After Sawing, 'Barbed Wire' Installed... 5·18 Memorial Group Demands "Remove Chun Doo-hwan Statue"

Barbed wire has been installed on the statue of former President Jeon Du-hwan erected at Cheongnamdae in Cheongju, Chungbuk.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] The 5·18 Democratization Movement commemorative group in Chungbuk installed barbed wire on the statue of former President Jeon Du-hwan erected at Cheongnamdae in Cheongju.

According to Yonhap News on the 4th, the Cheongnamdae Management Office of Chungbuk Province announced that around noon that day, about 10 members belonging to the 'Chungbuk 5·18 People's Uprising 42nd Anniversary Event Committee' installed barbed wire on the wrist and lower chest of Jeon's statue. Barbed wire was also wrapped around the statue's information plaque.

It was reported that they had a scuffle for about 10 minutes with the management office staff who witnessed the scene over whether to remove the barbed wire. Eventually, they voluntarily removed the wire and left the scene just before the police, who were dispatched after the management office's report, arrived.

This is not the first time Jeon's statue has been damaged. Previously, on November 19, 2020, a man in his 50s, Mr. A, damaged about two-thirds of the neck area of Jeon's statue with a handsaw. Mr. A was arrested on the spot by the police who responded to the report and was subsequently detained.

The committee also launched a campaign to remove Jeon's statue that same year, stating, "It is shameful to have the statue of a military coup leader in a national recreational area." As a result, the controversy was settled by separately erecting an information signboard labeled 'Leader of the New Military Regime.'

Meanwhile, Cheongnamdae, built in 1983 during the Jeon Du-hwan administration, was used as a presidential retreat and was opened to the public in 2003 during former President Roh Moo-hyun's administration. Since then, Chungbuk Province, which took over management rights, erected statues of 10 former presidents from the first President Rhee Syngman to former President Lee Myung-bak to promote tourism at Cheongnamdae.