Inspection Process By the US and Korean Government

Since the AP¡¯s report on the Nogun-ri Incident on Sep. 30th 1990, the incident came under the spotlight in Korea as well as the world, while the US government took a negative attitude to the report.

However, as the public opinion was agitated at home and abroad, the US government suddenly changed its attitude.

The then president of the US, Bill Clinton was reported on the Nogun-ri Incident by then Defense Secretary William Cohen and ordered fact-finding activities on Oct. 1st 1999.

The Korean government also announced its official stance about the Incident after the US government¡¯s announcement. On Oct. 2nd 1999, then president Kim Dae-Jung allowed a fact-finding mission on the Nogun-ri Incident and directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National the Defense to find the truth and compensate the victims, working closely with the related US authorities. The US and Korea agreed in principal over the ways of ROK-US Joint Inspection on Oct. 13th. They decided to establish Bilateral Coordinating Group (BCG) to cover the followings: information collection of their own, prior inspection, regular information exchange, more convenient cooperation, joint interview and joint document search.