In 1968 in the Vietnam War, the Korean 2nd Marine Brigade known as "Cheong-ryong" was deployed at Hoi An and their TAOR was Quang Nam. They engaged in many massacres. At that time, Nguyen Thi Thanh of Pong Nhi was 8 years old. She lost her family in the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre and suffered a bullet wound on 12 February 1968. The other Nguyen Thi Thanh, victim of the Hà My massacre, lost her family in the massacre. The massacre was exposed in the early 2000s by peace activists including Gu Sujeong, a doctor of history, and media organisations including Hankyoreh 21. The exposure prompted much social reflection in South Korea and the movement called "Mianhaeyo, Vietnam." began at that time. The citizenship movement organizations invited the two victims, Nguyen Thi Tanh of Pong Nhi and Nguyen Tan Lan a survivor of the Binh An Massacre. 2018 is the 50th memorial year of the massacre at Quang Nam. On November 21, 2017, South Korean social organizations decided to hold a citizen's tribunal for the 50th memorial event and Minbyun took charge of the event. The tribunal followed the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery as its role model. The South Korean Government has offered no comment regarding the tribunal. The defence advocate for the government were designated by the organization committee of the tribunal.
Tribunal
The Tribunal was held as legal remedy for reparation of damages for the two victims against the South Korean Government because the statute of limitations for criminal court already had expired according to South Korean criminal law. The tribunal was held during 21–22 April 2018. At the investigation, the plaintiffs presented evidence of massacre such as military operations maps, and a declassified US Army report, victim interviews, and an interview with a South Korean veteran who testified about a Vietnamese citizen who was killed by Korean troops without trial. The defence offered several arguments; there was no conclusive evidence the perpetrators were Korean Troops, and the Vietnam War was abnormal in that troops were unable to separate the enemy from non-combatants as the VietCong was not an official army. On the second day of the tribunal, judges made a pronouncement of "guilty" as below
Aftermath
The tribunal had no binding power as it was a mock tribunal. Also, the statute of limitations had expired. Minbyun and other social organizations of the tribunal prepared a petition making special law for delete the limitation of anti-human rights crimes including the war crimes as massacre. Minbyun also asked to declassify records regarding the Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre which was investigated by Korean Central Intelligence Agency in 1969. After the tribunal, both witnesses named Nguyen Thi Thanh visited the victims present at the massacre in Jeju during the Jeju uprising.
