14.5 Billion Won Spent to Erect 'Park Jeonghee Statue' at Dongdaegu Station and Daegu Library... Daegu City Council Passes Ordinance

Statue is a ‘Park Jeonghee Idolization’ Project

Strong Opposition from Democratic Party and Civic Groups

Statues of Park Chung-hee will be erected at two locations in Daegu city, including Dongdaegu Station.

The Daegu City Council held a plenary session at 10 a.m. on the 2nd and passed a plan to build statues of Park Chung-hee at Dongdaegu Station and the Daegu Representative Library with a budget of 1.45 billion won.

Daegu City Council.

On the same day, while members of civic groups in Daegu were holding a protest in front of the Daegu City Council, the plan to build the Park Chung-hee statues was passed with 30 votes in favor, 1 against, and 1 abstention out of 32 council members.

During the plenary session of the Daegu City Council held that day, Councilor Yuk Jeong-mi (Democratic Party, proportional representation) expressed opposition, stating, “Even if many Daegu citizens support former President Park Chung-hee, the Park Chung-hee memorial project did not go through any public discussion process, and the city’s budget situation is not sufficient to spend 1.4 billion won.” She warned, “The Park Chung-hee statues erected in Daegu city will remain a symbol of Mayor Hong Jun-pyo’s autocracy.”

Daegu City will proceed with the construction of the Park Chung-hee statues at two locations, Dongdaegu Station Plaza and the Daegu Representative Library, after completing design and other procedures within this year.

Additionally, Dongdaegu Station Plaza will be renamed ‘Park Chung-hee Plaza,’ and the park at the Daegu Representative Library will be renamed ‘Park Chung-hee Park.’ The Daegu Representative Library is located on the site of the former U.S. military base Camp Walker in Daemyeong-dong, Nam-gu, Daegu.

Following Mayor Hong Jun-pyo’s directive to promote the construction of the Park Chung-hee statues, the Democratic Party Daegu branch and civic groups have opposed the statues for over ten days, calling them an idolization of Park Chung-hee.