South Korea will pay for the outrages of its soldiers during the Vietnam War

In deciding on compensation for 62-year-old Nguyen Thi Thanh, the judge rejected the argument of the government's lawyer that it is not clear whether today, half a century later, South Korean troops are responsible for the massacre in the village of Phong Nhi in central Vietnam.

According to the Associated Press, S ud also disagreed with the defense's assertion that "the killing of civilians is inevitable because South Korean troops were dealing with Viet Cong guerrillas who often mixed with villagers and shot at Americans".

The verdict of the Seoul Central Court was the first time in history that a South Korean court found the government responsible for the mass killings of Vietnamese civilians during the Vietnam War. Then South Korea, whose government was headed by the military, sent more than 320,000 of its soldiers to Vietnam in a neighboring country.  

Seoul has never officially acknowledged responsibility for the mass killings of civilians associated with South Korean soldiers in Vietnam, who, according to some experts, could be responsible for the mass deaths of civilians. However, this fact, AP writes, has not had a significant impact on today's official relations with Vietnam.

According to US military archives and witness statements, during the attack by South Korean infantrymen on the village of Phong Nhi, more than 70 people were killed and about 20 wounded, many were missing.

Thanh, who was 7 years old at the time, was treated for gunshot wounds to the abdomen, while five members of her family, including her mother, sister and brother, were shot dead.

This crime was confirmed by the US Marines, who later entered the village and found piles of bodies on a country road. An American soldier took photographs that were used as evidence during the trial in Seoul.

The Vietnam War (1957-1957) was a test not only for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the United States, but also for other states directly or indirectly involved in the conflict. The American side lost about 59 thousand soldiers killed during the war, more than 2.6 thousand people were considered missing.

North Korea, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, the Philippines, China, the USSR, Cambodia and Laos also suffered military losses. The graves of many servicemen are located in Vietnam, because in the conditions of constant military operations it was not possible to transport the ashes of the dead to their native countries.