The Jeamni Massacre ( Korean: 제암리 학살 사건; lit. Jeamni Massacre Incident) was a mass murder of 20 to 30 unarmed Korean civilians by the Imperial Japanese Army on April 15, 1919 in Jeamni, Suwon, Korea, Empire of Japan.

History

During the event, Japanese soldiers brought 20 to 30 ^[1] Koreans they suspected were linked to the March First Movement protests into a church for a meeting. They then opened fire on the civilians, and burned down the church to destroy the bodies and evidence of the incident. ^{[1] [2] [3]} They also set fire to nearby civilian homes. ^[3] Despite the cover-up efforts, Canadian doctor Frank Schofield heard news of the event and immediately visited the scene. Schofield then wrote a report titled "The Massacre of Chai-Amm-Ni" and published it in The Shanghai Gazette on May 27, 1919. ^{[4] [5]}

Japanese cover-up

The Japanese lieutenant responsible was disciplined, but a group of senior officers decided to attribute the incident to resistance by local people. ^[6]

In his diary, Japanese commander Taro Utsunomiya wrote that the incident would hurt the reputation of the Japanese Empire and acknowledged that the Japanese soldiers committed murder and arson. ^[2] Utsunomiya's diary revealed that Japanese colonial authorities met and decided to cover up the incident. ^[6]

Aftermath

In 2019, a group of 17 Japanese Christians visited the site of the massacre and apologized for the incident on behalf of Japan. ^[7]

References