Bill seeks to find justice for Vietnamese victims of South Korean troops’ war crimes

Twenty-five lawmakers on Thursday together signed a bill to investigate the war crimes of South Korean troops during the Vietnam War.

“For years the Vietnamese victims have asked for the South Korean government’s acknowledgement of the civilian killings linked to South Korean soldiers, as well as an official apology and compensation. No such steps have been taken by the South Korean government to date,” Rep. Kang Min-jung, one of the lawmakers who authored the bill, said in a press conference.

“Truth-finding efforts into the Vietnam War must be conducted on a government level as soon as possible.”

The bill seeks to have an independent committee set up to investigate the range of massacres and other violent war crimes committed by South Korean soldiers during the war. Over the duration of the investigation, the committee will report its findings to the National Assembly and the presidential office.

The bill follows a historic ruling on Feb. 8, in which a Seoul court ordered the South Korean government to pay 30 million won ($23,100) to a 62-year-old Vietnamese woman, Nguyen Thi Thanh.

The court found that South Korean soldiers were responsible for the slaughter that took place in 1968 in her village. Nguyen, who survived the action, was badly wounded and lost several relatives.

Another of the bill's co-authors, Rep. Kim Eui-kyeom, said, “As soon as the court held the South Korean government responsible for what happened in the Vietnamese village, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup denied that such massacres were committed by South Korean soldiers.”

He went on, “I think what the minister told the National Assembly isn’t just his personal opinion, but the official stance of President Yoon Suk Yeol and his administration.”

He added that as South Korea seeks its own apology from Japan for its war crimes against South Korean victims, the country should also come clean about its wrongdoings and apologize.

Speaking at the same press conference, Lim Jae-sung, one of the lawyers representing Nguyen, said he hoped the bill would “mark the beginning of delivering the long overdue justice for Vietnamese victims of the war.”