The keyword running through President Yun Seok-yeol's 77th Liberation Day congratulatory speech was 'freedom'.



The title of the celebration was 'Great People, Reclaimed Freedom, and a New Leap'.



President Yoon mentioned 'freedom' 33 times in the congratulatory speech that was read for about 13 minutes.



In addition, Independence (18 times), People (15 times), World (12 times), Peace (9 times), Economy (9 times), Democracy (6 times), Future (6 times), Innovation (6 times), World Words such as citizen (5 times) appeared frequently.



At the time of the 72nd anniversary of Liberation Day, the first year of President Moon Jae-in's inauguration, 'Peace' was the most frequently used 20 times, followed by the people (17 times) and history (14 times).



At that time, freedom appeared only once.



President Yun Seok-yeol defined the independence movement as "a process of endless pursuit of freedom."



"It's going on right now, and it will continue to happen," he said.



He stressed the need to redefine the historical meaning of the independence movement, he said, "to find freedom, defend freedom, expand freedom, and fight new threats to freedom in solidarity with citizens of the world to achieve world peace and prosperity."



It is the same as the diplomatic keynote that it will actively participate in the Western-led liberal democracy under the line of 'value diplomacy'.



"Freedom, the spirit of our independence movement, creates peace, and peace protects freedom," said President Yoon.



As for North Korea, he proposed a 'bold initiative' that would dramatically improve the economy and people's livelihoods if they stopped developing nuclear weapons and switched to practical denuclearization.



President Yoon said today, "As seen in the March 1st Declaration of Independence, the Charter of the Provisional Government of Shanghai, and the spirit of independence of Maheon Yun Bong-gil, this is to establish a democratic republic in which the people are the masters and a country where freedom, human rights and the rule of law are respected." I did.



It is interpreted that the historical meaning of the independence movement was effectively defined as 'the pursuit of liberal democracy'.



Evaluates the process of building a free nation against communism as an extension of the independence movement, and defines 'those who fought to defend liberal democracy against communist aggression' as 'great independence activists who made a free and prosperous Republic of Korea' It is also interpreted in the same context.



In particular, President Yoon noted that the independence movement was aimed at establishing a democratic republic in which the people are the masters, a country where freedom, human rights, and the rule of law are respected. .



It seems to have presented the value of 'liberal democracy' as a prerequisite while de facto acknowledging the 'redness' of the Provisional Government established in 1919, breaking away from the historical view of some parts of the right-wing camp that promoted the designation of the National Day in 1948.



It also revealed the perception that industrialization and economic growth are extensions of the independence movement.



President Yoon said, "Through the process of building a free country against communism, the process of achieving economic growth and industrialization, the foundation of liberal democracy, and the process of developing democracy based on this, [the independence movement] has continued and is still today. It is in progress,” he said.



The words 'integration' and 'cooperation' did not appear directly in the congratulatory speech.



In the press release, the presidential office introduced the celebration theme of 'Great People, Reclaimed Freedom, and a New Leap' and said, "Currently, we do not stop at honoring the meaning of the past (reclaimed freedom), but strive to achieve national unity and move forward together into the future of a new leap forward. expressed,” he explained.



Meanwhile, First Lady Kim Gun-hee also attended the celebration with President Yoon, wearing a white two-piece suit and wearing her Taegeuk-patterned hankerchief on her chest.



It is the first time in 18 days since she attended the launching ceremony of the Navy's first 8,200-ton next-generation Aegis destroyer, the 'Jeongjo the Great', and the Korea-Indonesia summit dinner held in Ulsan on the 28th.



(Photo = Yonhap News)