The Joint South Korea and United States Jeju 4.3 Task Force on Social Healing Through Justice, proposed here, focuses on potential next steps in view of the strong sense of many that 4.3 reconciliation is "unfinished business." It proposes a creative yet practical way for the United States, South Korea and Jeju people to engage in collaborative 4.3 social healing. Together as Part of the proposed Joint Task Force, they might more fully implement past recommendations and chart and oversee next steps toward comprehensive and enduring social healing “by doing justice." ’This proposal is based on the National Committee’s now-translated Report and the insights of scholars and the work of many of you here, along with others deeply interested in social justice. Those of us not from Jeju, or South Korea, who appreciate your invitation to participate, humbly and respectfully offer this proposal for your consideration with justice in mind.

The Jeju April Third Tragedy saw an estimated 14,000 and possibly many thousands more Jeju Islanders killed amid the political turmoil of a re-merging Korean stated after the Japanese occupation. US troops were stationed on the island province before and during the Tragedy which lasted from 1947 to 1954. The aim of this article is to present theoretical and practical issues of the unfnished business of reconciliation and social healing for the victims of the April Third Tragedy; for survivors, for family members, and for the memories of the decreased. This process requires the engagement of as many of the actors at that time, in order to conclude the story of April 3rd Tragedy. Based on 13 years of’ collaborative efforts setting up a vision of Jeju as World Peace Island, there is now formal recognition of the April 3rd Tragedy event. We have hoped for a future beyond the trauma and tragedy of the Mass-killing of Korea Jeju Islanders during and after the US Peacetime Occupation ( 1947-1954). Even though it has taken 10 years to translate the Jeju April 3 Incident Investigation Report of 2003 into an English edition in 2013, I believe, it provides a cornerstone for Jeju islanders to open a new Age of Social Healing for the Mass Killing of Korea Jeju Islanders ( the Tragedy) while under and then after US Military Peacetime Occupation (1947- 1954).

The purpose of this article is to review the current stage of Korean transitional justice by focusing on the Jeju 4.3 Incidents and to consider some recurring key issues as they relate to past atrocities. As we shall see, there are a number of shared characteristics in the process of Korean transitional justice. First, Korean transitional justice did not exclude the option of prosecution and punishment of former wrongdoers, but it was more focused on the reconciliation by giving proper remedies to the victims. Second, the fact-finding activities were conducted in a relatively short time. Third, huge emphasis was placed on reinstating impaired reputations as part of the remedies for the victims. Fourth, transitional justice was made possible not by the judicial branch but by the legislation of special acts. In Jeju case, a couple of distinctive characteristics are also found: First the Jeju Special Act was a result of compromise among political parties in terms of defining the nature of the incidents; Second, in order to avoid ideological conflicts, the fact-finding and compensation activities were limited to “innocent civilians” in the Act; and (3) They did not take any measures against the wrongdoers who had been praised to be “national meritorious persons.”Transitional justice in Korea has always been closely related to the development of democracy and the rule of law. The remedies given to the victims of the Jeju 4.3 Incidents were closely tied to the political situation that prevailed in 2000, when the Special Act was legislated. The change of social climate under the Kim Dae-Jung government also played an important role in advancing transitional justice in Korea. As the iron wall of anti-communism weakened after military dictatorship collapsed, the Jeju victims gathered courage to approach the authorities to seek their redress. The lawmakers, likewise, found it easier to persuade the conservative public when they legislated the Special Act.

Healing for the Jeju 4.3 survivors and families progressed significantly after the work of the 2000 National 4.3 Committee and the 2005 Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Acting on these investigatory organizations’ recommendations and the expressed desires of the Jeju people, the Korean government began a healing process that included a presidential apology, a government-sponsored museum and an extensive public memorial and gravesite for known victims—albeit without individual reparations. American and Korean scholars also point to the United States’ partial responsibility for Jeju 4.3 and its lack of participation in redress efforts. Acknowledgment of the United States’ historical role in Jeju 4.3 by the Korean and U.S. governments today may be one of the crucial next steps toward genuine reparatory justice for the Jeju people and for Korean society. It may also bolster U.S. legitimacy globally as a democracy actually (and not just professedly) committed to humanrights.The United States grounds its global moral authority as a democracy in its stated commitment to human rights. But a genuine commitment entails acknowledging and actively repairing the damage caused by its participation in human rights atrocities—even decades ago. Its legitimacy as a democracy depends upon doing so—and after two damaging wars the United States needs to bolster its moral authority internationally. If America under President Obama, with its security pivot toward Asia, is to reclaim full legitimacy as a democracy committed to human rights, if there is to be complete social healing for the Jeju 4.3 survivors and families and for the Korean government and people—if the “han,” the deep sense of suffering from injustice, is to be lightened—then the United States needs to mutually and actively engage in the reconciliation process. The time is now.