She survived a bullet wound. Her mother, sister and younger brother were killed. Nguyễn Thị Thanh was a child when South Korean marines entered Phong Nhị in February 1968. More than fifty years later, she sued the South Korean government. South Korea began deploying medical personnel and instructors to South Vietnam in 1964, followed by combat troops in 1965. By the final withdrawal in 1973, roughly 320,000 personnel had served over successive rotations. President Park Chung-hee's government sought to contain communism, strengthen its U.S. alliance, and secure military and economic assistance. The 1966 Brown Memorandum tied additional deployments to American commitments on military modernization and economic support. South Korean forces fought battles, guarded routes and bases, and carried out medical and construction work. Their wartime record also includes the killing of unarmed civilians. On 12 February 1968, South Korean troops killed civilians in Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất. Vietnamese accounts record 74 deaths. At Hà My that same month, South Korean troops killed 135 civilians. Women, children and elderly people were among the victims. In 2023, a Seoul court ordered the South Korean government to compensate Thanh. An appellate court upheld that decision in January 2025. These judgments recognized responsibility for her injuries and losses; they did not settle every victim's claim. Reconciliation between the two countries had already begun. South Korea and Vietnam established diplomatic relations on 22 December 1992. On 23 August 2001, President Kim Dae-jung expressed sorrow and offered an apology and consolation for suffering caused by Korea's participation in the war, describing that suffering as unintended. On 10 October 2004, President Roh Moo-hyun spoke of Koreans' “debt in their hearts” to Vietnam. On 23 March 2018, President Moon Jae-in expressed regret over the countries' unfortunate history and called for cooperation. These were official presidential messages, but none explicitly acknowledged state responsibility for the Phong Nhị–Phong Nhất or Hà My massacres. Moon's office specifically distinguished his expression of regret from a formal apology accompanied by investigation and compensation. In 2022, the countries became comprehensive strategic partners, deepening cooperation in trade, technology and education. In February 2025, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry also called for concrete South Korean action to address the consequences of the war. Responsibility should be established through evidence, without treating every veteran or an entire people as guilty. A lasting friendship must leave room for survivors' testimony, remembrance and redress. I will continue researching these individual incidents and examine them in greater detail in future posts. Speaking personally, as one Korean, I sincerely apologize to the Vietnamese civilians harmed or killed by South Korean troops, and to their bereaved families.