Descendant fights for forgotten heroes

Lee Dong-il, president of the Patriotic Martyrs Family Association, speaks during an interview at The Korea Times office in Seoul on Friday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Non-profit group calls for better treatment of fallen independence fighters

By Park Han-sol

Honoring patriotic martyrs with a moment of silence following the singing of the national anthem has been customary for all government-hosted ceremonies in Korea. In reality, however, most Koreans do not reflect on the sacrificed lives they pay tribute to, and merely do so out of obligation to a decades-long practice.

"They are the fallen heroes who were victimized during the campaign to save the nation from Japan's colonial rule," Lee Dong-il, president of the Patriotic Martyrs Family Association, said during a recent Korea Times interview at the non-profit group's office in Seoul.

The patriotic martyrs are individuals who have been formally recognized for sacrificing their lives between the Japanese's assassination of Empress Myeongseong in 1895 to Aug. 14, 1945, the day before liberation.

Although the martyrs met tragic deaths in the battlefield, execution, suicide, murder and imprisonment while fighting for the country's freedom, their roles have been largely forgotten compared to the independence fighters who fought to see the day of liberation.

"They were part of a group of independence fighters, but they are different from other fighters, who outlived the colonial rule and were able to celebrate the nation's liberation in 1945. The martyrs sacrificed their own lives during the fight, but they were forgotten and gradually disappeared from history, causing their children and grandchildren to suffer the consequences."

According to Lee, those martyrs were part of civilian guerillas who fought for Korea's independence in the northeastern part of China and the Russian Far East during the colonial period. People who were in charge of the militia attacks against Japan were recognized by the government after Korea's independence from Japan in 1945, but the vast majority of the sacrificed grassroots members and their family members were left unremembered.

As the descendant of unrecognized independence fighters himself, Lee is fully aware of the struggles the offspring of the forgotten heroes have undergone for decades. He lost his great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather and many other family members during the colonial period.

"Sacrificing their lives, possessions, social status and their family, martyrs are the ones who saw their own flesh and blood exterminated and destroyed," Lee said passionately.

But despite their tremendous sacrifice, the country's treatment of fallen independence fighters has never quite been on par, prompting their bereaved family members and descendants to call for measures to rightfully restore their honor.

The Patriotic Martyrs Family Association was first established in 1960 and was integrated into Heritage of Korean Independence five years later. But because it was unable to live up to its original aim to inherit and preserve the fighters' spirits under that structure, the association decided to newly register itself as a non-profit civic group in 2000.

According to the organization, the number of independence fighters who lost their lives during the colonial period is estimated to be at least 150,000. However, the government has only recognized around 3,500 of them, accounting for two percent of the total. The number of fighters placed in the national cemetery is even lower ― 426, a mere 0.3 percent.

Accordingly, the descendants of the fighters are urging for better treatment of the sacrificed lives starting with the revision to the Preamble to the Constitution, a demand which has been petitioned many times in the past without any fruitful results. The association is calling for the inclusion of the phrase "noble spirits and sacrifices of the fallen independence fighters" that became the basis for March 1 Independence Movement as an important symbolic reminder for the nation.

It is also demanding the establishment of a commemorative center for the fallen heroes. Currently, only 2,835 ancestral tablets are being kept in the Independence Hall due to its limited space and poor, weathered condition. In the official commemorative center, the organization hopes to enshrine a total of 8,000 tablets of the fallen fighters, a number that is estimated to include 4,500 individuals who have either already been or will be formally recognized, as well as 3,500 others in North Korea.

Lastly, the martyrs family association, which is being operated with financial contributions and donations made by the bereaved family members themselves, is urging the government to approve its status as a state-sponsored organization. Lee emphasized that this will give the association added legitimacy and serve as a powerful long-overdue gesture to the heroes' noble sacrifices.

Lee said he feels his four decades of fighting for the forgotten patriots are poised to bear fruit despite the fact that Korea still has a long way to go to fully recognize their roles.

At Seodaemun Independence Park in Seoul, Nov. 17, a memorial rite honoring the spirits of the fallen fighters amid a mournful classical melody was broadcasted live for the first time in 81 years on the state-run KBS' YouTube channel.

The rite was performed by Lee as well as Heritage of Korean Independence President Kim Won-woong and Vice Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Lee Nam-woo. The state-sponsored event was also accompanied by an earlier commemoration ceremony, where Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun delivered a heartfelt speech saluting the patriotic martyrs.

"In the Republic of Korea, the country that our martyrs fought to recover with their lives and protected with their blood, the honorable spirit of patriotic independence prevails," Chung said.

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