The Massacres at Mt. Halla: Sixty Years of Truth Seeking in South Korea is a well-written history of the Jeju 4.3 incidents and the continuous struggle for justice fought by the victims and activists. More than 25,000 civilians were killed or wounded on Jeju Island between 1947 and 1954, mostly by state agents such as the police, the military, or rightist youth groups. However, they needed to wait almost half a century to see a commission established under the Jeju Special Act in 2000. The Jeju commission was created with a mandate to investigate the civilian sacrifice in the course of counterinsurgency operations during the armed conflict in Jeju that started on March 1, 1947, including during the disturbance on April 3, 1948, and ended on September 21, 1954. Hun Joon Kim explains why and through what process South Korea set up the Jeju commission in 2000, what the Jeju commission has accomplished, and how it has affected South Korean society.

The strength of this book is that it successfully reviews the long history of the pursuit of justice by Jeju 4.3 victims and other activists in a coherent and cohesive way. It divides the period into six distinct phases: (1) the era of dictatorship and military regimes (1947–87); (2) democratic transition (1987–92); (3) collective and public advocacy (1993–97); (4) activism shifting from Jeju to Seoul (1998–2000); (5) focusing on the investigation (2000–3); and (6) the presidential apology and various commemoration projects (2003–present). With an array of information and data, Kim provides an excellent description of the massacres and a dynamic picture of the creative truth-seeking movements. Kim's evaluation of Jeju commission is especially interesting because he employs a methodology that views the Jeju 4.3 events as a social movement to reveal the truth and restore justice in the midst of harsh suppression by the consecutive anti-communist authoritarian regimes. Backing this up with detailed information, he presents a compelling success story of the victims and activists through fifty years of long and painful activism and twelve years of difficult commission activities.

Kim argues that the success of the Jeju commission was possible in part because of Article 2 of the Jeju Special Act, which identified the starting point of the events as the date of the police shooting on March 1, 1947, not the uprising on April 3, 1948. He states that the provision served as a “strong foundation for combating conservative challenges” by framing the incidents as human rights violations (p. 143). It makes sense because the continuous resistance and opposition came from the belief that Jeju 4.3 was a communist rebellion or armed uprising. Kim also emphasizes that the Jeju 4.3 commission was greatly helped by the strength of the collection of evidence, the abundance of local human resources, and the challenges and consistent attacks of conservative groups.

Kim assesses the Jeju 4.3 commission's activities as a success. However, he is sensible enough to acknowledge that “another stream of investigation” must be pursued to reveal the historical and political structure, and the chain of command of the massacres (p. 161). In fact, the transitional justice for the Jeju 4.3 victims, if we view it in a broader sense, is still incomplete. The UN standards of victims' rights to a remedy call for the rights to truth, retribution, restoration, and the guarantee of nonoccurrence. The remedies made available for Jeju victims mostly focus on restorative justice. Because of the long legacy of authoritarian regimes and communist North Korea, retributive justice, such as the punishment of the perpetrators, has been avoided. No perpetrator was punished for the wrongful acts committed by state agents during the massacre in Jeju. The restorative justice also excluded the victims who were involved in leftist activities. The responsibility of the South Korean government and the US military government has never been properly addressed.

Kim correctly describes, however, how the Jeju commission has paved a road to the creation of other truth commissions, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea established in 2005. History develops through the tedious and painful efforts of the people who seek justice living through difficult periods. This book is an exceptional portrayal of the journey that the South Korean people have taken, and will be of interest to many who want to learn from Korea's experience to reflect on or to prospect for transitional justice in other contexts.