American newspaper： Korean war survivors reveal the truth about the American massacre

　　Xinhua News: The International Herald Tribune of the United States published an article entitled "Survivors of the Korean War Talk about the US Army’s Killing Innocent People" on the 21st. The main points are as follows:

　　Many people were burned alive.

　　In September, 1950, under the personal command of General douglas macarthur, American troops landed in Incheon Port, South Korea, which changed the direction of the Korean War and made MacArthur a hero.

　　But more than half a century later, in a shabby tent at the entrance of Yuewei Park, a group of elderly Koreans wanted to tell the world about the unknown side behind the victory of the US military and a story about civilians being burned alive that was not mentioned in Korean official history and textbooks.

　　Li Beiji, 76, said: "When napalm hit our village, many people were still asleep at home. Those who escaped from the fire came to the seaside, and we tried to show American pilots that we were ordinary people. However, they still shot at us, both women and children. "

　　According to the military documents declassified by the United States reviewed by South Korean government investigators, on September 10, 1950, five days before landing in Incheon, in order to "burn" the eastern part of Yuewei Island, 43 American warplanes flew to the island and dropped 93 cases of napalm bombs.

　　There were 210 massacres of civilians.

　　Moon Island is not the only target of bombing. Since November last year, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission under the South Korean government has published a series of reports on the situation of Yuewei Island and two other cities that were attacked by air. Local residents said that a large number of unarmed civilians were killed in indiscriminate air strikes by the US military. The Committee believes that such air strikes violate the international conventions on war, and therefore suggests that the government come forward to negotiate with the United States to pay compensation to the victims.

　　According to other findings of the Committee, on January 19, 1951, American warplanes threw napalm bombs at Shancheng village, about 160 kilometers southeast of the capital, killing at least 51 people, including 16 children.

　　The Committee also said that a day later, American warplanes threw napalm bombs at the entrance of a cave full of refugees in Danyang, 35 kilometers north of Shancheng Village, and about 167 villagers were burned alive, more than half of them women.

　　Jin Dongchong, a senior official of the Committee, said: "We should not ignore or conceal the deaths of innocent civilians, because their deaths were not caused by the mistakes of a few soldiers, but by orderly air strikes and strafe. History tells us that we need an alliance, but this alliance must be based on humanitarian principles. "

　　During the early totalitarian and extremely anti-communist government in South Korea, it was taboo to criticize the actions of the US military in the war. However, after the South Korean government later set up a fact-finding commission, the public provided 210 cases about the indiscriminate killing of innocent people by the US military, most of which were caused by air strikes.

　　The United States has argued that "air strikes are justified."

　　Major Stuart Upton, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense, said that the Pentagon would not comment on these reports until the South Korean government took formal action.

　　After the Korean War broke out in June 1950, the US military planned to land in Incheon Port in September to rescue the United Nations troops trapped in the southeast corner of the Korean Peninsula. The US military decided that it must first turn Yuewei Island, located at the throat of a waterway leading to Incheon Port, into a no-man’s land.

　　In their report on the mission of bombing the island at the end of the moon, the pilots of the US Marine Corps said: "This mission is to completely bomb this area with napalm and burn all objects on the ground."

　　They also said: "I didn’t see any signs of the army. But the smoke rising from the ground shows that the fire is enough to burn everything on the ground. "

　　These reports also described the shooting on the beach, but made no mention of civilian casualties.

　　American investigators did not object to South Korea’s investigation report, but thought that the US air strikes were "justified". They said that the mountain city was a stronghold of the enemy at that time, and the villagers had been warned to evacuate in advance.

　　However, regarding the bombing of Moon Island, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission pointed out that although it believed that it was necessary for US troops to land in Incheon Port, it found no "evidence of any efforts to reduce civilian casualties". (Editor: Apeng)

Related reading:

　　In June 1950, when the Korean War broke out, the Korean People’s Army laid a large number of mines in the nearby waters to prevent the US troops from landing in Wonsan. In order to ensure the successful landing, the US military used more than 10 mine-clearing ships to clear mines. However, due to the limitation of troops and mine-clearing technology, only more than 200 mines were cleared in 15 days, accounting for 1/10 of the total number of mines laid by the People’s Army. A large area of mines undoubtedly poses a serious threat to the next landing operation of the US military. Unable to do anything about it, the US Far East Naval Command remembered that after Japan’s defeat, an old Japanese naval mine-clearing unit with more than 100 mine-clearing ships and combat capability remained.

In the Korean War, the old woman was killed by the American army on the roadside.

Editor: Wang Jiaolong