The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has announced that it will not investigate allegations of a civilian massacre by South Korean troops during the Vietnam War.

The decision came on Wednesday after four out of seven commission members declined to investigate, noting that an infringement on the rights of foreigners is beyond the purview of the commission’s probe into violations that took place at the time of authoritarian rule.

The case was filed by five Vietnamese nationals who claimed that South Korean troops carried out a massacre of 135 unarmed civilians on February 24, 1968 in Hà My village of the country's Quảng Nam Province.

Meanwhile, the commission decided to open investigation into 170 cases, including rights violations of the family of a South Korean soldier deployed to fight in the Vietnam War, who was later wrongfully classified as having defected to North Korea.