한국군 베트남전 학살 ‘진상규명 청원’ 국방부 거부…“이 대통령 직접 답해라”

Survivors of civilian casualties during the Vietnam War and peace organizations have criticized the Korean government's repeated "responsibility avoidance" and urged President Jae-myung to personally respond to their call for truth and clarification about the war. The "Network for a Just Resolution to the Vietnam War Issue" held a press conference on the steps of the Blue House in Seoul on the 19th, where they criticized the Ministry of National Defense's response to their petition.

They submitted a petition with the signatures of 154,100 citizens, calling for the truth-seeking on civilian casualties during the Vietnam War to be addressed by the President. However, the Ministry of National Defense rejected all requests submitted in the petition, stating that there was no legal basis for the Ministry to comply with the requests.

One of the victims, Hami Tan, expressed disappointment, saying, "The Korean government has still not acknowledged its responsibility and has not apologized, and it has not clarified the truth that we have been waiting for years." He added, "President should stop avoiding our questions." President Jae-myung was quoted as having expressed willingness to address the Vietnam War issue in the past, such as when he supported the lawsuit filed by the victim, Pongni Tan, in 2023, and when he proposed a special law to address the issue of civilian casualties during the Vietnam War.

The Ministry of National Defense's rejection of the petition's demands was deemed inappropriate. The petition requested the Ministry to take action on cases such as the "Civilian Casualties Compensation Litigation Review," the improvement of the Vietnam War Memorial Institution's official memory, and the clarification of the cause of the Hami Village incident.

A lawyer from the "Democratic Society Legal Team," Je-rak Kim, noted that the government has often ignored court decisions on state violence cases, such as the 4·3 incident, and that the fact that it is the first case does not mean that a court ruling is necessary. The Network for a Just Resolution to the Vietnam War had released a statement calling for President Jae-myung to respond directly to the petition, including requesting a "Civilian Casualties Compensation Litigation Review," the establishment of a "Truth and Justice Act" for the Vietnam War, and a comprehensive review of official memory of the war and an investigation into the rights violations of conscripted soldiers.

The statement was delivered to the President's office after the press conference. The Hami incident occurred on February 24, 1968, in Hami Village, Dongzhong District, Da Nang City, Vietnam, where a South Korean Marine Corps unit killed 135 civilians. Pongni Tan won a damages case against the Korean government in 2023, but his victory is still pending after the government filed an appeal to the Supreme Court.