Bodo League massacre The Bodo League massacre ( ) was a massacre and war crime against communists and suspected sympathizers that occurred in the summer of 1950 during the Korean War . Estimates of the death toll vary . According to Prof . Kim Dong - Choon , Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission , at least 100 , 000 people were executed on suspicion of supporting communism ; others estimate 200 , 000 deaths . The massacre was wrongly blamed on the communists for decades . Bodo League . In 1950 , just before the outbreak of the Korean War , the first president of South Korea , Syngman Rhee , had about 30 , 000 alleged communists imprisoned ; he also had about 300 , 000 suspected sympathizers or his political opponents enrolled in an official " re - education " movement known as the " Bodo League " ( or National Rehabilitation and Guidance League , National Guard Alliance , National Guidance Alliance National Bodo League , Bodo Yeonmaeng , Gukmin Bodo Ryeonmaeng , 국민보도연맹 , 國民保導聯盟 ) on the pretext of protecting them from execution . Non - communist sympathizers or political opponents of Rhee were also forced into the Bodo League to fill enlistment quotas . In June 1949 , the South Korean government accused independence activists of being members of the Bodo League , and subsequently arrested them . Executions . Kim Il - sung ' s communist army attacked from the North on 25 June 1950 , starting the Korean War . According to Kim Mansik , who was a military police superior officer , President Syngman Rhee ordered the execution of people related to either the Bodo League or the South Korean Workers Party on 27 June 1950 , the first massacre was started one day later in Hoengseong , Gangwon - do on 28 June . Retreating South Korean forces and anti communist groups executed the alleged - communist prisoners , along with many of the Bodo League members . The executions were without any trials . United States official documents show American officers witnessed and photographed the massacre . In one case a US officer is known to have sanctioned the killing of political prisoners so that they would not fall into enemy hands . On the other hand , United States official document showed that John Muccio , then United States Ambassador to South Korea , made recommendations to South Korean President Rhee Syngman and Defense Minister Shin Sung - mo that the executions be stopped . American witnesses also reported the scene of 12 - or 13 - year old girls ' executions . The massacre was also reported to both Washington and General Douglas MacArthur . There were also British and Australian witnesses . Britain raised this issue with the U . S . at a diplomatic level , causing Dean Rusk , Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs , to inform the British that U . S . commanders were doing " everything they can to curb such atrocities " . During the massacre , British protected their allies and saved some citizens . South Korean Retired Admiral Nam Sang - hui confessed that he authorized 200 victims ' bodies to be thrown into the sea , saying : " There was no time for trials for them . " Aftermath . After the UN offensive in which South Korea recovered its occupied territories , the police and militia executed people who were suspected as North Korean sympathizers . In October 1950 , the Goyang Geumjeong Cave Massacre occurred . In December British troops saved civilians lined up to be shot by South Korean officers and seized one execution site outside Seoul to prevent further massacres . In 1951 the Ganghwa massacre were conducted by South Korean police . Truth and Reconciliation Commission . In 2008 , trenches containing the bodies of children were discovered in Daejon , South Korea , and other sites . South Korea ' s Truth and Reconciliation Commission documented testimonies of those still alive and who took part in the executions , including former Daejon prison guard Lee Joon - young . Besides photographs of the execution trench sites , the National Archives in Washington D . C . released declassified photographs of U . S . soldiers at execution sites including Daejon , confirming American military knowledge .