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THE NOGUNRI MASSACRE
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:58:07 PM)

he story first broke to an incredulous world in late September when reporters for the AP tracked down and interviewed former GIs who had fought in the early days of the Corean War. Near a village called Nogunri, about 100 miles south of Seoul, they were ordered to gun down several hundred unarmed Corean civilians, they said, mostly women, children and elderly men.
     A surreally horrifying picture of the Nogunri Massacre has been painted by the witness accounts of both Corean survivors and American G.I.s. The horror began when a group of between 300 to 500 Corean fleeing civilians were strafed by U.S. jets. They ran for cover under a rail bridge where they remained huddled together for over a day. A small and beleagured American unit had taken up position on a hillside overlooking the rail bridge. During the night they were given radio orders to machinegun down the refugees. As the civilians lay huddled or tried to run, the G.I.s carried out the grim order. A small number of Coreans managed to escape but most were slaughtered in a bloody heap under the bridge.
     The order was justified on the ground that some North Corean guerillas had been caught trying to slip behind allied lines disguised as Corean villagers. As to whether any North Coreans were discovered among the slaughtered Nogunri civilians, the ex-G.I.s have conflicting recollections. Some said that a few were discovered while others had no such recollection.
     The Nogunri massacre took place in late July of 1950, during the first month of the Corean War when the U.S. and South Corean armies were overpowered by swiftly advancing North Corean troops. The North Corean surprise invasion of June 25 was spearheaded by Soviet tanks against which the allies were, for the moment, ill-equipped to defend. Soon after the Nogunri incident the allies were pushed back down to a 75-mile square defensive perimeter around Corea's southeastern tip known as the Pusan Perimeter. It wasn't until the successful execution of the Inchon landing that the allies broke out and pushed back north.
     When the AP story broke Corean President Kim Dae-jung hesitated for four days before ordering the formation of an investigative task force, then asked it to coordinate a lockstep investigation with the U.S. Defense Department team approved President Clinton. Both leaders have expressed their wish to see the investigation uncover the full truth, no matter how difficult or embarrassing. In late October the U.S. Army's team arrived in Seoul to begin coordinating witness interviews, schedule for a joint site survey and the inspection of documents, most of which are in the possession of the U.S. Defense Department. So far neither side has agreed to expand the investigation beyond Nogunri or discussed compensation for its survivors and victims.
     If the investigation bears out witness accounts of a slaughter, should the U.S. provide upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to survivors and victims or apologize and have it written off to the exigencies of a desperate military situation?

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