Crowds in small town call for unity

The reenactment of coranting Queen Soheon from Shim family, the queen of King Sejong, is being held at Cheongsong, northern Gyeongsang province, Saturday./ Korea Times file

By Jung Hae-myoung

Some 4,500 people gathered in the small southeastern county of Cheongsong, a rural area famous for premium apples and peppers, on Sunday. The crowds were members of the Cheongsong Shim clan. Each Korean surname has a lineage called “bon-gwan” based on the region or city from which its paternal ancestor originated. This particular Shim clan originated in the small North Gyeongsang Province county.

The venue for their gathering was chosen for this reason.

This is their first annual meeting to which all Cheongsong Shims, both those in and outside the country, were invited. Those who live in Japan, the U.S. and Canada also came to the region to honor the spirits of their forefathers. Their ages, professions and financial backgrounds vary. Politicians, entrepreneurs and people of all walks of life gathered there.

Various events took place on the sidelines. Academic forums were held to shed light on Koreans' traditional value of “hyo” in the modern era, and the winner of the Cheongsong Person of the Year was awarded. During the gathering, the Shim clan also launched a scholarship program.

Shim Sang-eouk, who played a key role in hosting the event, said the gathering of his clan delivers a timely message for the nation.

“Harmony and unity are the two core messages that we need and can learn from the event. I think this is a timely message for the nation as we, Koreans, are in a severe rift,” he told The Korea Times.

“During the event, people from all walks of life, the rich and the poor, and people of all age groups joined the event. There were no generational rifts, clashes between conservatives and liberals or animosity based on regions. All of us were united and became one.”

Shim said thousands of people there were united for greater causes, such as cooperation among members to boost societal inclusivity and strengthen the country.

His remarks came as the nation has been seeing a deep rift after President Moon Jae-in went ahead with appointing Cho Kuk for justice minister weeks ago. Cho and his entire family are embroiled in a host of allegations, including forgery of official documents and insider trading, and some of the related people were put behind bars. The investigation is ongoing.

The nation has been polarized after the Cho Kuk scandal was reported.

Massive rallies have been held in two iconic venues ― Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul and Seoul's posh southern district of Seocho-dong near the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

Conservatives had two massive rallies against President Moon and Cho on Oct. 3 and 9, urging Cho to step down. Meanwhile, the southern Seoul district had attracted liberals supporting the justice minister and pressuring the prosecution to stop investigating the justice minister and his family, calling for reform of the prosecution.

The Cheongsong Shim clan is believed to have nearly 300,000 members all across the world.

During the two-day event, clan members gathered to perform ancestral rites at the grave site of their ancestors.

The main topic of the event was bringing together a community that links three generations, which built more solidarity between the generations.

“This year marks the 600th anniversary of King Sejong's ascension to power. His wife, Queen Soheon, is believed to be one of the greatest queens in Korea and Cheongsong has remains of her spirit ― loyalty and filial love,” said Shim Dae-pyung, former South Chungcheong governor and now the head of the Shim society.

“This is the place where the cultural remains of the Shim progenitors exists,” Shim noted.