Controversy Over Bust of General Hong Beom-do's 80th Anniversary... "They Say They'll Remove the Independence Hero"

Woo Won-sik "The Roots of the ROK Army Are the Independence Fighters... Will Institutionalize"

Ahead of the 80th anniversary memorial ceremony for General Hong Beom-do's martyrdom, 181 members of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea, the Justice Party, the Basic Income Party, the Progressive Party, and independents have proposed a resolution urging the 'preservation of busts of independence heroes within the Korea Military Academy,' reflecting a perception that the history of the independence movement is being neglected.

Through the resolution, the lawmakers called for ▲ the Korea Military Academy to halt all plans related to the removal of busts of Generals Hong Beom-do, Ji Cheong-cheon, Lee Beom-seok, Kim Jwa-jin, and Mr. Lee Hoe-young, and to preserve the busts in their current state ▲ to stop all plans concerning the dismantling of the Independence War Heroes Room at the Korea Military Academy and to restore the Heroes Room within Chungmugwan ▲ and to legislate the legitimacy of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

Woo Won-sik, a Democratic Party lawmaker and chairman of the Yeocheon Hong Beom-do General Memorial Association, stated on the 25th on SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' regarding the jointly proposed resolution, "I believe it is necessary to clearly institutionalize that the roots of our national army are the independence army and the Korean Liberation Army."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Rep. Woo said, "In 1907, after the disbandment of the army, there was an armed uprising, which was the armed militia. That armed militia became the Korean Independence Army, and the history of this independence army led to the Korean Liberation Army. During the 36 years of Japanese colonial rule and about 40 years of oppression, we have a history of fighting with guns," adding, "Isn't it already specified in the Constitution that the Republic of Korea inherits the legal continuity of the Provisional Government?"

Rep. Woo also pointed out that despite President Yoon Suk-yeol's recent directive to "focus on people's livelihood rather than ideological debates" following the ruling party's defeat in the Seoul Gangseo-gu mayoral by-election, ideological disputes continue.

At the National Assembly's National Defense Committee's audit of the Army Headquarters held on the 23rd, Army Chief of Staff Park Jeong-hwan stated, "The founding purpose and intent of the Korea Military Academy is not to be a school for the independence movement or anti-Japanese movement," and criticized the fact that no ruling party lawmakers participated in this resolution.

Rep. Woo said, "I sent text messages asking them to sign the resolution since it was circulating, but not a single ruling party member signed it," and argued, "If the president's words are sincere, the starting point (for focusing on people's livelihood) should be to cancel the plan to remove and relocate the busts of independence heroes at the Korea Military Academy, which has sparked ideological and historical wars."