2018 People’s Peace Tribunal for the Vietnam War

From April 21 to 22, 2018, the ‘People's Tribunal on War Crimes by South Korean Troops during the Vietnam War’ (hereinafter the ‘People’s Peace Tribunal’) was held at the Oil Tank Culture Park in Mapo-gu, Seoul. This tribunal for the people benchmarked the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on the Trial of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery in 2000 (hereinafter the ‘Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000’) which had taken place in Tokyo, Japan, to hold the perpetrating country responsible in the capital of the perpetrating country.

The exact scale of the civilian massacre perpetrated by South Korean troops during the Vietnam War has not been confirmed so far, but about 9,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in at least 80 villages. Among them, the People’s Peace Tribunal focused on the cases of Phong Nhi / Phong Nhat village and Hami village in Quang Nam Province in central Vietnam. Two survivors from each village were set as ‘plaintiffs’ and the Republic of Korea was set as the ‘defendant’ in addressing the pertinent facts and responsibilities related to the civilian massacre. Both incidents took place in 1968, so the year 2018 when the People’s Peace Tribunal was held marked the 50th anniversary of the massacre.

Dozens of civic groups and 995 individuals gathered as members of the Preparatory Committee for the People’s Peace Tribunal, and during the two day event, citizens filled about 300 seats each day, with reporters from home and abroad gathering to document and broadcast the event.

After two days of hearings, the People’s Peace Tribunal, which consisted of a former Supreme Court justice Kim Young-ran, lawyer Lee Seok-tae, and professor Yang Hyun-ah of the Seoul National University School of Law, judged that the defendant, the Republic of Korea, should provide an official apology and compensation to the plaintiffs.

“Text of Decision. The Republic of Korea shall pay compensation to the plaintiffs according to the compensation standards of the State Compensation Act and make an official apology to restore the plaintiffs' dignity and honor.”

Raising the issue about the ‘people’s tribunal’

Since the People’s Peace Tribunal is a tribunal for the people instead of an actual court, the tribunal’s ruling is not legally binding. However, the judgments from the People’s Peace Tribunal and the court are still highly meaningful as they re-publicized the issue of the civilian massacre that had occurred during the Vietnam War to South Korean society and allowed future activities to move forward.

The 2018 People’s Peace Tribunal for the Vietnam War modeled the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000. The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000 made judgments on the responsibility for war crimes related to the Japanese Military “Comfort Women”, and contributed to public debate on the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” issue as well as an expansion in international solidarity. Japanese civil societies put great efforts into the process. The 2018 People’s Peace Tribunal modeled the role that Japanese civil societies played 18 years ago during the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000. Furthermore, it asked the question, 'How should thinking about the “Comfort Women” problem form an awareness of this issue for South Korean civil society?’ The People’s Peace Tribunal Preparatory Committee affirmed that "If South Korean society is demanding that the Japanese government take legal responsibility for the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” issue it should also strive to fulfill its responsibility as a member of the perpetrating countries of the civilian massacre during the Vietnam War". The ‘people’s tribunal’ was planned as a process to evoke that ‘responsibility’.

A people’s tribunal is based on the premise that ‘the law is a tool for civil society and does not belong to the government’, meaning that if the state fails to serve justice, civil society should be able to ‘intervene’. The South Korean government has long remained silent on the civilian massacre perpetrated during the Vietnam War. South Korea dispatched about 325,000 South Korean troops to Vietnam from September 1964 to March 1973. This dispatch of troops was to support the alliance between South Korea and the United States and security in response to the United States’ demand for this dispatch. The dispatch was the ‘first overseas dispatch’ for South Korean troops, which is still widely celebrated in museums such as The War Memorial of Korea. However, the massacre perpetrated by South Korean troops at the time had been suitably forgotten for decades.

It wasn’t until 1999 that the Vietnam War civilian massacre issue was publicized in South Korea. The testimony of the victims was reported in the South Korean local media and this prompted an initiation of the ‘Sorry Vietnam’ movement among civil societies. Despite the conscientious testimonies from a small number of veterans as well as the voices of Vietnamese survivors, the Ministry of National Defense and other South Korean government organizations maintained that ‘the massacre did not happen’. It was only referred to as an ‘unfortunate war’ by President Kim Dae-jung or a ‘debt in our heart’ by President Roh Moo-hyun. While the government was continuing to deny its responsibility as such, the civil society-based tribunal was held in 2018.

Meanwhile, raising the issue of the Vietnam War was based on the 'Russell Tribunal'^[1], which was the model for the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000. The Russell Tribunal was held in 1966 to raise questions about the invasive nature of the Vietnam War based on the suggestion of the philosopher Bertrand Russell. The Russell Tribunal exposed the crimes committed by the United States during the Vietnam War and ruled that South Korea was an accomplice to the United States.^[2] A critical appraisal encouraged by the people’s tribunals ensued by referring to each other across the borders and times to bring an international order centered around the great powers and matters that are not addressed by the state courts into the private sphere for scrutiny and judgments. 

Survivor's testimony - Talking and listening

Tomasa Salinog from the Philippines, who was one of the witnesses of the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000, said “After 10 years of difficult fights demanding justice, the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal showed me the justice that (we) have long been hoping for. This was the first trial that restored our dignity by carefully listening to us who have been seeking the truth.”^[3] As such, the people’s tribunal was significant as it was a place to listen to the history of survival through many years after the damage committed by breaking the silence and responding to the voices of the victims who demanded the restoration of honor and human rights.

The 2018 People’s Peace Tribunal also shared the same meaning as the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000 in that society responded to the survivors’ testimonies. What became the foundation of the People’s Peace Tribunal was the talks – testimonies - from the survivors of the massacre including Nguyễn Thị Thanh from Phong Nhi / Phong Nhat village and Nguyễn Thị Thanh from Hami village. Coincidentally, both were named Nguyễn Thị Thanh. The two Nguyễn Thị Thanhs never left their seats during the two-day hearing which lasted a total of 13 hours, except for during the recess. Since the tribunal was conducted in the Korean language, it was challenging for them to understand all the contents as they passed through the interpreters. However, the plaintiffs nodded and focused on what the South Korean lawyers said, and remained confidently in their seats.^[4]

Nguyễn Thị Thanh from Phong Nhi village described her confidence as ‘the duty of the survivor’. The day before the tribunal, she remarked in a statement issued during her visit to the South Korea’s National Assembly:

This year marks the 43rd year since the end of the Vietnam War and the 50th year since the two of us were fully exposed to the massacre. We will continue to remember and give testimonies about what happened on that day. It is extremely painful to recall the memories of the massacre, but I think that is clearly our job as the survivors. We ourselves will be the witnesses to tell the horrors of war.

We will stand in the tribunal tomorrow. We will be standing there as witnesses for the People’s Peace Tribunal prepared by our South Korean friends. I feel scared, nervous, and frightened. I had a sleepless night even before I came to South Korea because I was afraid to stand in the tribunal. I actually feel very nervous even here. Nevertheless, the reason for my courage is because of my family who unjustifiably perished 50 years ago. It is because of my neighbors who lost their own families and are still living in pain as a result. It is because I need to talk to the world on their behalf about the dark and painful past that should never be repeated again. It is because that is our duty as the survivors.^[5]

As Nguyễn Thị Thanh from Phong Nhi village noted, there were many concerns and fears prior to the survivors who stood at the People’s Peace Tribunal. In the case of Nguyễn Thị Thanh from Hami village, the journey to the People’s Peace Tribunal was also the first overseas visit of her life. It could not have been easy for the survivors to visit the capital of the perpetrating country and testify in front of hundreds of people by recalling the unforgettable childhood memories of the day their families were killed. Nevertheless, they were not merely the ‘victimized’ victims who were left weak and helplessly weighed down with their pain, but tough survivors who lived through half a century. The two survivors encouraged each other. Although it was tremendously painful to remember the past and give testimonies regarding it, they mentioned that they testified on behalf of the souls of their families who were sacrificed and their neighbors who lost their own families. The tribunal was filled with powerful applause whenever the plaintiffs finished their testimony.

When the tribunal finally rendered the judgment, Nguyễn Thị Thanh from Phong Nhi village beamed happily. She talked about her winning the case as follows: 

“I feel so happy that my body is shaking. We came to tell the world the truth, and we did our best in telling the truth. And we successfully received a judgment that we won. I will return to my town and tell the people what I saw and heard.”

As shown in Nguyễn Thị Thanh’s radiant smile, the People’s Peace Tribunal was a place where it admitted responsibilities by carefully listening and responding to the testimonies that South Korean society had been refusing to acknowledge. The summary judgment issued by the panel of judges recommended that ‘The defendant South Korea shall: pay compensation to the plaintiffs in accordance with Article 3 of the State Compensation Act and make a formal declaration to acknowledge its legal responsibility; conduct a fact-finding investigation into the occurrence of any illegal activities perpetrated by South Korean troops such as murder, injuries, assault, sexual violence, etc. against Vietnamese civilians in Vietnam from 1964 to 1973; display the results of the fact-finding investigation at all public facilities and public areas that promote South Korean troops’ participation in the Vietnam War, including The War Memorial of Korea’.^[6] The judges also expressed respect and solidarity to the two plaintiffs who came all the way to South Korea to testify the truth despite their prolonged suffering.

The Republic of Korea as a defendant and ‘our’ responsibility

One more thing that was significant about the 2018 People’s Peace Tribunal was that it raised concerns about ‘being in the position of the perpetrator’. Who will take the responsibility for the massacre, and what does the responsibility entail specifically? How will ‘me’ and ‘we’ view this issue as the defendants and members of the Republic of Korea?

The intention of the People’s Peace Tribunal was to become a ‘place that reveals the truth’ and simultaneously a ‘place where the story begins’. That is why the People’s Peace Tribunal adopted the form of a civil trial to hold state responsibility, and not a criminal trial. It was because the criminal court, which would punish the soldiers who pulled their triggers and the commanders who issued the order, risks limiting the responsibility of the state crimes to only a few soldiers. As long as ‘guilt’ was declared under criminal law, the problem would seem to have been solved, so the story will end there. The hope for the People’s Peace Tribunal was that by setting the political community of the Republic of Korea as the defendant, the responsibility of those of us who are alive now could also be discussed.^[7] The plaintiffs' representatives also indicated their wish in their final statement which noted, ‘The plaintiffs' claims are directed at the defendant which is the Republic of Korea, but they are also directed at us who are witnessing this moment’.

It was important for the People’s Peace Tribunal to acquire evidence because it strove to secure the same level of verifiable proof as the actual trial. In the process, it could obtain video testimonies of the soldiers who carried out the operation during the Phong Nhi / Phong Nhat incidents at the time. The People’s Peace Tribunal Preparatory Committee contacted the veterans and also pondered on the best ways to establish a relationship with them during the process of listening to those who were determined to tell the truth.

As a result of these concerns, <To Stand as Perpetrators: 'Us' Involved in the Vietnam War> was held a day before the tribunal. It was an academic event that took place as part of the tribunal but did not follow the tribunal’s format. The event suggested that the various ways of talking about the matter and listening were needed in addition to the language of the court. And the participants shared their concerns such as: what kind of 'we' can be imagined by South Korean society? How shall we take responsibility for history and remember it? What kind of community will we be building in reality?

After the tribunal

After the People’s Peace Tribunal, which highlighted a problem with the situation in which the civilian massacre that had occurred during the Vietnam War had been forgotten and thus intended to raise the issue in public again, we are currently experiencing calls for fact-finding investigations by the survivors of the massacre and the actual legal battles. 

"We are aware that the South Korean government said 'Vietnam does not want an apology.' However, no South Korean government official came to us, the survivors, to ask ‘Do you want an apology?’ Thus, above all else, we would like to make it clear through this petition that ‘The survivors of the Vietnam War’s civilian massacre want an apology’. Most of us are over 60 years old, so we do not have much time left.” As this petition demonstrates,^[8] their demands, instead of merely pertaining to the issues between South Korea and Vietnam or the diplomatic problems, involve the declaration of dignity for the survivors’ human rights.

These activities also continue as solidarity with the surviving victims of the Japanese Military “Comfort Women”. Since the Vietnam War’s civilian massacre was first publicized in the early 2000s, the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” surviving victims took the lead in apologizing for the massacre and sponsoring funds for the peace activities between South Korea and Vietnam. When Nguyễn Thị Thanh from Phong Nhi village first came to South Korea in 2015, ‘The House of Sharing’ was the first place she visited. At the time, Lee Ok-sun said, “Thank you for coming from afar. I never dreamed that there were victims like us in other countries”, “But those who survived must still live. Let us live with a firm determination. We are still at war.”^[9] During the 2018 People’s Peace Tribunal, Kim Bok-dong sent a message which noted “As much as my pain is deep, I hope the pain of the Vietnamese victims will recover as soon as possible. (...) I am a victim of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery myself, but as a citizen of South Korea, I would like to express my apology to the Vietnamese people.”^[10] 

As such, the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” and the survivors of the Vietnam War’s civilian massacre have supported each other in solidarity to heal old wounds and render the current struggles relevant. One question that still lingers with us is what kind of history the people who listen to and remember the story will build beyond their own nationality.