Sunchon tunnel massacre
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| Sunchon tunnel massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Korean War | |
| Location | Sunchon, South Pyongan, North Korea |
| Date | October 30, 1950 |
| Deaths | 68 |
| Injured | 21[1] (2 died after rescue) |
| Victims | American prisoners of war |
| Perpetrators |  Korean People's Army |
The Sunchon tunnel massacre was a death march and massacre of American prisoners of war by the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Sunchon, North Korea during the Korean War on October 30, 1950. A group of around 180 Americans POWs captured in the UN offensive into North Korea who had survived the Tiger Death March from Seoul to Pyongyang[2] were loaded onto railcars by the KPA and transported deep into North Korea. Some of the POWs died during the four-to-five day journey to Sunchon, being unprotected from the harsh climate and given no food, water, or medical treatment.[3] Survivors were unloaded at a tunnel in Sunchon, being told by the North Koreans they would be given food and treatment. Instead, they were divided into groups of 40, marched to a nearby ravine, and then shot en masse with submachine guns by the KPA.
A witness said the prisoners "went around the corner, into this ditch. They [the KPA] said, “Get down; the planes. Get down; the planes. So when we all ducked down some more of them came up on us over a little rice paddy and they just opened up."[4] 68 people were killed out of 138 people who died during the journey.[5][6] By the time they had been rescued by a joint South Korean-American rescue mission, there were only 21 survivors, whom a South Korean detachment safely conveyed along with the dead to Pyongyang, where C-54 Skymasters flew them to Japan. Fatalities were listed at 68 killed, though two of the survivors died of their wounds following their rescue.[7]: 661–3
The Sunchon massacre was documented by Charles E. Potter in the Subcommittee on Korean War Atrocities.[8] In 2024 the remains of United States Army Sergeant Raymond Hall who was among those killed in the massacre were identified[9]
