§ 11. Mr. GRUNDYasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that in April, 1919, the Christian men in the Korean village of Cheamni were ordered by soldiers of the 78th Japanese Regiment to assemble in the church, that the doors were then shut and the men shot down, their bodies being bayoneted, and the church and most of the houses in the village set on fire; whether the British consul made any inquiries into this incident; whether any Report has been received; if so, will the Report be published; and whether he has received information that a merely nominal punishment was inflicted on the Japanese officer responsible, after urgent representations had been made to the Japanese Government General at Seoul
Mr. HARMSWORTHThe answer to the first four parts of the question is in the affirmative. As regards part five of the hon. Member's question, full details were published in the local foreign newspapers in Japan at the time, and in view of the efforts which have since been made to improve matters, there seems to be no necessity now to republish these stories. In this connection, I may refer the hon. Member to a similar question asked by the Noble Lord, the Member for Hitchin, on 7th July, 1919.
As regards part six, according to such official information as we have, the officers and men responsible were punished with 30 days' "close arrest" including reduction of pay and pension and deferment of promotion.