[Summary] "Tried to Cut Off Head and Throw It at Yeonhui-dong House" 50s Arrested for Damaging Jeon Du-hwan Statue

Known as a member of a 5.18-related group in Gyeonggi region
Conflict over removal of Jeonnamdae Jeon Du-hwan statue since last May

The neck area of the statue of former President Jeon Du-hwan installed at 'Cheongnamdae' in Cheongju, Cheongbuk. The back of the neck is damaged. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] A man in his 50s who damaged the statue of former President Jeon Du-hwan inside Cheongnamdae, the former presidential villa facility located in Cheongju City, Chungbuk Province, was apprehended by the police.

According to the Chungbuk Provincial Police on the 19th, at around 10:30 a.m. that day, Mr. A (50) was caught by a patrolling staff member while cutting the neck of the statue of former President Jeon Du-hwan with a hacksaw inside Cheongnamdae.

The police, who responded to the staff's report, arrested Mr. A and are currently investigating the exact circumstances of the incident. Meanwhile, it was reported that about two-thirds of the statue's neck was cut off.

According to the police investigation, Mr. A is a member of a 5.18-related organization in the Gyeonggi area and decided to damage the statue after seeing media reports that Chungbuk Province had decided to keep the statue of former President Jeon Du-hwan.

Mr. A also told the police, "I intended to cut off the neck of Jeon Du-hwan's statue and throw it at his house in Yeonhui-dong, Seoul, where he lives."

The police believe that Mr. A entered Cheongnamdae as a tourist, covered the CCTV around the Jeon Du-hwan statue, and committed the crime with a hacksaw he had prepared in advance. It was also confirmed that he destroyed the fence lock while approaching the CCTV.

Cheongnamdae, built in 1983, was used as the presidential villa at the time but was transferred to the management of Chungbuk Province on April 18, 2003. Since then, it has been utilized as a tourist attraction. / Photo by Yonhap News

The police plan to book Mr. A on charges including property damage.

Meanwhile, Cheongnamdae is a presidential villa established in 1983 under the direction of former President Jeon Du-hwan. It covers an area of 1,825,647 cubic meters, and it is reported that until the early 2000s, successive presidents visited 89 times, staying a total of 366 nights and 472 days.

However, on April 18, 2003, during the administration of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, the management rights of the facility were transferred to Chungbuk Province and opened to the public.

Since then, Chungbuk Province has been carrying out a project since 2015 to create and install statues and memorials of 10 former presidents at Cheongnamdae.

However, among these statues, controversy arose when the Chungbuk 5.18 People's Uprising 40th Anniversary Event Committee demanded the removal of the statue of former President Jeon Du-hwan last May. Responding to their demand at the time, Chungbuk Province promised to remove the statue.

However, it was later discovered that there was no legal basis for removing the statue, and in June, the province pushed for legislation of the "Chungbuk Province Former Presidents Memorial Project Ordinance," which restricts memorial projects such as statues and records for former presidents who have received prison sentences or higher. However, the ordinance faced backlash from conservative groups, and the decision was postponed three times from July to October before ultimately being discarded.

In particular, it is known that conflicts deepened recently as the plan to remove the statue of former President Jeon Du-hwan shifted toward preserving it.