The event saw the presence of a 40-member delegation of the Republic of Korea-Vietnam Peace Fund, representatives from the Quang Nam province chapter of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organization, local authorities, and crowds of people, witnesses and relatives of victims.
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Members of the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation express their apology during the commemoration of 135 victims of a wartime massacre in Ha My Hamlet in the Central province of Quang Nam. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
The RoK delegation, including professors, physicians, teachers, farmers, artists, students and social activists, offered incense and floral wreaths to commemorate the innocent victims of the massacre, and expressed their apology to Vietnamese people for the involvement of RoK soldiers in the killing.
Fifty years ago, on the morning of February 25, 1968, the 24th day of the first lunar month of the year Mau Than (Year of Monkey), 135 Ha My villagers, most of them being elderly, women and children, were killed by troops of the RoK "Green Dragon" brigade.
Speaking at the ceremony, President of the RoK-Vietnam Peace Fund, Kang U-il expressed his pain and deep regret for the massacre, saying that the truth must be brought to light in order to draw lessons from history and to ensure that such tragedy will not happen again.
Previously, the fund visited families and relatives of the massacre victims, and presented 35 bicycles to students of the Phan Boi Primary school in Dien An ward, Dien Ban township.
The RoK-Vietnam Peace Fund, a non-governmental organization, was launched in 2016 by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, with the purpose to promote the "Sincere apologies to Vietnam" movement launched in 1999.
Source: VNA