Moon apologizes to victims of 1979 pro-democracy protests

President Moon Jae-in speaks during a ceremony to mark the Busan-Masan democratic protests in Changwon, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

President Moon Jae-in made a public apology to victims of the Busan-Masan democratic protests during a ceremony at Kyungnam University in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday.

This was the first time since the 1979 pro-democracy protests for the government to organize a ceremony to mark the occasion as a “national memorial day” and pay tribute to the victims.

“For a long time, the state has not paid enough attention to the sufferings of the victims. As President, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families, and all victims who had to undergo brutal violence and encroachment on their human rights during the Yushin dictatorship,” Moon said, according to press pool reports.

The 1972 Yushin Constitution had strengthened the powers of then-military dictator Park Chung-hee. The Busan-Masan protests began Oct. 16, 1979 when university students and residents of the two cities started to demonstrate against Park's military regime.

The protests showed the people's frustration with the authoritarian Park, who had taken power in a military coup in 1961. He was assassinated by the then head of the country's intelligence agency 10 days after the protests started.

“As long as we have a history of great democratic protests, no power can rule over the people,” Moon said.

Moon pledged to make efforts to compensate the surviving and fallen victims of the demonstrations and redeem their honor through a meticulous fact-finding inquiry.

“This is not to punish those responsible, but to establish the historical truth.” During a Cabinet meeting last month, the Moon administration approved the designation of the anniversary of the Busan-Masan democratic protests as a national memorial day.

It has also established a foundation to honor the spirit of the movement. President Moon also urged the National Assembly to swiftly pass bills to offer support to the victims and initiate a probe into the protests.

During the speech, Moon also underlined the need to strengthen the country's democracy.

“Now citizens can take more pride in the Busan-Masan protests as a symbol of democracy. They ended the most rigorous dictatorship in the history of our nation, paving the way for the dawn of democracy.”

“Now people are demanding more democracy and better democracy. All institutions with power should keep in mind that they exist for the people and not for the interests of their own organizations. This is the very basic common senses of democracy,” Moon added.

The remarks were seen as alluding to his strong push to reform the prosecution, which has caused widening public polarization and opposition from prosecutors. President Moon has said the prosecution has too much power, but his moves for reform to reduce its authority was dented recently after the resignation of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk.

The presidential office explained that the state-led ceremony was meaningful because it places the Busan-Masan demonstrations as the fourth major pro-democracy movement ― along with the April 19, 1960 revolution that ultimately toppled the Syngman Rhee government; the May 18 Gwangju democracy protests in 1980 against the military regime of Chun Doo-hwan; and the pro-democracy protests that started June 10, 1989 which led to the end of Chun's oppressive rule.

The ceremony was attended by 3,000 guests, including main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn.