Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Opposition criticizes Yoon over Jeju Massacre ceremony no-show
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung, center, sings the national anthem at a commemoration ceremony of the Jeju April 3 Uprising and Massacre at Jeju 4.3 Peace Park on Jeju Island, Monday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on Monday slammed President Yoon Suk Yeol for not attending a commemoration ceremony for the Jeju April 3 Uprising and Massacre, which killed tens of thousands of people amid ideological conflicts on Jeju Island in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
The DPK held its Supreme Council meeting on the southern island and accused the Yoon administration of disrespecting the spirit of the uprising.
“The president's promise for a complete resolution to April 3 has gone sour,” DPK Chairman Lee Jae-myung said. “Due to the administration's retrograde movements, there are far-right activists who are disavowing the April 3 Uprising.”
The uprising began on the island on April 3, 1947, when ideological conflict was in full swing in Korea after it was liberated from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. In protest against elections, which were to be held only in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, controlled by the United States Army Military Government in Korea, protesters, including members of the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK), attacked police stations, killed people they deemed as right-wing supporters and burned polling stations.
Seeking a speedy resolution to the insurrection, the mainland authorities sent thousands of soldiers and members of the Northwest Youth Association, a violent anti-communist group, to the island to suppress them. Tens of thousands of people died as a result.
It remains unclear how much of a role the WPSK played in the uprising and to what extent the party interacted with the Workers' Party of North Korea, led by North Korea founder Kim Il-sung. But ruling People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Tae Yong-ho, a Supreme Council member and former North Korean diplomat, caused controversy in February by claiming the uprising was started upon the orders of the former North Korean leader.
Furthermore, President Yoon also stirred controversy by appointing Kim Kwang-dong as the chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, an independent body that investigates and uncovers the truth about the anti-Japanese independence movement and mass atrocities during the Korean War. Kim came under fire for his previous remarks that the uprising was an anti-U.S. and pro-communist movement.
“A year earlier, Yoon attended the commemoration ceremony here on Jeju and promised his efforts to fully recover the honor of the victims and bereaved families,” DPK floor leader Rep. Park Hong-keun said. “However, not only the president but also the leadership of the ruling party is absent today, which is the first commemoration ceremony since the Yoon government was inaugurated.”
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, front, burns incense during a commemoration ceremony for the Jeju April 3 Uprising and Massacre at Jeju 4.3 Peace Park on Jeju Island, Monday. Yonhap
Yoon attended the April 3 commemoration ceremony as president-elect last year, but skipped this year's ceremony. So far, only liberal presidents ― former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in ― have attended the commemoration ceremony, but no sitting conservative president has shown up at the ceremony yet.
“The promise to comfort the spirits of innocent April 3 victims remains unchanged,” Yoon said in a message read by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at the commemoration ceremony.
“Honoring the spirits of the victims and comforting the pain of their families is a duty of a liberal democracy that upholds freedom and human rights… The desirable way to honor the victims and their families is making South Korea a country where freedom and human rights flourish, and achieving greater prosperity based on universal values and the spirit of liberal democracy here on Jeju.”
PPP Chairman Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon and floor leader Rep. Joo Ho-young also did not attend the ceremony as they were busy with the delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which was visiting Seoul to inspect Busan's preparations for its bid to host World Expo 2030.