This is a travel diary of Hyoseung Allyson W whose hometown is Jeju Island.
The April 3 Incident, the lesser known tragic history of Jeju Island.
To me, Jeju used to be a wonderful island where everybody wanted to visit for their romantic or exciting vacation. Of course, Jeju Island is still unquestionably beautiful, but when I heard that most of the famous tourist attraction sites were once the graveyards of many souls, I was shocked by the forgotten history, the Jeju April 3 Incident.
“The Jeju April 3 Incident is a series of events in which thousands of islanders were killed as a result of clashes between armed civilian groups and government forces. It took place over the period from March 1, 1947, when the National Police opened fire on the protesters in Jeju Island, and April 3, 1948, when members from the Jeju branch of the South Korean Labor Party began an uprising to protest against the South Korean government, to September 21, 1954, when people who had escaped from military attacks went back to their homes finally.” – Jeju April 3rd Peace Park
The official reports say that 14,373 victims were killed but people assert that actually about 30,000 who were suspected as communists were sacrificed by the armed forces, which was one-tenth of the Jeju population at that time. I was told that people in Jeju usually assumed that at least one person from each family had been executed during the Jeju April 3 Incident and that most of the families in Jeju had ancestral rites on April 3 due to the massacre. 95 % of the villages located in the middle of the Halla Mountain were burned down or completed destroyed and most of the villagers vanished into the air.
Jeju April 3 Peace Park
To understand the Jeju April 3 Incident in depth, I headed to the Jeju April 3 Peace Park established by the Jeju government to remember the tragic incident that should not be forgotten. The Jeju April 3 Peace Park is composed of a museum, a memorial, and a cemetery related with the incident. Especially, the museum is the place to learn the whole story of the Jeju April 3 Incident. In fact, looking at the pictures of the survivors and their scars, I became speechless at the cruelty of the soldiers done to the innocent civilians.
If you wish to know more about the park, please visit their official website. http://jeju43peace.org/
Keunneolgwe Cave
Keunneolgwe Cave in Jeju was the place where I could feel the urgency of fugitives at the incident. During the escape from the soldiers dispatched from the Korean main land, numerous villagers living in the middle of the Halla Mountain or above stayed in the caves to protect themselves from the freezing cold weather. From just-born babies to the elderly, they had to leave most of their households behind them. Most of the caves were exposed to the soldiers and the people were brutally slaughtered without mercy. Even pregnant women were shot and infants were smitten to death. In the excavation of caves that were occupied during the Jeju April 3 Incident, bones from various ages were discovered along with small household goods, showing that people lived there for a quite a long time but could not go to back their homes.
Movie ‘Jiseul’
If you want to know further about the Jeju April 3 Incident before visiting Jeju Island, here is a movie I recommend.
The movie ‘Jiseul’ openly describes the brutality of this tragic April 3 Incident. Released in 2012, the movie tells the story of villagers from one village in the middle of the Halla Mountain who escaped to a cave during winter in order to avoid the military attack. The title “Jiseul” means potato in Jeju dialect, conveying the meaning of survival and hope of commoners who were struggling to maintain their lives. The movie was directed by a Jeju native O Muel and won many international film awards for its realistic depiction of that time.
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Reference: http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=657 http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jeju_Uprising
Photos partial credits to Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation
Excellent article, Allyson. For readers who’d like to hear more about 4.3, this podcast piece from The Korea File is from this year’s memorial service in Jeju City: http://www.spreaker.com/user/koreamoments/jejus-4-3-massacre-remembered
Thank you for the info Andre! 🙂
Thanks for the great article. I wonder whether I can share your article on our Facebook? (www.facebook.com/jejudarktours) I just found a NGO based in Jeju called “The Unforgettable Past – Jeju Dark Tours”. We focus on the April 3rd Massacre issue, visiting historical sites and also stand in solidarity with state violence victims in Asia 🙂 Thanks for your reply in advance!
Hello Gayoon! Yes, you may share this blog post on your Facebook Page as long as you credit “Trazy.com, Korea’s #1 Travel Shop” and attach our link (wwww.trazy.com) on the post. Once you have shared the article on your Facebook Page and please share the link to us! 🙂
Hi Amy, I just posted it on our facebook. Please check https://www.facebook.com/jejudarktours/ Thanks!