2023-05-29 08:49:43
Families unable to eat sea fish for the rest of their lives after 4·3
“Since I couldn’t find the bodies of my parents who fell into the sea… ”
‘4·3 Memorial Space’ in Bullocho Park of Jeongbang Waterfall
On March 28, 2023, the Jeongbang Falls massacre in Seogwipo, Jeju. At the time of the 4·3 Incident, this was the largest massacre in Sannam (South of Mt. Halla). Residents who were shot on the cliff fell down the waterfall. At least 255 victims have been officially confirmed. Reporter Kim Yang-jin
“Father, mother. Come home from Badang. can come back now Rest in peace now. Even if you die, you won’t be able to do it.” On the morning of the 29th, the blue sky was briefly visible through the clouds, but was soon covered with gray. It has been drizzling since dawn at Jeongbang Waterfall in Seogwipo, Jeju. The lotus flowers in the pond of Bullocho Park, where tall pine trees, camphor trees, and mulberry trees are located on the cliffs of Jeongbang Falls, are also wet from the thin rain.
The massacre of the whole family, from the grandmother to the younger brother whose name was not given.
The day the ‘Jeongbang 4·3 Victims Memorial Space’ was built on one side of the park. Kim Yeon-ok (82), dressed in navy blue hanbok, who visited the unveiling ceremony early in the morning, burst into tears and cried when it was time for her to lay flowers.
On the 29th, Kim Bok-soon, a bereaved family of the 4·3, weeps with her daughters at the unveiling ceremony of the ‘Jeongbang 4·3 Memorial Space’ at Jeongbang Waterfall in Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do. Reporter Heo Ho-joon
“I was given rice balls, so I ate one at a time and fell asleep, but when I woke up the next morning, people were dragged out of the warehouse. Grandpa and Grandma held Brother’s hand, and Mother left with her little brother on her back. At that moment, my father held my hand tightly. Soldiers forcibly dragged his father out of the warehouse. Kicking and sticking at my father as he dragged me out, and the moment I tried to follow him out of the warehouse crying, someone grabbed me from behind. I hit my head against the wall and passed out, but when I opened my eyes again, there was no one by my side. With that, everything is over.” The Kim family, who lived in the village of Sambat Guseok, Donggwang-ri, Andeok-myeon, located in the middle of the mountains, was caught by a punitive force while hiding in the mountains and taken to a warehouse used as a camp above Jeongbang Falls. On January 22, 1949, 8-year-old Kim remembers the day vividly. At Jeongbang Waterfall, a total of six people were massacred: grandfather and grandmother, father and mother, older brother, and a younger brother whose name he could not name. On that day, Mr. Kim, who was thrown against the wall of the warehouse, still has a dented wound on his head.
On the 29th, an unveiling ceremony was held at Bullocho Park in Donghong-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, with Jeju Governor Oh Yeong-hoon and his bereaved families in attendance. Reporter Heo Ho-joon
Kim’s trauma is deep and deep. Since that day, Mr. Kim has not eaten sea fish. “My parents fell into the sea and I couldn’t find their body, but I can’t bear to eat meat.” On that day, when Mr. Kim placed the Dharani, which is said to eliminate bad karma in Buddhism, on the memorial altar, the other bereaved families expressed their regret, saying, “If we knew this would happen, we would have brought it too.”
On the way to the execution site, my parents gave me rice balls and cotton rolls
Kim Bok-sun (87), who lives in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, also visited the unveiling ceremony with her daughters that day. Kim’s father and mother were sacrificed at Jeongbang Waterfall. Father and mother handed rice balls and cotton rolls to Kim and her 8-year-old brother as they were taken to the execution site at Jeongbang Waterfall. Ms. Kim still can’t forget the last words of her parents, “Wherever you go, ask them to make you at least wear them.” The durumagi was the first thing her mother had given her father despite living in poverty. Mr. Kim said, “I personally saw (subjugation forces) killing my parents. Nobody knows. Heaven and earth know, and only I know.” From October 1948 to March 1949, the Seogwipo coast around Jeongbang Falls was the site of the largest massacre in the ‘Sannam region’, which refers to the area south of Hallasan Mountain. At least 255 4·3 victims were slaughtered at Jeongbang Waterfall during the 4·3 period, and the bodies of 89 of them were not found. Public opinion was created to create a memorial space after the 4/3 Haewon Sangsaenggut was held at the nearby Seobok Exhibition Hall to honor the spirits of the 4/3 victims who were sacrificed at the Jeongbang Falls in 2015 by the Jeju Folk Crafts Federation. After going through twists and turns, such as the site being changed four times, the memorial space was finally able to find a resting place for the victims.
On the 29th, Kim Yeon-ok, a bereaved family member, weeps at the unveiling ceremony of the ‘Jeongbang 4·3 Memorial Space’ above Jeongbang Waterfall in Seogwipo City, Jeju. Reporter Heo Ho-joon
Oh Soon-myeong, head of the Jeongbang 4·3 Victims’ Survivors Association, said, “I was hoarse because I couldn’t sleep properly while preparing for the unveiling ceremony for several days. I was so worried that I even had a dream last night,” he said. Chairman Oh’s father was killed at Jeongbang Falls, and his mother was sacrificed by the punitive force while going to the Jeongbang Falls concentration camp where his father was imprisoned.
At least 255 victims… 89 bodies not found
Chairman Oh said, “The people at that time (the punitive force) were also human, but I still don’t understand how they shot people and threw them down (under Jeongbang Waterfall). At that time, 16 children under the age of 10 died in Jeongbang Falls. “I can’t help but wonder why they killed those children,” he said. “After the Olle Trail, domestic and foreign tourists visiting Jeongbang Falls must visit this place, where a memorial space for the 4th and 3rd memorials has been prepared, and now it should become a place for history education.” On this day, in the midst of drizzling rain, 40 to 50 bereaved families who were sacrificed at Jeongbang Falls kept their seats. Local and foreign tourists passing by also took pictures. Throughout the unveiling ceremony, the sound of Jeongbang Waterfall pierced the hearts of the bereaved families even more forcefully. Reporter Heo Ho-joon [email protected]
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