“US’ LIABILITY IN JEJU UPRISING DEATHS”

[Anchor Lead]

A seminar opened in Washington to hold the U.S. liable for brutal human rights violations and to get to the bottom of their involvement during the Jeju Uprising in 1948, one of the most tragic events of South Korea's modern history. A former chief of Northeast Asia Division at U.S. State Dept said the U.S. army military government at the time not only turned a blind eye, but was responsible in going beyond encouraging the use of force in Jeju Uprising.

[Pkg]

The Jeju Uprising occurred in 1948 when some 30-thousand island residents were killed by the U.S. Army Military Government in Korea under the pretext of quelling an armed conflict. A seminar opened in Washington to hold the U.S. liable for brutal human rights violations, such as killing hundreds of civilians including women and children as well as burning down villages.

[Soundbite] Prof. Lee Sung-yoon(Tufts University) : "This tragedy happened because the U.S. Army planned and approved it. It even ordered to kill more people by labeling them communists. Although the U.S. soldiers did not carry out the massacre, America is clearly responsible for it."

When asked if the U.S. army military government encouraged the use of force in quelling the protests, an official from the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research in charge of Northeast Asia affairs said it did more than that. When Jeju residents clashed with authorities, the U.S. army military government pushed for using force to suppress what they claimed was communism.

[Soundbite] John Merrill(Former chief of Northeast Asia Division at U.S. State Dept.) : "I don't think the US government encouraged. I think they were more than willing to do it themselves. I relied on heavily I talked already about the then classified, maybe still classified."

But Washington has never officially admitted these facts. This is why efforts are needed to publicize the truth behind the tragedy and find a diplomatic solution.

[Soundbite] Kathleen Stephens(Former U.S. ambassador to S. Korea) : "I don't think it ever really ends. You have the notion that you can just say, Okay, we finish we always have to reflect on the past."

This seminar is particularly meaningful because Washington's liability for the Jeju Uprising has been brought up for the first time ever by a U.S. state-run think tank.