Vietnamese massacre victims file second petition with South Korea's truth commission

Victims and bereaved families of alleged massacres of Vietnamese civilians by the South Korean military during the Vietnam War filed a second petition for a truth investigation with South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Thursday. The Korean-Vietnamese Peace Foundation submitted the application in Seoul on behalf of eight surviving victims and one bereaved family member.

The foundation alleges that massacres occurred in Quang Ngai Province in November 1966, killing 73 civilians, and in Quang Nam Province in February 1968, killing 135 civilians. This second application follows a May 2023 dismissal of the first petition by the second-term TRC, which stated that human rights violations against foreigners during the Vietnam War did not fall within its statutory mandate.

The Vietnamese plaintiffs filed an administrative lawsuit challenging that decision, but both the lower court and the appellate court ruled in favor of the commission. The case is currently pending before the Supreme Court. Observers expect the case to enter a new phase because the third-term TRC, which launched in February, has reportedly taken a more forward-looking approach. On July 9, the TRC sent a supplementary written submission to the Supreme Court acknowledging the need for a state-level investigation into the alleged massacres.