News summary on the way home from work, Subsletter Evening.
April in Jeju is dazzlingly bright.
Everyone is amazed at the natural scenery of the island.
However, it is a season of pain for Jeju people, because the wounds of 'April 3' that have been over 70 years have not been healed.
Now is the paradoxical season of the island that is sick on the inside but beautiful on the outside.
It is said that President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol will attend the 'Jeju April 3 Victims Memorial Ceremony'.
He is the first conservative government president (including the elected).
"Yoon-elect will attend the April 3 Memorial Ceremony"
President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol will attend the 74th anniversary of the Jeju April 3 victims the day after tomorrow (3rd), spokesman Kim Eun-hye announced.
Spokesperson Kim Eun-hye explained two main reasons for Yoon's attendance: one was to keep the promises made during her time as a candidate, and the other was to explain that it is both duty and duty to comfort the innocent sacrifices of civilians.
Please see the briefing by Spokesperson Kim.
President-elect Yoon decided to attend the 74th anniversary of the Jeju April 3 Victims Memorial Ceremony.
Did reporter 000 come?
On February 5th, reporter 000 asked 'Would you like to attend the memorial service?
At that time, the elected president said, 'I will come when I become elected', and I decided to keep my promise to the people.
He has repeatedly stated that in a liberal democracy it is both our duty and our duty to honor and warmly comfort the victims of innocent civilians for whatever reason.
Conservative President's First Attendance
President-elect Yoon's participation in the Jeju April 3 Victims Memorial Ceremony has several meanings.
The presidential election cycle changed with the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, and this year was the year of the presidential election, so the unprecedented event of 'attendance of the elected' occurred.
More importantly, it is the first time that a conservative government president (or elected) will attend the 4.3 Memorial Ceremony.
After the first memorial service was held at the 4.3 Peace Park established in 2003, former President Roh Moo-hyun was the first incumbent president to attend the 4.3 commemoration ceremony in 2006. Since then, former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye have not attended once.
During the Park Geun-hye administration, the April 3 commemoration ceremony was designated as a national anniversary, but the president did not attend.
President Moon Jae-in attended the first in 12 years as an incumbent president in 2018, and also attended in 2020 and 2021.
He attended the commemoration ceremony three times, recording the largest number of attendances as an incumbent president.
It is difficult to confirm whether President Moon will attend the memorial service the day after tomorrow. If he does, it could be an unprecedented situation in which the incumbent president and the elected president attend at the same time, but it is said that Prime Minister Kim Bu-gyeom is highly likely to attend.
Jeju 4·3 group "Welcome"
Organizations in the Jeju region are expressing their welcome for the participation of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol at the 4·3 Memorial Ceremony.
Jeju April 3 Peace Foundation Chairman Koh Hee-beom appeared on CBS Radio <current affairs magazine Jeju> yesterday (31st) and gave meaning to Yoon-elect's participation. It said welcome.
Here are some of the interview details.
◇Moderator> So far, the president of a conservative government has never attended.
◆ Hee-beom Koh> This is the first time that he has come as president-elect.
Also, since the president of a conservative government has never been there, I think that if elected Yoon Seok-yeol attends the memorial service, it has a new meaning in that respect.
I think it will be meaningful as it will be a sign of the new government's interest in the 4.3, and it will also be meaningful as it confirms the promise that President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol made several 4.3-related promises during his time as a candidate, such as special family relations related to compensation, and will fulfill them.
In addition, according to the <Yonhap News> report, Oh Im-jong, chairman of the Jeju April 3 Victims' Free Families Association, expressed his gratitude, saying, "I am grateful for the elected person to lead the national unity and keep the promise to heal the pain of the bereaved families." The head of the 4·3 Research Center said, “In the meantime, views on Jeju 4·3 have fluctuated depending on the government, but as a president-elect, attending the 4·3 memorial ceremony for the first time is very encouraging. I hope that the Edo and the opposition parties will cooperate well.”
'Jeju 4
3'
, which has been ignored by the conservative government
In 'Jeju 4·3', innocent civilians were sacrificed in the process of suppression by the military and police, and up to now, the Jeju community has suffered from severe aftereffects.
The system of association and the National Security Act oppressed the bereaved families, and the surviving victims suffered physical and mental suffering from the aftermath of torture and even the stigma of being a 'Red'.
Let's move on to a brief description of 'Jeju 4·3' in the 'Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation'.
<Jeju 4·3 eun>
The incident occurred on March 1, 1947, on April 3, 1948, on April 3, 1948, and on September 21, 1954, armed conflict and civilians were killed in the process of suppression. It was a tragic event that caused the greatest loss of life after the Korean War in modern Korean history, which lasted for over 7 years until the establishment of the Korean government.
<Jeju 4·3 Incident Fact Investigation Report>
<
Amount of Damage> As of 2020, the number of victims confirmed by the Jeju 4·3 Incident Investigation and Restoration of Victims Honor Committee (abbreviated name: 4·3 Committee) is 14,532 people.
This is only an official number of casualties, and the fact-finding report estimates the casualties at the time of the 4·3 between 25,000 and 30,000 people.
At that time, more than a tenth of the Jeju population lost their lives.
-Source: Jeju April 3 Peace Foundation website
For Jeju people, the 4·3 is neither progressive nor conservative, but in the political circles, rather than paying attention to the sacrifice of the civilians, it was used as a tool for political struggle or provoked an ideological debate. Will it be different under the Yun Seok-Yeol government?
Yoon Seok-yeol is different?
President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol visited Jeju April 3 Peace Park in February and said, "Our Republic of Korea is a liberal democracy. Regardless of the reason, when it comes to the innocent sacrifice of both citizens, we honor and commemorate the soul, and all the people will be warm and cared for. It is the duty of the citizens of a liberal democracy to comfort them." He also wrote in the guestbook, 'I will sympathize with the people of the souls of innocent victims'.
President-elect Yoon also promised 'the complete resolution of the Jeju 4·3' as one of the eight major promises of Jeju, and he promised legal, institutional, and budgetary support for the complete resolution of the 4·3.
He also visited Jeju and appealed for sincerity, saying, "(Jeju 4 · 3) I will make sure that the bereaved families and residents do not get disappointed, so that the Yun Seok-yeol government is really different."
Shouldn't President-elect Yoon's participation in the 4·3 Memorial Ceremony not be limited to the outward meaning of being the first conservative president to attend, but also a starting point for keeping the promise of a complete resolution of the 4·3?
It can also be a starting point for the president-elect's biggest task, 'integration'.
a piece of the day
Two KT-1 Air Force training fighter jets collided and crashed in Sacheon, Gyeongsangnam-do, and the pilots escaping with parachute immediately after the fighter crash.
An emergency evacuation was made, but the air force said that all four people on board both fighters were killed.
(Photo = provided by Park Hwang-bae, Yonhap News)