A South Korean court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a Vietnamese woman who suffered a gunshot wound and lost family members in a massacre committed by South Korean marines in 1968 during the Vietnam War.
The Seoul Central District Court ordered the government to pay Nguyen Thi Thanh 30 million won (about $23,800) in compensation, calling the shooting by South Korean marines during the Vietnam War an “illegal act.”
This is the first time that a South Korean court ruled the government responsible for such atrocities. Thanh, who is currently in her 60s, filed a lawsuit against the South Korean government in 2020.
In its ruling, the court dismissed the government’s claim that there was no conclusive evidence that South Korean marines were responsible for the killings in Phong Nhi village in Quang Nam province, the scene of the attack on Thanh and her family….