Jeju 4·3’Unfortunate jailbreak’… Honor recovery of 333 people missing
[앵커]
335 people who were unjustly jailed in Jeju 4.3 were acquitted at retrial. The two teenage boys who had lived under the label of sinners for more than 70 years and were taken away without knowing the English language are now over ninety years old. The other 333 people went missing while being jailed, so even life or death cannot be confirmed.
This is Choi Choong-il.
[기자]
[장찬수/제주지법 형사2부 부장판사 : 다음과 같이 선고합니다. 피고인들은 각 무죄.]
It took over 70 years for the truth to be revealed.
Three hundred thirty-five victims who were imprisoned during the 4.3 days of Jeju were not guilty.
They were taken in 1947, a year before the Jeju 4.3 incident in 1948, without knowing the English language.
Allegations of aiding in the execution of the civil war were overwritten.
Of the three hundred thirty-five people who were not guilty, two survivors were included.
These are the grandfathers of the ninety-year-old Tae-sam Ko and Jae-hoon Lee, who were ninety-two years old.
Grandfather Ko Tae-sam poured out joy that he had freed Han, who had been stigmatized as a sinner.
[고태삼/제주 4·3 수형인 : 나머지 인생이라도 편안하게 살게 되어서 진짜 감사합니다.]
Grandfather Lee Jae-hoon becomes more desperate about his parents who lost at the time of 4.3.
[이재훈/제주 4·3 수형인 : 고향에 오니까 전부 불타 버리고, 어머니께서는 함덕에 가서 총살을 당해 돌아가 버리시고 (아버지께서는) 지금까지 행방불명입니다.]
In addition to the two grandfathers, three hundred and thirty-three people have not been confirmed as they have been missing during prison life.
The bereaved family filed for retrial in 2019 and 2020, and the court accepted it.
Considering that most of the bereaved families are elderly, the court sentenced all three hundred thirty-five people in one day.
After the trial, a bereaved family stole their tears.
[이임자/제주 4·3 수형인 고 이시전 씨 딸 : 어머니가 돌아가신 것이 제일 한이 됩니다. 이렇게 무죄라도 되는 것을 보고 돌아가셨으면 (좋았을 텐데) 너무 늦었습니다.]
Meanwhile, the revised bill of the’Special Act on the Investigation of the Truth of the Jeju 4.3 Incident and Restoration of the Honor of Victims’, which was resolved by the National Assembly last month, passed today’s cabinet meeting.
A special retrial clause was newly established and the grounds for compensation for damages at the national level were clarified, allowing more power to restore honor.