Memorial Hall for Former President a Hot Potato
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The project to build a memorial hall of former President Park Chung-hee is drawing attention.
A court recently ruled the government to pay about 20 billion won in subsidy to the memorial foundation in charge of the proposed construction. However, there is resistance among people for spending money on the project to honor the military regime head, making the future complicated.
The initial plan was set in motion during the Kim Dae-jung administration as a part of the former President's pre-election pledges to honor his predecessor and to attract Gyeongsang provincial residents who weren't keen on the Jeolla Province based candidate. On condition citizens collected 50 billion won, the government promised to add another 20 billion won.
Park's memorial foundation has drawn up plans to build the hall and a surrounding park in his birth town, Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, and started receiving donations.
However, in 2005, the government administration ministry withdrew its subsidy plan saying that the foundation had not raised the 50 billion won fund it was supposed to. There were allegations that the new government did not like the plan at all and civic groups' protests against the plan also lay behind the decision.
Three years later, Seoul High Court last Tuesday quashed the government's decision on condition of the foundation collecting the promised full 50 billion won.
``It made me angry that people do not appreciate their ancestor's political heritage. Now that the court ruled for us, we can begin our business once again,'' Kim Han-seop, head of the memorial foundation, said.
Still, the construction has a long way to go.
The fact that Park is labeled a dictator, leading a military regime for more than one-and-a-half decade, is bringing large resistance from people who dislike him.
Civic groups in Gumi have been holding protests against the plan to ``glorify a dictator who took so many people's lives and suppressed democracy.'' They claimed the establishment should be decided through regional referendum.
``No one has asked the citizens of Gumi whether the `hate-facility' could be established here,'' a local civic group member said.
Also, collecting the full 50 billion won is not as easy as it seems. Only about 10 billion won has been collected so far, 20 percent of the goal.
It is questionable whether the public will be willing to pay more money for the project.
Kim said that the plan might need some revision, admitting to financial problems the foundation is facing. ``We will have to resize the building and the park,'' he said.
Moreover, the government said Thursday that it will appeal to the Supreme Court since the groups failed keep their pleges, and there is no reason for the authority to pay such large amount of money, its spokesman said.
Gumi city government, in charge of the project with the memorial foundation, is planning to build a large plaza, a Saemaeul Movement memorial park and restore the birthplace of Park by 2010.
Park served as president from 1963 to 1978. The late president has been billed as a long-term dictator, yet lauded by some for driving the nation's industrialization. He is the father of Rep. Park Geun-hye of the main opposition Grand National Party.