The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 21, 2000, Page 4, Image 4
Witnesses, documents say
South Koreans shot thousands
by Sang-Hun Choe
The Associated Press
Dokchon, South Korea — South
Korean soldiers and police, observed at
times by U.S. Army officers, executed
more than 2,000 political prisoners with
out trial in the early weeks of the Kore
an War, according to declassified U.S. mil
itary documents and witnesses.
Supreme commander Gen. Douglas
MacArthur became aware of at least one
of the mass shootings, according to doc
uments originally classified “top secret.”
The new information, detailed in re
porting by The Associated Press and a
Korean researcher, substantiates what
some historians have long believed: Laige
numbers of South Korean leftists ar
rested by the right-wing regime were se
cretly killed as its forces retreated before
the North Korean army in mid-1950, ap
parently to keep thbm from collaborat
ing with the communist invaders.
Subsequently, during their brief oc
cupation of the south, the North Kore
ans executed many suspected rightists.
Those killings, once discovered, were
widely publicized in the Western press.
Information about the South Korean
government’s mass executions was sup
pressed for decades under this country’s
former military rulers. Relevant South
Korean records were destroyed, re
searchers believe. But victims’ families
recently began speaking out, and hu
man bones have been unearthed at mass
burial sites.
Witnesses describe brutal mass shoot
ings. A retired South Korean admiral told
the AP that 200 people, never put on tri
al, were taken offshore to be shot and
dumped into the sea Villagers in the Dok
chon area remembered truckloads of civil
ians, trussed together, brought to the hills
here and executed by South Korean mil
itary police.
The AP learned it was a U.S. Army
account of those Dokchon killings that
reached MacArthur. Although the leg
endary U.S. general also commanded the
South Korean military at the time, he re
ferred this report on its actions to Amer
ican diplomats “for consideration” and
“such action as you deem appropri
ate.”
The U.S. ambassador, John Muccio,
later reported back that he uiged Presi
dent Syngman Rhee and Defense Min
ister Shin Sung-mo to end summary ex
ecutions deemed illegal and inhumane.
“I urged Captain Shin to see that the
Korean Army, Police and Youth
Groups carry out executions of captured
members of the enemy forces, including
guerrillas, only after due process of law
has been observed and that when carried
out they should be in a humane manner,”
Muccio wrote in an Aug. 25, 1950, let
ter to MacArthur’s top subordinate, the
U.S. 8th Army commander Lt. Gen. V&l
ton L. Walker.
South Korean soldiers had shown “ex
treme cruelty” toward the condemned
prisoners at Dokchon, a U.S. military po
KOREA see page 5
Students, strangers honor Columbine victims
by Robert Weller
The Associated Press
Littleton, Colo. — A father fell to
his knees and kissed the grass on his son’s
grave. A mother watched 13 white bal
loons soar into a brilliant blue sky over
the cemetery where her son now rests.
And at 11:21 a.m. — the precise mo
ment two teen-agers opened fire inside
their high school on April 20, 1999 —
Coloradans quietly reflected as a church
bell tolled 13 times in memory of the vic
tims of the Columbine High School mas
sacre.
At private ceremonies and public re
membrances all day and into the night
Thursday, students, staff, survivors and
strangers came together to mark the first
anniversaiy of the nation’s deadliest school
shooting.
“Today is about the angels who are
watching over us — helping us to heal
and helping us to remember,” Gov. Bill
Owens told a crowd at the state Capitol
in Denver:
Owens presided over the moment of
silence that marked the instant Dylan
Klebold and Eric Harris began the blood
bath, killing 12 students and a teacher and
wounding 26 before taking their own
lives.
There was little mention of the
gunmen Thursday, and the acts of re
membrance — the 13 balloons, the bell
tolling 13 times, 13 crosses erected —
were meant to recall the victims and not
the killers. The victims’ families had even
asked the news media to avoid any ref
erences to Klebold and Harris.
“Too often over the last year, the cov
erage of the tragedy at Columbine High
School has focused on the two young men
who so viciously took the lives of our
loved ones and friends. But not today,”
the governor said in opening the cere
mony at the Capitol. “Because today is
about the victims of Columbine and their
families.”
The killers’ parents apologized again
last week for their sons’ actions. Their
whereabouts Thursday were not clear.
As a lone bagpiper played “Amazing
Grace,” the governor and his wife plant
ed columbines, the state flower that gave
the school its name, beneath a flagpole.
In Littleton, families and friends of
slain students Rachel Scott, Corey De
Pooter and teacher Dave Sanders em
braced and wept during a memorial at the
cemetery where all three are buried.
“Today can be a new beginning, not
just for our community but for our na
tion,” pastor Billy Epperhart said.
A fishing vest and lures adorned the
grave of DePooter, who loved fly fish
ing. Behind the grave markers stood 13
wooden crosses to honor the victims. An
angel windsock hung from Scott’s
cross, blowing gently in the breeze.
When the service was over, 13 white
balloons drifted into the sky as a symbol
of letting go. For several minutes, De
Pooter’s mother, Patricia, refused to leave
her son’s grave.
“It’s hard just remembering it, the
good times, and then remembering how
it all ended,” said Cherry Creek High stu
dent Sam Mamtheme, 17, who was friends
with Scott.
Columbine senior Richard Castal
I
do, left a paraplegic in the shootings, al
so struggled to make sense of the events.
“I’ve spent the last couple of days
trying to find the right words. I can’t re
ally find them,” a weeping Castaldo told
about 1,500 people at a Trinity Christian
Center service.
At Fairmount Cemetery in Denver,
the family of victim Isaiah Shoels was
joined by Martin Luther King III in re
membering the 18-year-old boy who
dreamed of becoming a music executive
and talent scout like his father.
After the service, Michael Shoels
knelt and kissed the grass over his son’s
grave. “He always said I kiss the ground
Columbine seepages
News Briefs
■ Graham invites
Bush, McCain to
fundraiser
U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham has invii
ed George W. Bush and John McCain t
resolve their differences at a meeting i
South Carolina, where the two fought
bitter GOP presidential primary battle
“I can think of no better way of uni,
ing our party than to have the two of yo
return together to the scene of a hard
fought primary,” Graham, R-S.C., wrot
to the Texas governor and Arizona sen
ator in letters released Tuesday.
Graham, who was a McCain sup
porter, wants the senator and Bush to ap
pear at a fund-raiser for South Carolina’
Republican Party. An appearance las
month in Columbia by President Bill Clin
ton helped the state’s Democrats raise aj
estimated $700,000.
McCain has accepted the offer, sail
his spokesman, Todd Harris. Bush Cam
paign Spokesman Scott McClellan sail
the governor had just received Graham,
letter.
■ Scandal-tainted
Italian leader says
voters want him back
Rome (AP) — He has been convictec
of corruption and fyces more trials oi
other charges. He is viewed with suspi
cion in Europe for hanging on to a medi;
empire while in politics.
Despite it all, conservative opposi
tion leader Silvio Berlusconi says he l
convinced Italians will return him to pow
er in the wake of Premier Massimc
D’Alema’s resignation — if the le'
will let them vote.
Elections can be called immediately
or the government can come up with;
stopgap premier to stave off balloting. Ir
an interview Thursday with The Associ
ated Press, Berlusconi said he fears the
outgoing center-left coalition will banc
together behind the latest “useful idiot’
— Berlusconi didn’t sav which one —
to avoid early elections. “I fear there
won’t be a vote until 2001,” said the bil
lionaire businessman, who was premiei
for seven months in 1994.
gall
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The Honors & Awards Commission
offers its sincerest apologies to
Benjamin N. Morris
and his family
for the omission of his name during
the Awards Day ceremony.
The commission would like to recognize
and congratulate Benjamin N. Morris
on being named a member of 1
Who’s Who Among American
Colleges & Universities.
I---II
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