(Reuters-Yonhap)

North Korea's military massacred more than 1,100 South Korean Christians and Catholics during the 1950-53 Korean War, a state reconciliation panel said Tuesday.

The North's Korean People's Army killed 1,026 Christians and 119 Catholics during its retreat from the South following an amphibious Incheon landing operation by United Nations forces, also known as Operation Chromite, on Sept. 26, 1950, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said, citing a report from Seoul Theological University.South Korean and UN forces were pushed back to the southern tip of the peninsula after the war broke out on June 25 but the successful Operation Chromite turned the tide in favor of the South.

The massacres of religious people were carried out after North Korea issued an order to "eliminate reactionary forces" ahead of its retreat from the South, according to the report based on document research, witness testimonies and visits to victim churches.

By region, the central province of South Chungcheong and the southwestern provinces of Jeolla suffered the most from the massacres, the report noted.

It said North Korean soldiers killed 66 members of a protestant church in Nonsan of South Chungcheong from Sept. 27-28, considering the church itself to be a hostile force.

In Jeongeup of North Jeolla Province, 167 elders and right-wing members of a protestant church were burned to death on Sept. 27, the report said.

The North's massacres also occurred in Yeonggwang and Yeongam, both of South Jeolla Province, it added.

The report said the massacres may have stemmed from the North's policy of defining Christianity as an impure force and oppressing it. (Yonhap)