WASHINGTON — U.S. investigators have concluded that U.S. soldiers killed significant numbers of Korean civilians near the village of No Gun Ri during the early days of the Korean War, but they found no evidence that the troops were given orders to open fire, a senior defense official said Tuesday night.
The findings are contained in the draft version of a report that Pentagon officials are presenting to their Korean counterparts as the United States and Korea struggle to establish a common version of an incident that took place more than 50 years ago, the official said.
The July 1950 incident, which occurred during the first month of the Korean War, resulted in the deaths of scores and possibly hundreds of unarmed Korean civilians, who were reportedly machine-gunned by U.S. soldiers at a railway bridge near No Gun Ri.
But the investigators make no final estimate of the casualties. Their inquiry was ordered by the Army as a result of news reports that won the Pulitzer Prize for The Associated Press but have since been criticized by other news organizations.
"We're pretty sure American soldiers were instrumental in killing Korean civilians at No Gun Ri," said the defense official, who asked not to be identified. "What is less clear is the number who died and whether there were any orders issued to the soldiers."
The findings, first reported by The Washington Post, are a result of an investigation into the conduct of the 7th Cavalry's 2nd Battalion that was first ordered by Army Secretary Louis Caldera and given the full support of Defense Secretary William Cohen.
Investigators interviewed Korean witnesses and dozens of U.S. soldiers, many of whom — five decades later — provided conflicting and even discredited versions of the killings.
"Their testimony is all over the map," the defense official said. "You're left with a confusing collection of first person accounts."
A delegation of Army and defense officials is in Korea to present the results of their findings and learn the results of a parallel Korean investigation.
The U.S. delegation includes the Lt. Gen. Michael W. Ackerman, the army's inspector general, P.T. Henry, the Army's assistant secretary for reserve affairs, and Charles L. Cragin, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs.
There is some disagreement between the U.S. and Korean conclusions, much of it having to do with specificity. Korean investigators assert that, based on their review of the evidence, 175 civilians were killed at the bridge site. While the U.S. team acknowledges that there were large numbers of civilians killed, it argues that the Korean number seems high.
The two nations — staunch military allies — are trying to narrow their differences to produce a "statement of mutual understanding" which will be released with both of their reports.
"They're trying to hammer out a statement on which the two sides can agree and apparently that is not easy," the defense official said.
No date has been set for the release of the reports, which may result in protracted negotiations over whether the United States should offer compensation to families of the victims or a formal apology.