Anyang, Suwon getting flak for raising Korean Unification flags on Liberation Day

Officials of Suwon City pose in front of the Suwon City Council building, Saturday, after hoisting the Korean Unification Flag to celebrate National Liberation Day. Courtesy of Suwon City

By Bahk Eun-ji

Two cities in Gyeonggi Province, Suwon and Anyang, are under heavy fire for hoisting the Korean Unification Flag in their celebration of National Liberation Day that was celebrated Sunday.

On national holidays, Korea's national flag, the Taegeukgi, is raised on every building and along every roadside.

According to the local government offices of Suwon and Anyang, they opted for the unification flag instead of the national flag, to “express their wish for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.” But some citizens slammed the decision, claiming that it damaged the dignity of the national flag.

The two cities held a flag-raising ceremony Saturday and hung the Korean Unification Flag on local government buildings.

The ceremony was attended by the mayors of both cities, as well as the representatives of civic organizations such as the South Korean Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration and the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Committee.

When the news came to light, criticism poured onto the cities' homepages.

An online user who identified himself as a citizen of Anyang said in a protest on the city's website, “Reflecting the thoughts of individuals and specific groups on a national holiday should not be done by a public institution.”

He then said, “The two cities should clearly state the rationale and grounds for allowing the unification flag to be hung.”

Another citizen said, “We should be hanging the national flag on national holidays. I wonder if any citizens of Anyang actually want the city government to be doing this.”

Online users also criticized Suwon city's raising of the unification flag.

“What the two cities have done is destroy the dignity of the national flag,” one individual commented on the city's homepage.