Last year, some one-hundred-thousand people in Korea signed a petition, urging the United States to acknowledge its involvement in the April 3rd Incident.

We will be seeing more action this year; work to investigate U.S. involvement is gathering speed

The April 3rd Peace Foundation has formed a dedicated team to collect evidence. In addition, a symposium will be held at the UN headquarters to appeal to the international community of the necessity to unveil the truth surrounding the tragedy.

Geena Kim reports.

Leaders of the U.S. military arrived in Jeju in May of 1948 when the island was still reeling from the April 3rd Incident.

This photo shows General Archer Lerch, a U.S. military advisor, planning an attack on a village.

Certificates of release provide evidence of indiscriminate arrests made by the U.S. army.

The photo and certificates show the U.S. army's direct and indirect involvement in the April 3rd Incident.

INTERVIEW
Yang Jeong-shim / Jeju April 3rd Peace Foundation
The U.S. army was the highest decision maker for putting down the incident. Its advisory committee operated behind the scenes while the Korean government put the plans into action. The U.S. army was behind isolating and killing islanders.
<인터뷰 : 양정심 / 제주 4·3평화재단 조사연구실장>
"제주도민을 고립시키고 학살하거나 4·3을 진압하는 것은 당연히 미군정이 최고의 결정권자였던 거죠. 그렇기 때문에 항상 미군은 뒤에 있어요. 고문단들이 뒤에서 움직이고 그 실행은 한국인들 손으로 이뤄졌기 때문에 그게 눈에 잘 보이진 않지만."

Works to investigate the US’s involvement in the April 3rd Incident are gathering speed.

[slug] Team formed to investigate U.S. responsibility

The Jeju April 3rd Peace Foundation established a dedicated team in October 2018 to investigate U.S. responsibility in the massacre.

[slug] Initiative launched to collect evidence of U.S. involvement in massacre

The team launched an information collection initiative of the U.S. military’s activities and
the collection focuses on evidence showing that the U.S. aided and ordered the massacre of civilians in Jeju.

[slug] Petition signed by 100,000 in 2018 urged U.S. to take responsibility

Last year, the foundation and the April 3rd Bereaved Family Association made a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to deliver a petition signed by over 100,000 people urging the U.S. to acknowledge their responsibilities of the incident.

In addition to domestic efforts, international interest and pressure are necessary to elicit action from the U.S.

[slug] Symposium on human rights at UN to be held in June

The foundation will hold a symposium on human rights in June at the UN headquarters in New York City to let the world know what happened in Jeju from 1947 through 1954.

[slug] Bishop Gang U-il and John Merrill scheduled to speak at UN

The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jeju, (강우일) Peter Woo-il Kang, will give a keynote speech and Dr. John Merrill, the former chief of the Northeast Asia Division of the U.S. State Department, will give a presentation.

A UN special rapporteur recently made a visit to the April 3rd Peace Park and promised support for the island’s position.

INTERVIEW
Yang Jo-hun / Head, Jeju April 3rd Peace Foundation
The upcoming symposium aims to form international solidarity and consensus of the necessity to unveil the truth of the April 3rd Incident.
<인터뷰 : 양조훈 / 제주 4·3평화재단 이사장>
"(이번 심포지엄은) 4·3 진실 규명에 대한 공감대 형성, 국제적인 연대 등을 얻기 위한 뜻을 담고 있습니다."

[Reporter] Geena Kim
[Camera] Jwa Sang-eun

The foundation will also be visiting the National Archives and Records Administration in June to collect more information.

Geena Kim, KCTV