The Sancheong and Hamyang massacre (,

Hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: 山清・咸陽良民虐殺事件) was a

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

conducted by a unit of the

South Korean Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the largest of the military branches of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces with 365,0 ...

11th Division during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. On 7 February 1951, 705 unarmed citizens in

Sancheong Sancheong County (''Sancheong-gun'') is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. History After the unification of Silla, the Danseong region was known as Jipumcheon prefecture (知品川縣), an ...

and

Hamyang Hamyang County (''Hamyang-gun'') is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is home to the Wooden Seated Statue of Buddha in Beopinsa (법인사), the Standing Statue of Buddha in Deokjeonri (덕전리), the Three-Level Stone Pagoda ...

South Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heri ...

district of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

were killed. The victims were civilians and 85% of them were women, children and elderly people. The 11th Division also conducted the

Geochang massacre The Geochang massacre (, Hanja: 居昌良民虐殺事件) was a massacre conducted by the third battalion of the 9th regiment of the 11th Division of the South Korean Army between 9 February 1951 and 11 February 1951 of 719 unarmed citizens i ...

two days later. The division's commanding general was

Choe Deok-sin Choe Deok-sin (; September 17, 1914 – November 14, 1989) was a South Korean Foreign Minister who later defected with his wife, Ryu Mi-yong, to North Korea. Choe was born in Uiju County, North Pyongan Province. In 1936, he graduated fro ...

. On 20 February 2006, the

National Archives of Korea National Archives of Korea () is an agency of South Korean government, charged with preserving government-produced articles and records. It is headquartered in Government Complex Daejeon and has branches in Busan and Seongnam, and an office in ...

reported that files concerning the massacre had been found. On 7 November 2008, a memorial park for the victims was established in Sancheong.

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산청 시천면 양민학살, 어떤 사건인가? 아녀자, 어린이 대부분...알려진 산청 함양사건과는 별개출처:산청 시천면 양민학살, 어떤 사건인가? – 오마이뉴스

OhmyNews ''OhmyNews'' () is a South Korean online news website. It was founded by Oh Yeon Ho on 22 February 2000. The site's motto is "Every Citizen is a Reporter", which reflects its status as the first news website in Korea to accept, edit, and publi ...

16 May 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sancheong-Hamyang massacre Massacres of the Korean War Massacres in South Korea Massacres committed by South Korea Political repression in South Korea Political and cultural purges History of South Gyeongsang Province 1951 in South Korea Anti-communism in South Korea February 1951 in Asia 1951 murders in South Korea Massacres in 1951

See also

References

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