Kim Kyung-soo: "We Will Definitely Achieve Complete Economic Independence with Our Own Strength and Technology"

'The 102nd Anniversary of the March 1st Movement Commemoration Ceremony' held at the Gyeongnam Provincial Government Auditorium

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, pledged in his March 1st Independence Movement Day commemorative speech, "We will surely achieve complete economic independence with our own strength and technology."

On the 1st, at the '102nd March 1st Independence Movement Day Commemoration Ceremony' held at the provincial government auditorium, Governor Kim said, "Without economic and technological independence from Japan, the Republic of Korea cannot become a truly independent nation."

He added that it is an era in which it is impossible to predict when and how Japan's containment and economic provocations will occur again.

Governor Kim sharply criticized, "Even at this moment, Japan remains walling itself off from sincere reflection and apology for its history of invading the Korean Peninsula." He also pointed out that Japan, by deploying pro-Japanese American scholars, has attempted historical distortion regarding the Japanese military comfort women issue, but has faced a global backlash.

Regarding the 2019 export restrictions on key semiconductor materials imposed by the Japanese government, Governor Kim recalled, "This incident painfully made us realize that if we do not break away from an economic structure dependent on Japan, we cannot call it true independence."

Governor Kim Kyung-soo also conveyed his determination to discover independence activists and honor their contributions.

Quoting the phrase, "A nation that forgets its history has no future," Governor Kim promised, "We will continuously discover and systematically manage the history of the independence movement in Gyeongnam, local anti-Japanese independence activists, and independence struggles through investigation and research."

To prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), only a small number of attendees participated in the ceremony, including families of independence patriots, heads of provincial organizations, and heads of veterans' organizations.

The event proceeded in the order of the national ceremony, reading of the Declaration of Independence, presentation of commendations and encouragement funds to families of independence patriots, commemorative speech, singing of the March 1st Independence Movement Day song, and three cheers of "Manse".

At the ceremony, a presidential citation was presented to Lee Min-tae (born 1935), child of the late independence patriot Lee Chun-geun, and encouragement funds were given to two others: Kang Chi-yong (born 1949), child of the late independence patriot Kang Jong-wan, and Sung Seo-young (born 1952), grandchild of the late independence patriot Sung Do-il.