[KS] Korean War atrocities

[rmo at mail.utexas.edu]

Dear all,

Had some trouble getting this to post to the list - see what I tried to send,
one block down.

Rob Oppenheim

Quoting rmo at mail.utexas.edu:

> Dear all,
>
> I'm not really a Korean War researcher, and those of you who are might find
> the
> following superfluous.  But email being free and all, in the interest of
> having
> as many sources on these issues available as possible, I thought I would
> mention
> a source that (I think) speaks both to the generality of aerial attacks on
> civilians and to some of the associated psychology - a side point in
> Hanley/Chang's article.
>
> A few years back, for some writing on Korean War social science, I was
> looking
> at the Human Resources Research Institute, the Air Force's internal contract
> research agency for "human factor" problems (everything from psychological
> warfare to morale) that enjoyed a brief prominence in the early 1950s.
> Anyway,
> in 1951, HRRI issued a morale report on FEAF air crews entitled “Human
> Relations
> Factors Affecting the Air War Effort: A Brief Summary of FEAF Personnel at a
> Critical Period in the Korean War: December 1950," which can be ordered today
> on microfilm from the Air Force Historical Research Agency (Maxwell AFB,
> Mongomery, AL), reel 4362, Iris A2573.  Anyway, the social scientists
> surveyed
> air crews on four questions.  One sought to ascertain the morale effect of
> the
> "certainty of death or torture or both in the event of capture by the enemy."
> Another, however, sought to determine "the attitude of our combat personnel
> toward shooting up women and children engaged in carrying supplies to forward
> enemy positions" - which, of course, implies that such shooting up was
> general
> enough that you would make a survey question about it.
>
> With respect to the question, roughly 60% of FEAF crews had the basic
> attitude
> that such missions were regrettable but necessary, while around 10% thought
> they should be absolutely avoided - scenarios in which the refugee columns
> were
> said to be composed of "South" rather than "North Koreans," and prior service
> by
> some airmen in WWII, both correlated with somewhat higher (but still not
> high)
> sentiments for avoidance.  Individual responses anecdotally quoted in the
> report ranged from one person who said "I'm not too squeamish about it" to a
> "Lt. F." who, after such a mission, described it as "peasant-hunting" and
> took
> up drinking.
>
> Rob Oppenheim
> University of Texas/Austin
>
> Quoting "utwingnut at gimail.af.mil" <utwingnut at gimail.af.mil>:
>
> > Friends,
> > I may not have the background or the education that many on this list have
> > but I would like to ask
> > all of you to show caution in your investigation of war time atrocities.
> What
> > has particularly
> > caught my eye is the fact that Georgy Katsiaficas lives in Kwang Ju and
> works
> > for Chun Nam
> > University. As we all know, Kwang Ju and Chun Nam University are
> historically
> > a hot bed for Korean
> > political activity and has seen it's fare share of demonstrations
> (protests).
> > I agree that this
> > should be investigated. But, as one who has lived and worked in Korea and
> in
> > Kwang Ju in particular
> > I fear that if this investigation is not done in a sensitive manner,
> emotions
> > will run high and
> > people could get hurt.
> >
> >
> > Respectfully,
> > Michael Knudsen
> > Salt Lake City, Utah
> > utwingnut at gimail.af.mil
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > The original uncropped version of this moving photo in Taejon (which I was
> > shown by the son of one of these executed prisoners in 2002) clearly
> depicts
> > a uniformed American standing in the foreground overseeing the executions.
> I
> > am surprised that the uncropped version was not mentioned--nor was direct
> US
> > involvement in this particular massacre. Apparently, more than half a
> > century after this tragedy, the American public continues to be denied full
> > disclosure and an accurate accounting of our government?s actions.
> >
> > Georgy Katsiaficas
> > Visiting Professor and Senior Fulbright Scholar
> > Department of Sociology
> > Chonnam National University
> > Buk-ku Yongbongdong 300
> > 500-757 GWANGJU
> > South Korea
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ------- Original Message -------
> > >From    :
> > koreanstudies-request at koreaweb.ws[mailto:koreanstudies-request at koreaweb.ws]
> > Sent    : 5/19/2008 2:58:47 PM
> > To      : koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
> > Cc      :
> > Subject : RE: Koreanstudies Digest, Vol 59, Issue 22
> >
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> >
> > <<------------ KoreanStudies mailing list DIGEST ------------>>
> >
> >
> > Today's Topics:
> >
> >    1. Re: Korean War atrocities (George Katsiaficas)
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 03:25:53 +0900
> >
> >
> > Dear all,
> >
> > The full text of Charles Hanley?s new article is much longer (and more
> > disturbing) than the one on Yahoo to which Bruce Cumings linked.  Check it
> > at:
> >  http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h2rT2wzhviymfyfyRdmdKw6tciagD90O9DJ80
> >
> > I have been in the macabre cave to which the article refers and to several
> > other massacre sites, including the one in Taejon in this photo:
> >
> > :
> >
> > The original uncropped version of this moving photo in Taejon (which I was
> > shown by the son of one of these executed prisoners in 2002) clearly
> depicts
> > a uniformed American standing in the foreground overseeing the executions.
> I
> > am surprised that the uncropped version was not mentioned--nor was direct
> US
> > involvement in this particular massacre. Apparently, more than half a
> > century after this tragedy, the American public continues to be denied full
> > disclosure and an accurate accounting of our government?s actions.
> >
> > Georgy Katsiaficas
> > Visiting Professor and Senior Fulbright Scholar
> > Department of Sociology
> > Chonnam National University
> > Buk-ku Yongbongdong 300
> > 500-757 GWANGJU
> > South Korea
> >
> > Cell phone +82-10-6798-5852
> > Home phone +82-62-530-0549
> > Fax +82-62-530-2649
> > www.eroseffect.com
> >
> >
> > > From: Bruce Cumings <rufus88 at uchicago.edu>
> > > Reply-To: Korean Studies Discussion List <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
> > > Date: Sun, 18 May 2008 19:51:41 -0400
> > > To: <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
> > > Subject: [KS] Korean War atrocities
> > >
> > > Below is a very good report by Charles Hanley of Associate Press, who
> > > was one of the AP reporters who brought the Nogun-ri massacre to
> > > American attentions in 1999. In addition to his discussion of
> > > American suppression of information about the Taejon massacre, note
> > > that in his official history of the war, South to the Naktong, North
> > > to the Yalu, with full access to secret documentation, Roy Appleman
> > > blamed the Taejon massacre entirely on the North Koreans.
> > >
> > > Fear, secrecy kept 1950 Korea mass killings hidden
> > > By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent
> > > May 18, 2008
> > >    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080518/ap_on_re_as/
> > > korea_mass_executions_covered_up
> > >
> > >
> > > SEOUL, South Korea - One journalist's bid to report mass murder in
> > > South Korea in 1950 was blocked by his British publisher. Another
> > > correspondent was denounced as a possibly treasonous fabricator when
> > > he did report it. In South Korea, down the generations, fear silenced
> > > those who knew.
> > >
> > > Fifty-eight years ago, at the outbreak of the Korean War, South
> > > Korean authorities secretively executed, usually without legal
> > > process, tens of thousands of southern leftists and others rightly or
> > > wrongly identified as sympathizers. Today a government Truth and
> > > Reconciliation Commission is working to dig up the facts, and the
> > > remains of victims.
> > >
> > > How could such a bloodbath have been hidden from history?
> > >
> > > Among the Koreans who witnessed, took part in or lost family members
> > > to the mass killings, the events were hardly hidden, but they became
> > > a "public secret," barely whispered about through four decades of
> > > right-wing dictatorship here.
> > >
> > > "The family couldn't talk about it, or we'd be stigmatized as
> > > leftists," said Kim Chong-hyun, 70, leader of an organization of
> > > families seeking redress for their loved ones' deaths in 1950.
> > >
> > > Kim, whose father was shot and buried in a mass grave outside the
> > > central city of Daejeon, noted that in 1960-61, a one-year democratic
> > > interlude in South Korea, family groups began investigating wartime
> > > atrocities. But a military coup closed that window, and "the leaders
> > > of those organizations were arrested and punished."
> > >
> > > Then, "from 1961 to 1988, nobody could challenge the regime, to try
> > > again to reveal these hidden truths," said Park Myung-lim of Seoul's
> > > Yonsei University, a leading Korean War historian. As a doctoral
> > > student in the late 1980s, when South Korea was moving toward
> > > democracy, Park was among the few scholars to begin researching the
> > > mass killings. He was regularly harassed by the police.
> > >
> > > Scattered reports of the killings did emerge in 1950 ? and some did not.
> > >
> > > British journalist James Cameron wrote about mass prisoner shootings
> > > in the South Korean port city of Busan ? then spelled Pusan ? for
> > > London's Picture Post magazine in the fall of 1950, but publisher
> > > Edward Hulton ordered the story removed at the last minute.
> > >
> > > Earlier, correspondent Alan Winnington reported on the shooting of
> > > thousands of prisoners at Daejeon in the British communist newspaper
> > > The Daily Worker, only to have his reporting denounced by the U.S.
> > > Embassy in London as an "atrocity fabrication." The British Cabinet
> > > then briefly considered laying treason charges against Winnington,
> > > historian Jon Halliday has written.
> > >
> > > Associated Press correspondent O.H.P. King reported on the shooting
> > > of 60 political prisoners in Suwon, south of Seoul, and wrote in a
> > > later memoir he was "shocked that American officers were unconcerned"
> > > by questions he raised about due process for the detainees.
> > >
> > > Some U.S. officers ? and U.S. diplomats ? were among others who
> > > reported on the killings. But their classified reports were kept
> > > secret for decades.
> > >
> >
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