Two urns, wrapped in white cloth, were carried into the hall one at a time. Families, finally reunited with the remains of their loved ones after an arduous 76 years, gathered in solemn recognition.

A survivor placed a cherished photograph of his elder brother before the victim’s urn, while the other victim’s children lovingly attached their father’s long-missing name to the wrapping cloth.

This poignant scene unfolded on Feb. 20, 2024, at the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Education Center during the Jeju 4‧3 Victim Remains Identification Report Session, organized by the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the Association for Bereaved Families of the Jeju 4‧3 Victims, and the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation.

 

The session marked the identification of two sets of remains through DNA analysis conducted last year.

 

One of the identified Jeju 4‧3 victims was executed following a court-martial verdict, while the other fell victim to the mass preemptive arrests triggered by the Korean War.

 

The victim of the preemptive arrests is the late Kang Moon-ho (born in 1909) from Donggwang-ri in Andeok-myeon, a southwestern mountainside village on Jeju Island. He had been missing since the preemptive arrest in July 1950 until his remains were excavated. Under the government-mandated evacuations in the autumn of 1948, Kang and his family relocated to Hwasun-ri, a seaside village in Andeok-myeon. In June 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, a large-scale preemptive arrest was carried out in Jeju. Without even knowing the reason, Kang was taken to the Andeok Police Substation in the following month and never returned. Tragically, his story is compounded by the loss of his mother and his brother’s wife during Jeju 4‧3, as well as the disappearance of his daughter.

 

The Jeju 4‧3 Victim Remains Identification Report Session invited Kang’s son, Kang Gi-su, who held his father’s remains in his arms and shed heartfelt tears.

 

Now in his old age, the son said, “I was only three years old when my father was taken. Growing up, I often wondered why I didn’t have a father.” He added that as time went by, he learned his father had died due to Jeju 4‧3. Although his elder brother and father were arrested together, only his brother returned, while his father was never heard from again and went missing. “I am overjoyed and profoundly grateful that I was able to find my father and bring him home after all these years.” The victim’s son bowed deeply to the attendees in gratitude.

 

The identification of Kang’s remains was made possible by DNA samples provided by nine family members, including his son, grandchildren, and other relatives.

 

The other victim, the late Lee Han-seong (born in 1923), was a resident of Hwabuk-ri in Jeju-eup, a village in the northern part of Jeju Island. Lee was sentenced to death by a court-martial in 1949 and subsequently disappeared. During Jeju 4‧3, the Hwabuk-ri resident fled from the oppressive Northwest Youth League members. Lured by a constabulary leaflet distributed in June 1949 that promised safety in return for surrender, he turned himself in at Hwabuk Elementary School, where police forces were stationed. Contrary to assurances, however, the court-martial sentenced him to death on June 28, 1949. He and dozens of others were reportedly loaded onto trucks and taken toward Jeju Airport, after which they vanished. Lee’s mother and younger sister were also killed simply because they were his family. His elder brother, Lee Han-bin, also disappeared after being taken to a prison on the Korean mainland.

 

Lee Han-seong was posthumously acquitted in the 39th ex-officio retrial of the related court-martial cases on Sept. 26, 2023.

The victim’s younger brother, Lee Han-jin, is the president of the Association of Jeju People in America (New York) who has actively worked to raise international awareness of the Jeju 4‧3 atrocities. Traveling with his family from the United States, he attended the conference to reunite with his brother, whose remains were finally identified.

 

“Living abroad, I have always longed for my hometown in Jeju,” Lee said, sharing his experience of returning to Jeju after his brother’s acquittal. “Visiting Jeju last year to attend the Global Jejuin Festival, I stood before the tombstones of my elder brothers at the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park to tearfully report to their spirits about their exoneration through a retrial.” It was during this visit when he participated in the DNA sampling of the bereaved families. “Never have I imagined this miracle would happen, and I am overjoyed that my brother’s remains have been identified,” Lee said.

Recalling fond memories, he added, “I was the mischievous youngest sibling, and my brother showered me with affection.” He also recounted his memories of the situation when his brother was taken away: “I remember he created banners for the March 1st Independence Day commemorations in 1947, which marked the start of Jeju 4‧3, with slogans like, ‘Punish Pro-Japanese Traitors of the Nation,’ ‘No Trusteeship,’ and ‘Boycott Western-style Sweets.’ That’s all he ever did. Yet one day, two patrol officers in black uniforms and a dozen men in plain clothes swarmed into my neighborhood and arrested my brother and other young men. They executed them on the beach, but my brother miraculously survived a gunshot wound and hid. Tragically, this led to the deaths of our mother and sister, and our home was burned down.”

Lee expressed deep gratitude, saying, “Thanks to those who have worked to set history right, I have found my brother’s remains. I hope he can finally rest in peace.” (Issue No. 53 of Jeju 4‧3 and Peace featured the testimony of Lee Han-jin in the section “Testimonies of Jeju 4‧3.”)

 

Notably, this recent identification was made through additional blood sampling of both direct and collateral family members who had not previously participated in the process. It underscores that the active participation of multiple family members in blood sampling for a single missing victim significantly increases the likelihood of identification.

 

Professor Lee Soong Deok of Seoul National University, who led the genetic analysis, noted: “The participation of more family members in DNA sampling enabled these latest identifications. However, the number of unidentified remains still exceeds those identified. Extracting genetic information from remains over 70 years old is challenging, and some remains with viable DNA are still unidentified. This is why more participation from Jeju 4‧3 victims’ families is crucial.”

 

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation plan to continue excavation and genetic analysis efforts this year. The municipal government and the foundation believe that among the remains of victims secretly buried at Gwangju Prison, there may also be Jeju 4‧3 detainees. This is in addition to the site of the Daejeon Gollyeoggol massacre, where the first victim from an area outside Jeju was identified last year, dating back to the Korean War and its aftermath. They plan to conduct genetic analysis on the remains excavated from these sites. DNA collection for Jeju 4‧3 victims’ families in 2024 is being conducted from Feb. 1 to Nov. 30 at Cheju Halla General Hospital in Jeju City and Yeollin Hospital in Seogwipo City.