Jeju's 4.3 Massacre Remembered

On April 3rd, 1948, Jeju Island was caught in a civil war-like time of violence and human rights abuses. This is when the period known as the Jeju Uprising and Massacre began. The Korea File spoke with participants at the Jeju 4.3 Commemorative Street Festival last Friday to hear their impressions of this tragic event in Jeju's history. Live music performances include Hallasanhoe's Songs for Jeju 4.3, Dedicated to 4.3/Antiwar Peace by the Parkbo Band and The Changwon Grandmothers Singing Group's songs from yesteryear with "Girls’ High School Days”. Activist/Artist Lee Do-hee's work can be found at http://www.doheelee.com The image for this episode is a still from the film '?? (Jiseul)', a semi-fictionalized account of the events of 1948 and after. A review on the award-winning film can be found at Koreana, a quarterly journal of Korean arts and culture at http://www.koreana.or.kr/months/news_view.asp?b_idx=3025&lang=en&page_type=list and the film is wildly available online. For a long read on Jeju's 4.3 tragedy see the official governmental document The Jeju 4·3 Incident Investigation Report at http://www.jeju43peace.or.kr/report_eng.pdf For a brief summarization, go to http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jeju_Uprising