Search for Silmido agents' remains fails again in Goyang

The search for the remains of four North Korean agents executed in 1972 following the infamous Silmido incident has once again ended in failure. A five-day excavation at the Byeokje Cemetery Park in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, did not yield any results, marking the fifth unsuccessful attempt since the initial search in 2006.

The Korean Association for the Study of Ancient Civilizations, contracted by the Ministry of National Defense, conducted the latest search in a 330-square-meter area. This site was adjacent to a location where a previous excavation attempt failed two years ago. The operation began with a ritual ceremony on May 18, attended by relatives of the deceased agents.

The Ministry of National Defense plans to move its search operations next month to another suspected burial site: the former Air Force Intelligence Unit location in Oryu-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul. Both Byeokje and Oryu-dong have been identified as the most likely burial locations based on investigations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

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The first-priority site, Byeokje, ended without excavation, the second-priority site, Oryu-dong, has a slim possibility, and the third-priority, the family park, is uncertain.

If the Oryu-dong site also proves fruitless, the search may shift to an area near the Palgakjeong Pavilion within the Incheon Family Park. However, this location is based on a tip from an informant living in the United States who claimed to have witnessed the burial as a child. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission noted that the informant has repeatedly changed their testimony, and no other corroborating evidence or statements support this location.

The Silmido incident involved 31 agents trained by the Air Force to infiltrate North Korea. In August 1971, 22 of them, protesting alleged mistreatment, rebelled and marched towards Seoul, resulting in a shootout and their self-destruction. The four agents who survived the initial confrontation, Lim Seong-bin, Lee Seo-cheon, Kim Chang-gu, and Kim Byeong-yeom, were sentenced to death and executed seven months later. There are persistent allegations that the military authorities offered incentives, such as deployment to the Vietnam War, in exchange for them not appealing their sentences.

Lim Chung-bin, representative of the Silmido Victims' Families Association, expressed his concerns about the ongoing failures. "The first-priority site, Byeokje, ended without excavation, the second-priority site, Oryu-dong, has a slim possibility, and the third-priority, the family park, is uncertain," he stated. He urged the government to consider amending current laws to allow for the enshrinement of the victims' memorial tablets at the National Cemetery if their remains cannot be found.

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The state should consider amending the current law to allow for the enshrinement of the victims' memorial tablets at the National Cemetery if their remains cannot be found.