The "yearlong investigation into this incident has served as a painful reminder of the tragedies of war," Clinton stated. He claimed the U.S. government has "been unable to determine precisely the events that occurred at No Gun Ri," only that an "unconfirmed number" were killed there. U.S. officials say they can find no record of "written orders" to kill civilians in Korea.

The White House also rejected offering any financial compensation to survivors or relatives of those slaughtered. Instead the Pentagon will spend $1 million to construct a memorial to "innocent" Korean civilians killed in the war and $750,000 for scholarships for students to attend U.S. and Korean universities.

An hour after Clinton's announcement, survivors of the No Gun Ri massacre and their supporters rejected his statement, saying Washington was trying to "shirk its legal responsibility." They said they would refuse to accept any scholarship money not earmarked for survivors. They noted that accounts from U.S. veterans and references in military logs show that orders were given to fire on all civilians to stop them from fleeing along with north Korean troops who were supposedly disguised as refugees.

"This massacre did not take place in one short period of time. It went on for three nights and four days," said Chung Koo Do, head of the No Gun Ri survivors organization. "The American Army and Air Force took action in a carefully coordinated joint operation. It was not an incidental occurrence."

Chung Eun Yong, an 80-year-old survivor of the attack, added, "This is not enough for the massacre of--over 60 hours--of 400 innocent people who were hunted like animals." He said his six-year-old son and three-year-old daughter were killed by U.S. GIs while they huddled under the bridge with other civilians.

The Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950, when the U.S. government and other imperialist powers launched an invasion in response to what U.S. president Harry Truman called a "communist invasion of the south." About a month later troops from the Seventh Regiment, which was part of the U.S. First Calvary Division, forced south Korean workers and peasants in two nearby villages from their homes under the pretext that north Korean soldiers were advancing.

After U.S. Army officers ordered the villagers to walk on the railroad tracks at No Gun Ri, U.S. warplanes flew by hailing bombs and bullets on the area where the peasants had been resting. As scores of people were killed, others scrambled for cover under the nearby railroad bridge. For three nights and four days, July 26 to 29, U.S. troops poured bullets into the tunnel where the peasants, many of them women and children, were trying to hide.

In September 1999 the Associated Press, based on interviews with ex-GIs, reported on the slaughter carried out by U.S. military forces at the No Gun Ri railroad bridge. The U.S. warplanes had killed 100 refugees and the GIs killed about 300 more.

For nearly 50 years Washington and the south Korean government had tried to cover up the facts about the four-day carnage. After the AP story was published both governments announced they would open an investigation of the attack.

Chung Koo Do, whose brother was killed in the massacre, said Washington and the regime in Seoul were trying to evade looking into 61 other complaints that have been filed alleging killings of civilians by U.S. troops.

The U.S. Army's report on its investigation on the assault at No Gun Ri concluded that no specific orders were given by U.S. commanders to fire on civilians. "Both governments are hoping that inquiries into the Korean War do not expand beyond No Gun Ri," an article in the International Herald Tribune reported January 12.
 
 
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Washington's massacre in Korea  
 
 
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