. There were many deaths. Early in 1952, her older brother found a fountain pen on the road. When he took off the cover, the pen exploded, fatally injuring him. In the autumn of 1952, the Korean People's Army informed her that her father had died in battle.

All these survivors told their stories with great bearing and dignity. They urged the members of the delegation to inform the rest of the world of the crimes the U.S. imperialists had committed in Korea. They asked that justice be rendered and compensation given.

On October 22, the delegation went to Sinchon county, about 140 kilometres south of Pyongyang. After the proclamation of the DPRK in 1948, Sinchon county had become a prosperous farming area and transportation hub, but that was completely destroyed when the U.S. forces invaded. U.S. troops occupied Sinchon county from October 17 to December 7, 1950. In that short span of 52 days, 35,383 people were executed out of a population of 140,000 living in the county. Sinchon county had been known as a stronghold of support for the independent people's republic. The response of the American invasion force was to carry out a policy of extermination. The American general in command during the period of occupation gave orders to kill all members of the Workers' Party of Korea and leaders of the People's Committees in particular.

The delegation began its investigation in Sinchon county with a visit to the Sinchon County Museum. In this museum, one can see photographs, personal effects and documents attesting to the mass executions that were carried out on the orders of the U.S. military command. There are photographs of children who were burnt alive, people who were hanged and others who were summarily shot and buried in large mass graves. There is a picture of a teacher and his wife who were skinned alive before his students. Some pictures show the remains of prisoners who were pushed alive down a mineshaft while others show people who were dragged around behind U.S. army vehicles till they could not be physically identified. These were examples of a campaign aimed at terrorizing the Korean people into submission.

There were four survivors who spoke to us in Sinchon County. Two of the survivors now work at the museum as guides. The first person that spoke was Mrs. Sim Un Jon, now a section chief of the Sinchon People's Committee. She recounted that during the temporary retreat of the KPA in 1950, U.S. troops came to her village. They took over the biggest house and turned it into a prison. They then proceeded to arrest workers, farmers, women and children. One of the elders had a son in the KPA, so the old man was shot. Children who were complaining of starvation were burned alive. Mrs. Sim, recalled that, on November 5, 1950, her mother, who had been active in the Women's Committee, was arrested, even though she was nine months' pregnant. The soldiers asked her mother to reveal information about the others in the committee, and when she refused, she was kicked and punched, her hands were cut off and she lost consciousness. The U.S. soldiers then cut open her abdomen and pulled out her unborn child, saying that they would kill all the "reds" including unborn ones so that they could not have "seeds". Mrs. Chin said that, some days later, U.S. soldiers threw grenades into the prison. In all, 230 people were executed in her village.

Mr. Chen Keum Sun spoke next. He said that he was a survivor of the Chestnut Tree Village massacre and is now working as a lecturer at the museum. The massacre took place one week before the U.S. departure from the village. During that time, nine hundred people were imprisoned and burned alive in air raid shelter. After December 3, these executions increased. Mr. Chen was six years old when he, his brother and other children and their mothers were arrested and taken to the area of two ammunition stores. The U.S. commander appeared and had the women separated from the children. More than 100 children were kept in one of the small stores while the mothers were taken to another. The children were hungry, struggling and crawling around, Mr. Chen recalled. U.S. soldiers kicked them with boots and used rifle-butts to strike them. Mr. Chen said that blood covered the floors. Then, the day before the U.S. army left the area, gasoline was poured over the children, soldiers set fire to the children and the door was closed. The next day, a passerby opened the door and found the charred remains. Only three children had survived. Mr. Chen was one of them. He said that, in his memory, he could recall clearly the screaming, burning children calling for their mothers. Because he was in a corner, he somehow escaped the flames. Local residents found that the storehouse where the mothers had been imprisoned had also been set alight by the retreating soldiers, but with no survivors.

Mrs. Kim In Park told the delegation that she is currently the chairperson of the Sinchon Women's Committee. She remarked that even after half a century, she couldn't forget what took place in her village of U Ryong Ri, four kilometres north of Sinchon city. Innocent old men, women and children were mercilessly slaughtered. Her own father was arrested, tortured and hung upside down from a telegraph pole for refusing to reveal information. People were told that they would be set free if they disowned the republic. Mrs. Kim said that, even though the republic was only five years old at the time, they were well off under the republic and would not betray it. She said that U.S. troops set fire to her home and also arrested her mother, with a baby, and her brother. They were all imprisoned and given no food. They were then taken to a place to be shot, but the bullets missed her and she survived. Later on, KPA guerilla units came and rescued her. Mrs. Kim pointed out that the U.S. still occupies the south of Korea and does everything to block re-unification. She said that, when the U.S. is driven out of south Korea, the dream of the Korean people for re-unification will be achieved.

The last witness, Mr. Ju Sang Won, insisted on giving his testimony at the very ammunition store where, as a child, he survived the gasoline burning of over 100 children. He showed us the charred ceiling of the storage hut and talked about what happened there. He recalled the children crawling around, hungry. He also remembered the arrival of the U.S. soldiers, who poured gasoline over the children. Because the gasoline was not properly scattered and he was huddled in a corner to avoid the cold, he luckily escaped being burned. He remembered crawling over charred, dead children to get out of the place when a passerby finally opened the door the following day. His memory is of seeing snow outside and taking a handful to eat from outside the door.

The delegation was told that the enemy forces warned the people of Sinchon county that the United States would use nuclear weapons against them and that, if they wanted to escape, they should flee south. Fearing the worst, many people decided to leave. As they fled, people were machine-gunned from U.S. planes.

Remains of the victims of the mass executions continue to be found to this day in various parts of Sinchon county. The members of the delegation placed flowers on the burial mounds of the mothers and children to pay their respects.

On October 24, the mission had the opportunity to listen to a panel of three experts on the use of germ and chemical warfare in the Korean War by the U.S. military. The first expert was Mr. Kim Sung Joong. He worked as the Director of Sanitation for the Epidemic Prevention Bureau of the Department of Health at the time of liberation in 1945, and then, after the founding of the DPRK in 1948, for the Ministry of Public Health. He stated that, at the time of liberation, people suffered from cholera, typhoid, smallpox and other infectious diseases. In response, the Infectious Disease Research Institute was founded, at the direction of the late President Kim Il Sung. Using precious resources, they produced the necessary vaccines and sterilization tanks so that, by 1948, all epidemics were stopped.

Even before the outbreak of the Korean War, Mr. Kim said, the U.S. began to use germ weapons against the DPRK, in contravention of the Hague Regulations of 1907 and the Geneva Protocol of 1925. Mr. Kim explained that the U.S. military attached great importance to both germ and chemical weapons because, unlike nuclear weapons, which destroy everything, germ and chemical weapons kill people without destroying property. He pointed out that, after the end of World War II, the U.S. government declined to prosecute Japanese war criminals who had conducted experiments in causing disease using prisoners of war as test subjects. Instead, they brought about 150 of these criminals to the United States along with 8,000 volumes containing their knowledge and expertise in germ warfare. Mr. Kim stated that by 1949, the United States had become the headquarters for germ and chemical warfare in the world and it remains so to this day.

By the use of charts and maps, and based on his own experiences during the Korean War, Mr. Kim showed how the United States used germ weapons against the people of Korea. For example, in the autumn of 1950 when the KPA temporarily retreated from Pyongyang and other areas such as Hwang Hae province, U.S. special units infected empty houses in evacuated areas with germs, resulting in large numbers of people becoming ill. Some 3,000 people were infected with smallpox. However, because of vaccinations carried out in the earlier period, only two to three per cent of the people died.

In the 1950-51 period, the U.S. military also introduced cholera, typhoid fever, recurrent fever and other infectious diseases. Mr. Kim stated that many U.S troops and soldiers from the south Korean army were also infected with typhoid fever and consequently contaminated the civilian population.

After the autumn of 1951, the U.S. military dropped many germs and viruses by planes. To infect children, contaminated biscuits and toys were dropped from the air. Germ warfare from planes also involved dropping infected animals and insects such as mice, flies, mites, mosquitoes, cockroaches and spiders near human habitation. Diseases such as cholera, anthrax and plague were spread this way. Of 200 counties, 160 were affected. According to Mr. Kim, 800 germ bombs were dropped every three to four days over the course of the war. Areas that were disinfected would soon be re-contaminated by the U.S. military.

From November 1952 to March 1953, the U.S. dropped many germ bombs in the area of the border between Korea and China and along the coast to prevent the delivery of supplies.

During the war, the U.S. military also tested germ weapons on live human bodies. The head of the UN Sanitary and Welfare Office, a Mr. James, tested germ weapons on Korean and Chinese prisoners on a hospital ship brought near Won San as well as on prisoners who were in camps on Gur Jae island. According to records, 3,000 tests were conducted there every day. In Camp 4 on Gur Jae island, 2,000 prisoners died from the tests. In the last months of the war, the United States used prisoner exchanges to send a large number of infected prisoners from Gur Jae island to south Korea.

When the war ended, Mr. Kim was sent to Kae Song, where he was involved in treating prisoners who were returning to the DPRK after being in enemy hands. There he saw outbreaks of cholera and dysentery among those who had been given red capsules by UN medical personnel, supposedly to prevent malaria.

Mr. Kim concluded his presentation by observing that the main aim of the U.S. in using germ warfare was not to kill soldiers but to decimate the civilian population. He cited the findings made by delegations of the International Democratic Women's Federation, the International Scientific Commission, the International Red Cross Society and other organizations that conducted investigations during the Korean War, all of whom verified the use of germ and chemical warfare against the Korean people by the U.S. military. These findings provoked outrage at the time from the world's people. Mr. Kim cited the example of 600,000 steelworkers in the United States who organized strikes to protest these crimes. The United States government tried everything, but the DPRK won victory, said Mr. Kim, because the whole people fought as one united force under the leadership of Kim Il Sung.

The third expert who spoke to us was Dr. Choe Dong Kyu, currently a specialist in research to prevent the effects of germ weapons. Dr. Choe spoke mainly about his direct experience as a youth involved in the struggle against germ warfare in southern Hum Kyung province during the Korean War. He stated that, during the war, young people were trained for three months to join mobile units dedicated to fighting germ warfare. He explained that teams would go to infected areas, restrict vehicle transport to avoid spreading the contamination, collect specimens for lab testing and immediately begin to disinfect the area.

Dr. Choe reported that, during the war, 18 kinds of insects, many not indigenous, were dropped in north Korea. Besides insects, other infected hosts that were dropped included clams, fish, plastic and rubber toys, and mice. He gave the example of a case in February 1952 in Anju county. When his team got there, they found that U.S. planes had passed over a few days before and that people had been bitten by fleas. Of 50 people bitten, 35 died.

After a while, the units involved in combating germ warfare became adept at quick mobilization, analysis and prevention. In due course, the number of people who were infected and dying began to diminish.

The final presenter was Dr. Hyun Chang Boo, who is a professor of medicine and a researcher at the Academy of Medicine. Dr. Hyun spoke specifically about the use of chemical weapons during the Korean War. He cited the example of May 6, 1951, when U.S. B-29 bombers dropped chemical bombs over 13 areas of Nampo city during a span of 90 minutes. As a result, an area of 0.3 sq. km. was covered by yellow smoke. There were 1,379 casualties of whom 480 died of suffocation and 647 others were affected by gas. Symptoms included change of voice, coughing, tears, choking, vomiting and difficulty breathing, sometimes leading to death. He gave examples of other cities where chemical bombs were dropped as well, including Wonsan City in 1952, where people suffered burning of the skin, red spots, swelling, festering of the skin and breathing problems. Napalm was also widely used.

From the evidence presented, it could be seen that the use of chemical and biological weapons by the U.S. covered almost the entire northern part of Korea. The details given by these experts of their efforts to contain many epidemics, along with the testimony of the surviving victims and the physical remnants of infected objects and bomb casings now displayed in the war museum, all combine to present a clear and convincing picture of a systematic campaign on the part of the U.S. military to use chemical and biological weapons on a wide scale to devastate the population of the DPRK.

On the morning of October 25, the delegation traveled 30 km outside Pyongyang to visit the Taek-an cooperative farm. The Vice-Chairman of the Management Board of the farm, Mr. Pak Choi Hong, was also a survivor of U.S. atrocities during the Korean War. He recalled that he was only seven or eight when the war started. On February 8, 1951, Taek-an village was bombed. Mr. Pak's father was killed, as were his two sisters and two uncles. His home was demolished by bombs and the remains of his family could not be found. During the temporary occupation of the village by the U.S. military, soldiers killed 46 people who were patriotic to the DPRK. The chairman of the farmers' union and his entire family were massacred. When the United States realized it could not win the war, it increased its bombardment to do maximum damage. In a nearby village called Tae-Gam, with 120 households, everyone and everything was destroyed by bombs. Just two months before the ceasefire, in May 1953, U.S. planes bombed the nearby Suk Am reservoir, which contained 20-30 million tons of water. The bombs destroyed the dam that held back the water, thereby causing the plains and fields to be flooded. Those who were in the vicinity at the time were drowned, including 400 volunteers of the Chinese People's Army. So much water flowed from the reservoir that it caused floods downstream in Pyongyang. Fertile fields were covered with silt 6 to 7 metres deep and rendered useless for cultivation.

Today, the cooperative farm is thriving. The farmers produce enough for their own needs and a portion is allocated for seeds, animal feed and agricultural tools. The rest, roughly 60%, is shipped to be distributed by a central agency. However, there have been hard times in the last few years. Not only adverse climatic conditions but also a shortage of oil and fertilizer created a difficult struggle for survival. In response, the cooperative took measures to overcome the hardship: they introduced a two-crop system, increased the number of grass-eating animals and used alternative fertilizers.

The adverse growing conditions that affected the area were felt in every region of the country, particularly after 1994. Several years of drought were followed by damaging floods, causing production levels to drop. On October 24, the delegation heard a talk from the Director of Economics at the Institute of Social Sciences, Ri Ki Song, who described for us the factors that had aggravated the economic situation, especially in food production. He acknowledged the role of the natural disasters but pointed out that there were also other reasons why the losses were so great. In fact, the most severe damage was caused by the economic sanctions that have been imposed on the DPRK by the United States since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The blockade by the U.S. has made it virtually impossible for the DPRK to trade for the goods they need in the world market, and this problem became acute during their period of shortages. Not only did the United States government restrict Americans from trading with the DPRK by law, but it also used its influence to prevent other countries from supplying the DPRK with necessary goods. He gave the example of an arrangement that had been made to obtain rice from Thailand. The U.S. government pressured Thailand not to ship the rice, threatening that, if they did, the U.S. would not deliver the fertilizer that Thailand was expecting. The response of the people of the DPRK, said Mr. Ri, has been to defy the hostile policy of the U.S. and to persist in developing their economy on a self-reliant model.

The threatening posture of the U.S. was reaffirmed earlier this year when the DPRK was included in the "axis of evil" by President Bush. This pressure against the DPRK was increased significantly around the time of our visit. On the very day that we left for the DPRK, the U.S. State Department began circulating the news that the DPRK had, in a meeting with a special envoy of the U.S. President, allegedly admitted having a nuclear weapons programme. To clarify the matter, the DPRK foreign ministry explained in a statement that it had actually warned the envoy that the DPRK has the right to build any weapons necessary for its defense. Nevertheless, without producing any evidence, the U.S. government is now insisting as a fact that the DPRK is in breach of the 1994 Framework Agreement between the two countries. The U.S. has gone so far as to use this false pretext to stop the delivery of fuel oil to which the DPRK is entitled under the agreement. While this will certainly create further hardship, it is not likely to deter the people from their chosen path of independence and self-reliance. If anything was made clear to the delegation from our visit, it was the high level of consciousness among the people that their future progress depends upon defending their sovereignty and working together to build a powerful nation. We can expect the people of the DPRK to face the latest challenges with this collective spirit.

 

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