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South Korea Confirms Nearly 5,000 Wartime Executions

South Korean soldiers and police executed nearly 5,000 citizens during the early months of the 1950-53 Korean War, fearing they could collaborate with invading North Korean troops, a government commission said Thursday.

The victims were members of the National Guidance League, or "Bodo" League, that the then-staunchly anti-communist government created to "re-educate" recanting leftists and others suspected of communist leanings.

Historians say officials met membership quotas by pressuring peasants into signing up with promises of rice rations or other benefits, with more than 300,000 people on the league's rolls.

Read entire article at AP