And now with a more detailed look at the court’s decision, we turn to Joseph Kim.


Hooray! Hooray! Hooray, the Republic of Korea!

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Press conference at Jeju District Court on April 3rd Incident retrials

The old victims of military courts are smiling brightly after 70 years.

They were arrested and sentenced to years in prison on trumped-up charges, but they did not receive proper trials seven decades ago.

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Court dismisses indictments

In April 2017, 18 survivors applied to the Jeju District Court for resumption of retrials of people convicted for offenses during the April 3rd Incident.

The court accepted their claim.

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Military court rulings ‘invalid’

The court on January 17th held the final trial and dismissed the indictment of the 18 plaintiffs.

Actually, this means the court recognizes them as wronged victims of the April 3rd Incident.


The court said the charges applied to the plaintiffs were not clearly defined and there were no proper legal procedures.


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With indictments dropped, cases end

Dropping the indictment means ending the cases, as the military court rulings were made illegally and are thus invalid.

This, therefore, clears the plaintiffs of the charges.

The plaintiffs and their families hailed the ruling saying that the pronouncement corrects the distorted history.

Interview
Yang Geun-bang / Plaintiff
I’m honored to see the unspeakable pain, hard prison time, and horrible gunshots disappear and be replaced by new paths of hope.
< 양근방 / 4·3 수형인 >
말할 수 없는 고통과 형무소 살이, 총살 등의 아픔이 모두 사라지고 새로운 희망과 갈 길을 새로 찾게 돼 무한한 영광으로 생각하고...

Interview
Shim Gyeong-shin / Daughter of plaintiff Kim Pyeong-guk
My father couldn’t talk about his time in prison to us. I am grateful to clear his name of these false charges.
< 심경신 / 김평국 4·3 수형인 딸 >
(옥살이 사실을) 자식들한테도 말씀 못 하셨는데 누명을 벗게 돼서 너무 기쁘고 정말로 감사드립니다.


The 18 plaintiffs were jailed after being accused of being communists along with about 2,500 others. Many died in captivity or went missing.

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More retrials likely

The ruling is likely to incite similar claims for retrial from other surviving victims and suits for compensation.

Interview
Yang Dong-yun / Incident fact-finding and honor restoration coalition
We'll now file a compensation suit according to the Criminal Procedure Code for their time spent in prison on the wrongful charges. We’ll do that as soon as possible this year.
< 양동윤 / 제주4·3진상규명과 명예회복을 위한 도민연대 대표>
이들에 대해 국가는 책임을 져야 하고 형사소송법에 의거해서 형사 배상 소송을 청구할 것입니다. 연내에 빨리 하겠습니다.

Interview
Im Jae-seong / Lawyer for retrial applicants
Their names were cleared, but compensation hasn’t been made. We’re now reviewing filing claims for state compensation for illegal acts by the national government.
< 임재성 / 4·3재심 사건 변호사 >
명예회복이 이뤄졌지만 손해에 대한 배상은 이뤄지지 않았습니다. 그래서 형사 보상 청구, 국가의 불법 행위를 묻는 국가 배상 청구 역시도 적극적으로 검토하고 있습니다.

The retrial received national attention because the claims were made without written prosecution or sentencing that led to the plaintiffs’ imprisonment.

[Reporter] Joseph Kim
[Camera] Hyeon Gwang-hoon

Meanwhile, national compensation and retrials for other cases are left unsettled.The ruling on the groundless military trials would give momentum for regaining the impaired honor of victims.

Joseph Kim, KCTV