"Must be Noted as the 3·15 Uprising" vs "4·11 Democratic Uprising is the Official Name"
Changwon City Begins Statue Construction Without Consulting Commemorative Groups on Naming Opinions
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] At the central pier of Masanhappo-gu, Masan Port, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam, stands the statue of martyr Kim Ju-yeol, wrapped in blue vinyl and left unattended for a month.
The unveiling ceremony has been postponed due to conflicts of interest between related organizations in charge of the commemorative project over the name ‘4·11 Democratic Uprising.’
Although the bill concerning the restoration of honor for participants in the March 15th Movement passed the National Assembly a month ago, the statue of martyr Kim Ju-yeol has been neglected, causing regret.
Kim Ju-yeol, one of the students who poured into the streets of Masan in protest against the fraudulent March 15, 1960 election, went missing and was found dead on April 11, the 27th day after his disappearance, near Masan Port pier with a tear gas canister lodged in his eye. A week later, this led to the April 19 Revolution and the April 26 announcement of President Rhee Syngman’s resignation.
According to Changwon City on the 2nd, the unveiling ceremony was scheduled for the 30th of last month but was indefinitely postponed due to conflicts between organizations over the phrase ‘4·11 Democratic Uprising’ engraved on the memorial plaque.
The disagreement lies between the position that defines the democratization movement from March 15 to April 13, 1960, as the March 15 Movement, and the position that insists it should be engraved as the ‘4·11 Democratic Uprising’ since martyr Kim’s body was found on April 11.
Kim Jang-hee, president of the March 15 Movement Commemoration Association, argued, “April 11 is the day Kim’s body was recovered, and it is not an official date. If we call it the ‘4·11 Democratic Uprising,’ the March 15 Movement will be diminished.”
The Kim Ju-yeol Martyr Commemoration Association stated, “For 21 years, we have held an official memorial ceremony on April 11 at the site where the body was recovered, and since the statue was erected at that site, it is only natural to engrave ‘4·11 Democratic Uprising’ on the monument.”
Regarding this, a Changwon City official said, “The unveiling can proceed once an agreement is reached between the two organizations.”
The controversy began because Changwon City started erecting the statue without prior consultation, which has been pointed out as the city’s responsibility.
The naming dispute started last year, but the city began erecting the statue in cooperation with the Kim Ju-yeol Martyr Commemoration Association in February, spending 152 million won.
The 5-meter-high statue is made of bronze and depicts Kim Ju-yeol in a school uniform with his hand on his chest, rising from the sea.
The purpose statement for the statue reads, “We erect the statue of martyr Kim Ju-yeol, the eternal torch of democracy and symbol of East-West harmony, to inherit the spirit of resistance against injustice embodied in the March 15, April 11, and April 19 movements,” naming the ‘4·11 Democratic Uprising’ separately from the March 15 Movement.
Citizens’ eyes remain uneasy as they wait for the ‘agreement’ on when the vinyl tightly wrapped around the statue will be removed.
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