The Jeamni Massacre (Korean: 제암리 학살 사건; lit. Jeamni Massacre Incident) was the killing of Korean civilians by the Imperial Japanese Army inside a church in what is now Hwaseong, South Korea, near Suwon. To cover up the mass-killings, the Japanese soldiers burned the church down.^[1] However, Canadian missionary Dr. Frank W. Schofield witnessed the aftermath of the slaughter and published a report on the event.

Background

In 1919, two million Koreans organized peaceful protests against Japanese occupation in the March 1st Movement.^[2] In retaliation, Japanese authorities sent troops to violently suppress the demonstrations.

Massacre

On April 15, in the village of Jeamni, Japanese soldiers herded 29 residents, including children, into a Methodist church before firing at the building.^[3][1][4] Afterwards, the soldiers committed arson by lighting the church on fire and killing any surviving victims; they also set fire to nearby civilian homes.^[5] 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.^[6][7]

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.^[4]

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.^[3] Utsunomiya's diary revealed that Japanese colonial authorities met and decided to cover up the incident.^[8]

Later events

In 2019, a group of 17 Japanese Christians visited the site of the massacre and apologized for the incident on behalf of Japan.^[9]

References