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DPK preparing for joint March 1 events with North Korea

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By Park Ji-won
  • Published KST
  • Updated KST

Rep. Lee Hae-chan, center, the chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Rep. Lee Jong-kul, right, the chief of the DPK's new special committee to mark the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Movement and the establishment of Korea's provisional government, and Rep. Chung Dong-young, the leader of the minor Party for Democracy and Peace, shout “Mansae,” a symbolic word that people shouted during the independence movement, at the committee's launch event in the National Assembly, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) launched a special committee, Tuesday, to push for joint ceremonies with North Korea to celebrate the centennial of the March 1 Independence Movement and the establishment of Korea's provisional government in 1919, under the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule.

The committee will also push for inter-Korean projects such as studies on civilians resisting Japan, parliamentary exchanges and designing new Korean fonts with North Korea.

“We need to prepare for overcoming division,” DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan said during a launch ceremony at the National Assembly.

The move is in line with leaders of the two Koreas' agreement to expand inter-Korean exchanges. President Moon Jae declared last year that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un discussed, at the first inter-Korean summit in April, a joint celebration of the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Movement, and this was included in the Panmunjeom Declaration.

The committee also plans to visit the North to see historic sites related to independence movements and independence fighters who later relocated to South Korea, Rep. Lee Jong-kul, the committee chief, said.

Lee Hae-chan also hinted at the possibility of the two Koreas' signing an end-of-war declaration this year, saying, “I expect the regime of separation will end within this year.”

Lee added the DPK's committee will consider changing the term into “March 1 Revolution” from “March 1 Movement” next year.