By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
A government-funded excavation team will begin unearthing remains of civilians who were killed by U.S. troops in Nogeunri, North Chungchong Province, during the Korean War.
Park Seon-ju, a professor from History of Ancient Art and museum director at Chungbuk National University, will be in charge of the team.
``We will confirm the area which will be subject to unearthing by the end of this month as soon as we complete the research on land surface. Then we will begin unearthing the remains from next month,’’ said Park.
The team will consist of Park and five other professional researchers. It will decide the area based on the report by those who witnessed the corpses following the massacre in the village.
Two people including the one, also named Park, who lived in Nogeunri at the time of the massacre, reported to the regional office last year that they moved 40 to 50 dead bodies that were decaying under a bridge to nearby mountains, and buried them with the help of seniors in the village. They said it was nearly 15 days after the massacre and Park was 15 years old at that time.
The unearthing team assumes that three places in nearby mountains reported by Park and one farmland in the village are the places where remains of the victims might have been buried en masse.
``Early next week, we will have a meeting with the reporters, representatives of the bereaved family, scholars and the government officials in order to narrow down places for unearthing. As long as the places are confirmed, it will take about one month for unearthing the remains,’’ said professor Park.
The unearthed remains will be subject to DNA testing and will be buried in ``Nogeunri History Park’’ that will be built near the massacre site.
A fact-finding committee announced in 2005 that 152 innocent residents of Nogeunri, North Chungchong Province, were confirmed to have been killed by U.S. troops during the Korean War.
The killings in Nogeunri in July 1950 came under investigation nearly 50 years after the incident with an Associated Press report on Sept. 29, 1999.