Artists cast statues to apologize for S. Korea’s war atrocities in Vietnam

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Korean-Vietnamese Peace Foundation released on April 30 “Vietnam Pieta – the Last Lullaby” to commemorate 41 years of the end of Vietnam - American War in Vietnam and to call on the government of South Korea to take responsibility for massacres of innocent Vietnamese by South Korean mercenary troops during the war.

One will stand in Binh Hoa commune in Vietnam’s central province of Quang Ngai, where 50 years ago South Korean troops massacred 420 civilians. In South Korea, the statue will stand in Jeju island.

"Vietnam Pieta" will stand at Binh Hoa commune, Binh Son district, Quang Ngai province. Photo by: P.T

The statues have been created by two Korean artists, Kim Seo Kyung and Kim Eun Sung, to comfort the souls of mothers and unnamed new-born babies killed in the massacres in Central Vietnam. The two artists are known for the “Statue of a Girl of Peace” which symbolizes Korean young women forced to work as Japanese military sex slaves during World War II.

"Vietnam Pieta" shows a woman holding her baby tight. With eyes closed as if asleep, the baby clenches her hands, which are tiny compared to its head.

Cast in bronze, “Vietnam Pieta” weighs 150 kg, is 150 cm high and 70 cm wide. It rests on a base weighing close to 450 kg.

Kim Seo Kyung casting the "Vietnam Pieta". Photo by P.T

In December 1966, over 400 civilians (including 269 women, 104 elderly and 174 children) of Binh Hoa commune, Binh Son district, Quang Ngai province were massacred by South Korean troops. In 1990, local people and government built a memorial to commemorate the atrocity.