Civilian Killings by S. Korean Forces in Vietnam Reported

South Korean soldiers killed large numbers of unarmed civilians--mostly elderly people and children--during the Vietnam War, a state-run television station reported, quoting survivors and veterans.

Accounts of the killings reported on KBS-TV late Thursday have been circulating in South Korea for years, but had never been investigated during the rule of Seoul’s past military regimes.

About 320,000 South Koreans fought in the Vietnam War between September 1964 and March 1973 alongside allied U.S. troops. They were the largest foreign contingent after Americans. Of them, 5,077 were killed and 10,962 were injured.

According to the report, South Korean soldiers herded scores or hundreds of Vietnamese and gunned them down in several villages on suspicion of harboring the enemy. In some cases they slaughtered villagers in retaliation for guerrilla ambushes.

In one case, South Korean marines reportedly rounded up people at Phu Hiep village in Phu Yen province in May 1966. While searching the village, two guerrillas threw a grenade that injured a South Korean lieutenant and Vietnamese translator.

“There was no order to shoot the villagers, but we opened fire anyway. It was retaliation,” said a South Korean veteran, who was identified only by his last name, Kim. “We didn’t know or care whether the group contained any Viet Cong or not.”

KBC said 46 people were killed in that incident.

“We shot everything that moved,” said another South Korean veteran who was also identified only by his last name, Chung.

Bui Thi Nong, who was 9 years old during the shooting, told KBS that she and her younger sister survived the shootings because her mother covered the children and they pretended to be dead.

“I still wonder why the South Korean soldiers killed the villagers. The Viet Cong had already gone away, and there were only old villagers and children,” Nong told KBS.

South Korean veterans said they regretted the deaths but said ambush attacks were rampant and it was often impossible for them to distinguish between guerrillas and innocent villagers.

Seoul’s Defense Ministry had no immediate comment on the TV program. The Vietnam government says it wants to leave the past behind and build friendly relations with all countries. South Korea is a major investor in Vietnam.

Some veterans said they were proud of their role in the war. The United States provided South Korea with massive economic aid that helped lay the foundation of the country’s rapid economic growth.