'No massacres'

'NO MASSACRES'

South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup on Friday, Feb. 18, 2023, insisted the country’s soldiers didn’t commit any massacres during the Vietnam War and indicated the government will appeal a ruling that ordered compensation for a Vietnamese woman who lost several relatives to a shooting rampage blamed on South Korean marines in 1968. When asked about last week’s ruling by the Seoul Central District Court, Lee told a parliamentary committee that his ministry is certain there were “absolutely no massacres committed by our troops” during the Vietnam War. The court ordered the government to pay 30 million won ($23,000) to 62-year-old Nguyen Thi Thanh, who survived a gunshot wound but lost five family members — including her mother and two siblings — after South Korean marines swept through her village of Phong Nhi in central Vietnam on Feb. 12, 1968. According to US military documents and survivors, more than 70 people were killed that day when South Korean marines allegedly fired at unarmed civilians while occupying Phong Nhi and nearby Phong Nhut. The action came after at least one South Korean soldier got struck and injured by nearby enemy fire. Last week’s ruling marked the first time a South Korean court has found the government responsible for mass killings of Vietnamese civilians during the war and could potentially open the way for similar lawsuits. South Korea, then ruled by anti-communist military leaders, sent more than 320,000 troops to Vietnam, the largest foreign contingent fighting alongside US troops.

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