Oh Se-hoon: "Next to Gyeongbokgung, Lee Seung-man and Lee Kun-hee Memorial Halls... Will Consult Citizens' Opinions"

Potential Site for Songhyeon Square Under Strong Consideration... "Preferred by the Promotion Committee"
"Negative Evaluation of Rhee Syngman... Must Address Both Merits and Demerits Fairly"

On the 27th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon explained the necessity of building a memorial hall for former President Rhee Syngman, saying, "The evaluation of the first president has been focused quite negatively," and added, "After objectively judging based on historical records, it is important to pass on to future generations that there were also merits."

On the same day, Mayor Oh said on SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "Looking at other countries, there are places that honor the founding presidents' achievements," and explained, "The Rhee Syngman Memorial Hall is not just a place to list and honor achievements, but a place where descendants can learn about both merits and demerits accurately and balanced from an objective perspective, according to the Building Promotion Committee." He continued, "Every historical figure inevitably has both merits and demerits," and emphasized, "It is absolutely not about only dealing with merits."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The site for the Rhee Syngman Memorial Hall is being strongly considered as the Open Songhyeon Green Plaza in Jongno-gu, Seoul, next to Gyeongbokgung Palace. The plan envisions the Rhee Syngman Memorial Hall on the west side of the plaza and an art museum exhibiting artworks donated by the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee on the east side. Mayor Oh said, "The Building Promotion Committee desperately wants that site," and added, "Initially, I wanted to keep that space as open as possible, but considering the size and number of floors of the memorial hall, it does not significantly harm the landscape."

He continued, "After tearing down the wall of Songhyeon Plaza, citizens liked the openness with views of Bukaksan Mountain and the vast green plaza behind it, so we set a principle to keep this area as open as possible," and explained, "It is a vast green space three times the size of Seoul Plaza, and the Rhee Syngman Memorial Hall occupies less than one-tenth of the total area."

Mayor Oh said, "If the 3-4 story Rhee Syngman Memorial Hall is built on one-tenth of the plaza area on the west side, and the Lee Kun-hee Memorial Hall is built on the east side, it will not significantly disrupt the landscape," and added, "We will ask for citizens' opinions after sufficient public discussion." He emphasized, "The Rhee Syngman Memorial Hall is not being built by the Seoul Metropolitan Government but the site may be provided, and the promotion committee is advancing the project through a national fundraising campaign," adding, "Cooperation from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the government is necessary."

Mayor Oh has emphasized the need for the memorial hall, including donating 4 million won to the Rhee Syngman Presidential Memorial Foundation last November for the construction. On the 19th, he also stated on social media, "For over 60 years, the merits of President Rhee Syngman have been deliberately ignored, and only the demerits have been thoroughly highlighted in a biased era," and said, "Although late, it is now a crucial time to build a memorial hall that can capture the balanced view of the first president's merits and demerits."