South Korea's Defense Ministry ‘regrets’ Jeju massacre

ANKARA

South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday expressed “deep regret” over the 1950s massacre of civilians in the country’s southern part, local media reported.

“The [South Korean] defense ministry expresses deep regret and condolences to the Jeju people who were sacrificed in the process of a crackdown,” according to an official statement quoted by Yonhap news agency.

Following the ideological division of Korea after 1948-1954 war, thousands of people living on Jeju island in country’s south were killed and hundreds others went missing.

Yonhap said it was first such message by the South Korean Defense Ministry in honor of the victims.

Meanwhile, a national memorial ceremony was also held on the island to honor the victims.

Last year, President Moon Jae-in issued an apology to the victims and vowed to provide them with every support and to retrieve the remains of the missing.

The then South Korean Defense Ministry had described the incident as an “armed revolt” that the then-government quashed through the mobilization of military and police forces, Yonhap added.

According to Yonhap, more than 10,000 Jeju islanders are estimated to have been killed and nearly 3,600 went missing during the tragedy.

A total of 2,530 were convicted in connection with the massacre.

In January 2019, a South Korean court dismissed charges against more than a dozen survivors of the massacre.

The January ruling by the court quashed convictions handed down by a military court in 1949.