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The court docket additionally rejected the federal government’s argument that civilian killings have been unavoidable because the Korean troops have been coping with Viet Cong guerrillas who typically blended with locals, in line with Thanh’s lawyer, Lim Jae-sung.
The ruling marks the primary time a South Korean court docket discovered the nation’s authorities chargeable for mass killings of Vietnamese civilians through the struggle, and will doubtlessly open the best way for related lawsuits. Then dominated by anti-communist army leaders, South Korea despatched greater than 320,000 troops to Vietnam, the most important international contingent combating alongside U.S. troops.
South Korea’s Justice Ministry didn’t instantly reply to a question whether or not the federal government will enchantment.
Based on U.S. army paperwork and survivors, greater than 70 individuals have been killed and round 20 others injured after South Korean marines allegedly fired at unarmed civilians throughout search operations at Phong Nhi and the close by village of Phong Nhut in February 1968.
Thanh, then 7 years previous, was handled for gunshot wounds in her abdomen whereas 5 of her relations died, together with her mom, sister and brother. She filed the lawsuit towards the South Korean authorities in 2020 and testified on the Seoul court docket final August.
The trial additionally included the testimonies of different Vietnamese villagers and South Korean struggle veteran Ryu Jin-seong, a member of the marine unit linked to the assaults in Phong Nhi and Phong Nhut. He supplied a first-hand account of how the Korean troopers shot at unarmed civilians, a lot of them kids and girls.
Thanh, who awaited the ruling in Vietnam, stated she was “overjoyed” by her court docket win.
“I believe that the souls (of those that died in Phong Nhi) have been at all times with me and supported me,” she stated in a video message translated by her authorized crew. “I’m overjoyed as a result of I believe that the souls can now relaxation simple.”
The South Korean authorities had argued there was no conclusive proof that South Korean troops have been chargeable for the killings, even suggesting that the aggressors might have been Viet Cong fighters disguised in Korean uniforms and trying psychological warfare.
The federal government additionally insisted that even when Korean troopers have been concerned, their aggressive response was comprehensible once they have been going through fixed threats from Viet Cong guerrillas, who typically hid themselves amongst locals and actively recruited younger ladies.
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