Defense ministry mulls revoking nat'l merit for late colonel over Jeju uprising crackdown

Civic groups hold a press conference in Seoul, Friday, calling for the government to revoke the designation of late Army Col. Park Jin-kyung as a person of national merit. Yonhap

The defense ministry will consider revoking an order of military merit awarded to a late colonel who led a bloody crackdown on a 1948 uprising on Jeju Island, officials said Monday, amid criticism over his recent designation as a person of national merit.

"Feasible measures will be taken after a comprehensive review of relevant law and the (investigation) outcome of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission," the defense ministry said in a statement.

The move comes after President Lee Jae Myung instructed the veterans ministry to review the option to revoke the designation of late Army Col. Park Jin-kyung as a person of national merit, amid criticism that he led a violent crackdown against civilians during the civilian uprising.

Recorded as one of the bloodiest government crackdowns on civilians in Korea, the Jeju uprising began on April 3, 1948, and continued into the early 1950s, involving armed resistance by Jeju residents under the U.S. military government and the subsequent Korean government following Korea's liberation from Japanese rule.

The protests left an estimated 14,000 to 30,000 civilians, or up to 10 percent of the island's population at the time, killed in armed crackdowns.

In October, the veterans ministry approved a request from Park's bereaved family member to recognize him as a person of national merit, citing the military decoration. The certificate of national merit was delivered to his family last month, granting a range of state benefits to his relatives and descendants.

The decision sparked public criticism after it became public earlier this month, prompting the ministry to apologize to victims and bereaved families of the Jeju incident for failing to properly screen the case.

While the veterans ministry oversees the designation of a person of national merit, such decisions are based on national merits awarded to individuals. In Park's case, the defense ministry had recommended Park for a military decoration, which made him eligible to become a person of national merit.

A veterans ministry official said that it cannot arbitrarily withdraw Park's designation as a person of national merit. However, if the defense ministry revokes the military decoration awarded to him, the designation could be retroactively canceled.