Kathmandu— In 1948, a US-supported regime in South Korea initiated a violent suppression campaign on Jeju Island, leading to the deaths of an estimated 30,000 residents – roughly one in ten islanders. The event, now known as the Jeju Massacre, was largely covered up by the Korean government for decades, obscuring its place in the nation’s collective memory alongside other tragedies like the Korean War and the Gwangju Uprising.

Collective Memory of Tragedy

South Koreans often remember significant historical events using numerical shorthand. The outbreak of the Korean War is marked as “6.25” (June 25, 1950), while the Gwangju Uprising is remembered as “5.18” (May 18, 1980). This practice of condensing dates into pairs of digits is common throughout East Asia – exemplified by “6.4” for the Tiananmen Square massacre and “3.11” for the Great East Japan Earthquake – but it’s particularly ingrained in South Korean culture as a way to recall periods of immense loss.

Scale of Civilian Deaths

These date-based memorials often compress, and sometimes conceal, the sheer scale of death associated with each event. Approximately three million civilians perished during the Korean War, referred to as “6.25.” The number of civilian casualties in Gwangju and Tiananmen Square remains a subject of debate, while the long-term consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster may not be fully understood for generations.

The Jeju Massacre stands as a stark reminder of a violent period in Korean history, one that has been historically obscured but is increasingly being acknowledged alongside other national tragedies.

(With inputs from Jacobin)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.