By Lee Kyung-min
The state agency for presidential records has changed the sign on its main entrance following a conservative civic group’s complaint that it was written by a “leftist professor.”
Rep. Lim Su-kyung of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) said during a National Assembly audit Thursday that the Presidential Archives under the National Archives of Korea changed the sign last December.
The change followed a complaint filed in October 2013 by the civic group, Blue Union, which demanded that the sign be removed because it was written using a font created by Sungkonghoe University professor Shin Young-bok, a left-leaning scholar.
Shin served 20 years in prison from 1968 for espionage under the dictatorial Park Chung-hee administration. The font he developed is popular for its unique shape, and has been used by many sectors in the country, also for commercial purposes including local soju brand, Cheoeum Cheoreom.
The sign with his font had been used since 2008.
The group claimed that the country’s identity was damaged because it was written by a person who had engaged in espionage.
According to the minutes of a committee of the Presidential Archives which Rep. Lim disclosed, the committee discussed whether to change the sign as requested on May 26, 2014.
“Using Shin’s handwriting font for an official sign for a public institution is problematic. It should be changed when the office moves to the administrative city of Sejong,” one of the committee members said according to the minutes.
But the Presidential Archives denied the accusation that the change was politically motivated.
“The sign was changed because the name of the supervising ministry was changed from the Ministry of Safety and Public Administration to Ministry of Public Safety and Security in November last year. It was irrelevant to the complaint,” an official of the agency said.
However, such a claim has limited credibility because the ministry had changed its name before but the sign with the font was not changed at that time.
“The institution is supposed to maintain a politically neutral stance to help guarantee fair historical fact gathering, but it made a decision based on ideology,” Lim said.
Some Internet users made sarcastic comments on the sign change. “If the sign must be removed because it is deemed pro-North Korea, Cheoeum Cheoreom, should also be banned because it is a pro-North Korea drink,” a blogger said.