The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-06-07
KOREANS EXECUTED
BY JAPANESE SOLDIERS
In Connection with the Korean Independ-
ence Movement-British and Amer
erican Consular Agents Con-.
firmed Report.

Toxic, June 5 Correspondence of the
Associated Press .--Thirty-fve Koreans
were shot or killed with swords or bayo-
nets by Japanese soldiers in a Christian
church building at Cheam.ni, 40 miles
from Seoul in connection with the Kore.
an independence movement.
This has been confirmed by an inves,
tigation by British and American con
sular agents and by missionary leaders
in Korea The facts are admitted by
the Japanese authorities at Seoul, in.
Guiding the Governor General Hasegawa
The authorities say that they deplore
the outrage, that those guilty of it have
been punished and that orders have been
given to prevent recurrence.
Investigators also have found that
Soochung, another village near Cheam-
nj, was burned by the Japanese and that
several Koreans there were wounded in
an attack by Japanese soldiers>who shot
them or used their swords and bayonets
on them as they fed from their burning
homes after the troops had set fire to
the buildings.
Reports have been received of the
burning, of Christian churches in three
other villages and Koreans told the As
socisted Press correspondent at Seoul
that they could show him nine villages
which had been burned by the Japa-
nese
Details of the massacre at Chesm nj
were obtained by the Associated Press
correspondent, VINO visited that place in
company with Raymond S. Curtice, the
American vice-consul at Seoul and Mr..
Underwood, an American missionary.
Subsequently the correspondent again
visited the place with Mr.. Royds, the
British consul, and several missionaries,
including Rev. Heron Smith, who is in
charge of the work of the Methodist
church in Korea. Describing his visit
to Cheam-ni, the Seoul correspondent
writes that when they asked residents of
nearby villages why that hamlet had
been burned they were told that it was
because there was Christian church
and many native Christians in the viii
lage.
when we got to the place which had
been a village of about 40 houses we
found only four or five standing, all the
rest were smoking ruins he continued.
eve found body frightfully burned
and twisted lying in a compound, and
another either of young man or won.
an just outside the church compound,
Several groups of people were huddled
under little straw shelters on the hill
IL &c Enav Il Lnl,
ings about them. They were mostly
women, some old, others young mothers
with babies, but all sunk in the dull
apathy of abject misery and despair. Mr..
Underwood an American missionary,
who talked to them in their own Lam
guage, brought the story of what had
"The day before we arrived soldiers
came to the village and ordered all the
male Christians to gather at the church.
When about 30 were in the church the
soldiers opened fire on them with rifles
and then entered the church and finished
them off with swords and bsyonets. Aft
err this they set fire to the church and to
houses which otherwise would not have
been burned"
One Korean told the correspondent he
was alive because he was not a Christian
and was not in the church. Later when
the correspondent made second trip to
Cheamni with Mr.. Royd, the British
consul and party of seven, including
several missionaries, he said: 1--WE phot-
ographed freely without interference, but
when we started TO talk to the natives
policeman would saunter up and the
Korean would freeze up They were in
fear of what might happen later if they
were seen talking to us"
The party, however, divided up and OBJ
tanned many interviews concerning the
story as the correspondent learned it on
his first visit. They were told that two
of those killed in or near the church were
women, who went to that building to
learn what was happening to their hus-
bands.
The party, headed by the British con-
sui, then visited Soochun and found the
village had been burned The Koreans
told the visitors that they were awak-
ened in the night BY finding their houses
on fire. When they ran out they were
struck with swords, and bayoneted or
shot None were killed, but several
were wounded, and we saw one man
whose arm had been laid open with
sword A church and 80 houses had been
burned here, but no attempt had been
made to clean up the others.
Rev Stacy l.. Roberts, an American
Presbyterian missionary stationed at
Pyeng Yang, has issued statement as.
serting that more than 100 Koreans were
shot or beaten to death in Tying iu and.
a church there was burned by Japanese.
In another village. eight miles away,
another Christian church and an fcad-
envy for boys were burned by Japanese
soldiers after the contents, such as
benches, stoves and mats were carried
away and put to use in the government
school at Tyung ju.