Jeju Island mourns Cold War massacre dead under shadow of Yoon's martial law declaration

JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, April 3 (UPI) -- South Korea's Jeju Island collectively mourned the deaths of tens of thousands killed nearly eight decades ago during an early Cold War massacre on Thursday, as the southern resort island tries to heal old wounds reopened by President Yoon Suk-yeol's short-lived declaration of martial law.

Thousands, many in their 70s and older, attended the 77th annual Jeju 4.3 Memorial Ceremony at the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park, just north of Jeju City, where they honored the estimated 30,000 Jeju Islanders killed mostly by South Korea's counterinsurgency forces between 1947 and 1954 in an attempt to put down a leftist uprising.

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