Burial of five coup participants in national cemetery creates stir

By Na Jeong-ju

At least five people who were involved in the Dec. 12, 1979 coup are buried at a national cemetery, a civic group claimed Thursday, calling for a revision of related laws to remove their graves.

They include Ahn Hyun-tae, who served as chief presidential bodyguard for Chun Doo-hwan from 1985 to 1988. Ahn helped Chun, the then-Army general, seize power in the coup.

Last month, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs approved Ahn’s burial at the Daejeon National Cemetery, sparking a flurry of protests from civic groups and the families of those already buried there.

The other four are former assistant defense minister Yu Hak-seong; former Defense Security Command official Chung Do-young, former presidential security agent Chung Dong-ho and former Army officer Kim Ho-young.

They all participated in the 1979 coup and now are buried at the Daejeon cemetery, according to the May 18 Memorial Foundation, which honors those who were killed in the 1980 popular uprising in Gwangju.

“It’s a serious problem that the people who are responsible for mutiny are buried at a sacred place for those who sacrificed their lives for the country,” the foundation said in a statement. “We must address this to establish the country’s identity and correct history.”

Sixteen people, including former President Chun and his successor Roh Tae-woo, were convicted of mutiny charges in 1996, but the five people were not even indicted. The following year, Chun and Roh were granted pardons by then-President Kim Young-sam.

The ministry says there was no legal problem in burying the five people, but civic groups claim it should consider the impact the military coup had on the country’s modern history.

Some lawmakers are moving to revise related laws to make it impossible for those who were convicted of mutiny and other serious crimes to be buried in national cemeteries. They are also pushing for special legislation to forcefully move the graves of pro-Japanese collaborators during the 1910-45 colonial period and coup participants out of the cemeteries.

Rep. Cho Young-teck of the main opposition Democratic Party recently proposed a revision bill to toughen the screening of those to be buried in national cemeteries.

A total of 76 Koreans who allegedly engaged in pro-Japan activities during the colonial period are buried in national cemeteries in Daejeon and Seoul.

Among them, up to 50 people were officers in the Japanese military, it said.