Bishop Peter Lee Ki-Heon (right), Bishop Joseph Cha Ngoc Tri and Korean and Vietnamese priests pose for a photo session at St. Dominic Cathedral in Lang Son on Feb. 5. (Photo: giaophanlangson.net)
Feb 10 2023
A visiting South Korean Catholic bishop has apologized to the people of Vietnam for atrocities committed by his country’s soldiers during the US-led Vietnam War.
Bishop Peter Lee Ki-Heon of Uijeongbu and 12 priests were on a friendship visit to Lang Son Cao Bang Diocese in northern Vietnam. They also visited some religious sites in Vietnam.
“On behalf of the Catholic Church in South Korea, I apologize to the Church in Vietnam,” said the bishop, who led the Military Ordinariate during 1999-2010.
This was the first time a Korean bishop apologized to Vietnamese people for atrocities committed by Korean troops half a century ago.
Bishop Lee and those accompanying him were welcomed by Bishop Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri of Lang Son Cao Bang, many priests and catechism students at the Bishop’s House in Lang Son on Feb. 5.
The bishops concelebrated a Mass joined by a score of Korean and Vietnamese priests, and local Catholics, at St. Dominic Cathedral.
Bishop Lee, 76, who is the chairman 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 since he felt guilty and was full of remorse for his acts after he returned home.
Approximately 350,000 South Korean troops fought alongside U.S. forces in the fierce war between 1964 and 1973.
On Feb. 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, 63, who was eight years old at that time, filed a suit against the South Korean government in 2020 seeking around 30 million won (US$23,800) in compensation for having lost her relatives and suffered bad injuries.
During their visit to the Southeast Asian country, Bishop Lee and his delegation visited the complex of Phat Diem Cathedral and five other churches with Eastern architecture built between 1875-1898 in Ninh Binh province.
They also visited So Kien Minor Basilica housing relics of some Vietnamese Martyrs in Ha Nam province, and tombs of late bishops of Lang Son Cao Bang.
Bishop Lee said Korea and Vietnam are the home of Christian martyrs.
The bishop, born in Pyong-yang in North Korea, also appreciated 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 organizing pastoral care of Vietnamese workers in the Uijeongbu Diocese. – UCA News
