Protection Minister Kim Yong-hyun (Yonhap)
Protection Minister Kim Yong-hyun apologized Tuesday over the destiny of members of a previous secret unit that skilled commandos to infiltrate into North Korea for the primary time since they had been killed greater than a half century in the past.
Kim’s apology was learn on his behalf throughout a ceremony to mark the start of an excavation venture to search out the yet-recovered stays of 4 Silmido unit members who had been executed and secretly buried in 1972.
“Could those that had been sacrificed in the course of the Silmido incident relaxation in peace, and I categorical deep apologies and condolences to bereaved relations for his or her struggling and unhappiness,” the apology learn, in accordance with the protection ministry.
Unit 684, additionally identified by the identify of the Yellow Sea island the place it was primarily based, was created by the spy company and the Air Pressure in 1968 after Pyongyang’s failed try and assault the presidential workplace that yr.
South Korea, nonetheless, by no means deployed the unit into motion, in accordance with the ministry.
The commandos, who underwent brutal coaching and unfair therapy, staged a mutiny and escaped the unit in 1971, however most of them had been killed throughout a standoff with the army and police in southern Seoul.
A army court docket later sentenced the 4 survivors to demise, and their stays are presumed to have been buried at a cemetery in Goyang, simply north of Seoul.
The key unit remained comparatively unknown earlier than the discharge of the 2003 movie “Silmido” primarily based on the story of its members.
In 2022, the Reality and Reconciliation Fee advisable an investigation into the burial websites and the excavation of the stays of the previous members, in addition to an apology to the victims. (Yonhap)
