Petition for a S. Korea and U.S Joint Jeju 4.3 Event(Massacre) Task Force: to Foster Comprehensive and Enduring Social Healing through Justice

This Petition calling for A JOINT SOUTH KOREA AND UNITED STATES JEJU 4.3 EVENT(INCIDENT) TASK FORCE TO FURTHER IMPLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS AND FOSTER COMPREHENSIVE AND ENDURING SOCIAL HEALING THROUGH JUSTICE seeks to advance the mutual interests of Jeju residents and the governments and people of South Korea and the United States.
The April 3rd [1948] Grand Massacre [known as Jeju 4.3] on Jeju Island encompassed the mass killing of some 30,000 Jeju residents, the torture, rape and prolonged detention of many more, the destruction of at least 40,000 homes and the burning of numerous villages. It lies at the heart of a leading South Korean redress initiative. The mass killing and destruction by South Korean military, paramilitary and police under United States authority(1945-1949) and oversight was a taboo subject under South Korea national governments through the 1980s.
This petition calling for creation of a Joint Task Force results from a broad-based movement in South Korea and beyond. The Joint Task Force would be a creative yet practical way for South Korea, the United States and Jeju people to mutually engage in more fully implementing
past reconciliation recommendations and in overseeing future steps toward comprehensive, systemic and enduring social healing through justice – in ways that benefit Jeju people as well as South Korea and the United States.
7. A Joint Task Force would foster reparative justice (words and actions that repair) and thereby enhance the democratic legitimacy of both South Korea and the United States. The Joint Task Force would not replicate the work of the 2000 National Committee. Rather the Joint Task Force's five main goals would be: 1) to build upon the National Committee’s inquiry (which was completed several years ago and without United States cooperation) by updating and by filling any gaps; 2) to assess the completeness of the National Committee's recommendations particularly in light of new and updated information; 3) to assess the effectiveness of actions already taken and determine what more is needed to repair the persisting damage (both individual and communal); 4) in light of #1, 2 and 3, to recommend further concrete next steps for implementing the National Committee’s recommendations and to oversee follow-up steps as part of a larger integrated justice plan to engender comprehensive, systemic and enduring social healing; and 5) to do these things to foster reparative justice in ways that benefit the Jeju people and also assure accountability and enhance the democratic legitimacy of both South Korea and the United States. Mutual Interests in Mutual Engagement

8. South Korea and United States interests strategically converge with Jeju’s interests in furthering reconciliation. Participation would demonstrate South Korea’s resolve to enduringly heal the wounds of its people. This is important at a time when South Korea faces regional security issues. Engagement in the Jeju 4.3 social healing would also demonstrate the United States’ legitimacy as a democracy not only professedly but actually committed to human rights and reparative justice. And it would also bolster South Korea and U.S. linkages on complex issues of international trade and security.
II. WHEREAS
The Jeju 4.3 Event(Incident)
9. According to the 2013 English Translated Report, at the end of World War II following Japan’s occupation of South Korea, and during the emerging Cold War, South Korea entered peacetime under U.S. military supervision. In March 1947, many Jeju residents demonstrated against harsh government policies and violent police practices and commemorated National Liberation Day. Under U.S. supervision, the national police killed and injured protestors, leading to general strikes in Jeju and the subsequent imprisonment of strike organizers. Despite advice by U.S. military officials that the main cause of the uprising was opposition to police brutality and food policies and not an incitement to communism, the U.S. military commander falsely characterized the resistance as a broadscale communist uprising. The police began to characterize Jeju as an “island of Reds” even though U.S. investigators found few communists among Jeju residents. Once labeled an “island of Reds,” the U.S. anti-communist policy opened doors to sustained violence.
10. On April 3, 1948, some residents with bamboo spears and farm tools confronted police and government officials in an effort to stop police violence, protest the upcoming election and support a unified Korea. U.S. military leaders sent additional armed forces. High-level U.S. officials also authorized South Korean army and police to act against Jeju citizens and widespread violence erupted.

11. After the Republic of Korea was established in August 1948, with U.S. military leadership supervising and overseeing South Korean military and national police actions, and with U.S. military personnel still in place to support the new government, suppression of the Jeju people accelerated. The government declared martial law in November 1948 and indefinitely detained many and summarily tried and executed thousands. Many others were killed in their villages or in the fields.
Historic and Persisting Wounds
12. The Translated Report details enormous loss over several years. An estimated 30,000 of Jeju’s 280,000 residents were killed (the government's official figure is 14,032). Tens of 5 4 thousands more were injured, with hundreds tortured, and many more summarily detained. The violence left at least 300 villages, 20,000 households and 40,000 homes destroyed. 13. The damage of Jeju 4.3 continued even after the close of Jeju 4.3 events. With many killed or injured and a number of women sexually assaulted, the working population was largely destroyed, leaving many communities and families barely able to survive. Those who survived, including many orphans, were often impoverished. The long-term individual financial impact continues into the present.
14. Jeju people also suffered collective trauma from destroyed communal structures, including villages, schools, workplaces and family networks. Later governing regimes also suppressed efforts to discuss the civilian killings and imprisoned those who spoke out about Jeju 4.3. For many families losing loved ones, homes and villages, the unresolved psychological trauma persists over generations. And residents still suffering from the stigma of being falsely branded “communists” under a lingering guilt-by-association system. Those residents have been largely excluded from the social healing process.