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The article discusses the effects of the decision by the U.S. to divide Korea into two countries without consultation in 1945. It cites the history of the July 1950 refugee massacre by American troops in No Gun Ri, South Korea during the Korean War. Also cited are the book "Embattled Memories," by Suhi Choi on the war tragedy, the memorandum by then U.S. Colonel Turner C. Rogers to General Edward Timberlake on the incident, and the order of then U.S. Major General William B. Kean.

The article analyzes the involvement of U.S. in the mass political executions in South Korea in 1950. Findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission showed that there were more than two dozen mass killings of leftists and supposed sympathizers, many of which were children. The killings were intended to keep southern leftists from aiding the invaders at a time when the rightist, U.S.-allied government was in danger of being overrun by communist forces. Declassified records show U.S. officers were present at some mass political executions.

The article reports on investigations regarding the mass murder in South Korea in 1950. Declassified record at the U.S. National Archives and other repositories reveal that Far East commander General Douglas MacArthur took action to stem the summary mass killing. Kim Dong-choon of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission stated that between 3,000 and 7,000 South Koreans are believed to have been shot in Daejeon by their own military and police, and dumped into mass grave. Commission investigators, extrapolating from initial evidence and surveys of family survivors, believe most alliance members were killed in the wave of executions.

The article reports that the 1950 mass murders in South Korea was kept hidden because of fear and secrecy. At the outbreak of the Korean War, South Korean authorities secretively executed, usually without legal process, thousands of southern leftists. Right-wing dictatorship in the country kept the mass killings a public secret because of fear. Park Myung-lim of Seoul's Yonsei University stated that from 1961 to 1988, nobody could challenge the regime, to try again to reveal these killings. British journalist James Cameron wrote about mass prisoner shootings in the South Korean port city of Busan for London's "Picture Post" magazine in the fall of 1950, but publisher Edward Hulton ordered the story removed at the last minute.

The article reports on the South Korean massacres of 1950 and the direct and indirect involvement of the U.S. in those massacres. The South Korean army and police lined up detainees and shot them in the head, dumping the bodies into trenches. During that time, the government was backed by the U.S. In 2002, a typhoon uncovered one mass grave. Another was found by a television news team that broke into a sealed mine. Further corroboration comes from a trickle of declassified U.S. military documents, including U.S. Army photographs of a mass killing outside this central South Korean city.