His father sneaked out during the night to bury him for fear of the authorities if he revealed that his son had been killed by the U.S. weapons practice. The mother must still endure the daily bombing which reminds her of her son's death. This story is only one example of the climate of fear that prevailed under the brutal dictatorships which, until recently, had held power in south Korea with the blessings of the U.S. military. Many bombs are found in the villages and there are thousands on the hillsides surrounding the area. People's homes continue to be hit by the shooting.
Bullets go through their windows.
Cracks and pock marks are plainly visible in walls and roofs. We visited one home in Maehyang-ri village where a bomb landed on a home on May 8th. An elderly woman resident of the house graciously agreed to let all of us traipse through her modest farm home, past drying herbs and farm animals, to see the hole in the roof of a garage and the bomb itself. In 1995, there was an accident at one house where the ceiling collapsed. The residents lived in a makeshift shelter for a year, yet there never has been any compensation.