VIETNAMESE VICTIM TESTIFIES AT COURT

[Anchor Lead]

Two years ago a Vietnamese woman demanded compensation from the Korean government for losing her family in a military operation that she claims was carried out by the Korean army during the Vietnam War. The woman and a witness of the incident have for the first testified in a Korean court.

[Pkg]

Feb. 12, 1968. Nguyen Thi Thanh was living in a small village of Phong Nhi in central Vietnam when the Vietnam War broke out. This is how she remembers what happened more than half a century ago.

[Soundbite] Nguyen Thi Thanh(Survivor of Vietnam War Massacre) : "I lost five members of my family in the massacre. My elder brother was wounded and I was shot in the abdomen and seriously injured."

The woman says her mother and elder sister were killed by a grenade thrown at them by South Korean troops, while she herself was wounded. In April 2020 she demanded 30 million won in compensation from the Korean government. The trial was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was held two years later. The plaintiff's uncle, Nguyen Duc Coi was also present at the trial as a witness. He claims to have seen how the Korean soldiers killed the villagers and burned their houses.

[Soundbite] Nguyen Duc Coi(Massacre Witness) : "After the Korean troops left, the American forces and militia men entered the village together to remove dead bodies."

It's the first time a plaintiff and a witness demanding compensation for a Vietnam War massacre appeared in court together in Korea. The plaintiff presented a report drafted at the time by the U.S. forces, and said the Korean government must acknowledge the truth.

[Soundbite] Lim Jae-sung(Nguyen Thi Thanh’s Attorney) : "The report contains testimonies of U.S. troops, militia men from south Vietnam and villagers. A corporal took pictures of the massacre site with his camera."

The Korean government says there is no direct evidence proving the massacre was committed by the Korean troops. It stressed that according to an agreement it has no liability to provide compensation for the Vietnam War. In a phone interview with KBS, the Vietnam Veterans Association Korea declined to comment on the matter. Two years ago the association said the Korean army never entered the village in question and the massacre claim was false and defamatory.