LANG SON CAO BANG (UCAN): Bishop Peter Lee Ki-Heon of Uijeongbu, South Korea, apologised to the people of Vietnam for atrocities committed by his country’s soldiers during the Vietnam War.
“On behalf of the Catholic Church in South Korea, I apologise to the Church in Vietnam,” said the bishop, who led the Military Ordinariate from 1999 to 2010. This was the first time a Korean bishop apologised to Vietnamese people for atrocities committed by Korean troops half a century ago.
Bishop Lee and 12 priests were on a friendship visit to the Diocese of Lang Son Cao Bang in northern Vietnam, and also visited some religious sites. They were welcomed by Bishop Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri, many priests and catechism students at the Bishop’s House in Lang Son on February 5.
The bishops concelebrated a Mass at St. Dominic Cathedral, joined by a score of Korean and Vietnamese priests, and local Catholics,.
The 76-year-old Bishop Lee, who is the chairperson of the Special Episcopal Commission for the Reconciliation of the Korean People of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, recalled how his former classmate, who used to fight against communist forces in southern Vietnam, left his religious vocation because he felt guilty and was full of remorse for his acts after he returned home.
Approximately 350,000 South Korean troops fought alongside US forces in the fierce war between 1964 and 1973.
On behalf of the Catholic Church in South Korea, I apologise to the Church in Vietnam
Bishop Peter Lee
On February 7, the Seoul Central District Court ordered the South Korean government to compensate Nguyen Thi Thanh, a Vietnamese survivor of a bloody massacre of 74 civilians by South Korean marines in her home province of Quang Nam in 1968.
Thanh, who was eight years old at that time, filed a suit against the South Korean government in 2020 seeking around 30 million won [$186,812] in compensation for having lost her relatives and suffered bad injuries.
During their visit to Vietnam, Bishop Lee and his delegation visited the complex of Phat Diem Cathedral and five other churches with Eastern architecture built between 1875 and 1898 in Ninh Binh province.
They also visited So Kien Minor Basilica in Ha Nam province, which houses the relics of some Vietnamese martyrs as well as the tombs of late bishops of Lang Son Cao Bang.
Bishop Lee said Korea and Vietnam are the home of Christian martyrs.
Born in Pyongyang in North Korea, the bishop also expressed appreciation of the Vietnamese migrant workers who are part of his diocese.
His visit was planned by Vietnamese Father Joseph Nguyen Van Doan, who is in charge of organising pastoral care of Vietnamese workers in the the Diocese of Uijeongbu in South Korea.
