Kwangbokhoe: "We Cannot Trust the Presidential Office Saying 'We Will Not Promote National Foundation Day'"

Criticism of Statements by Kim Jin-tae, Governor of Gangwon Province, and the New York Consul General

On the 16th, the Liberation Association issued a statement criticizing Governor Kim Jin-tae of Gangwon Province and the Consul General of New York for their remarks related to the founding of the nation.

On the morning of the 79th anniversary of the August 15 Liberation Day, at the Baekbeom Kim Gu Memorial Hall in Hyochang Park, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Lee Jong-chan, President of the Liberation Association, is delivering a commemorative speech at the Liberation Day ceremony hosted by the Liberation Association.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Liberation Association stated, “Governor Kim and the New York Consul General publicly asserted the ‘1948 Founding Day claim’ at the official Liberation Day celebration,” adding, “Even if these remarks come from local government or institutional heads, they demonstrate how unreliable the Presidential Office’s statement that ‘President Yoon Seok-yeol has never promoted, nor will promote, the 1948 Founding Day’ really is.”

At the Gangwon Province Liberation Day celebration the previous day, after hearing the commemorative speech by the head of the Liberation Association’s Gangwon branch criticizing the ‘1948 Founding Day,’ Governor Kim questioned, “Those who claim the founding in 1948 are trying to legitimize the pro-Japanese, anti-constitutional Japanese colonial period. If so, that means the Japanese occupation never happened, and are we dreaming now?” He continued, “If the nation was founded in 1919, then since the country already existed, the independence movement would be unnecessary, and Liberation itself would be self-contradictory.” He further argued, “They are damaging the identity of the Republic of Korea by vehemently denying the 1948 founding with sophistry,” and criticized, “I believe this stems from a self-deprecating historical perception that ‘the Republic of Korea should never have been born.’”

At the Liberation Day celebration held in New York, hosted by the Korean Association, conflicting historical views also emerged. The head of the Liberation Association’s New York branch read a commemorative speech stating, “If our country was founded in 1948, this is an anti-constitutional and sinister plot to legitimize the Japanese colonial rule.” In response, Consul General Kim Ui-hwan in New York called it a “nonsense speech,” saying, “Liberation, the founding of the Republic of Korea, and what Korea has achieved today are miracles among miracles.”

Regarding this, the Presidential Office had already stated the previous day, “We intend to respond firmly to the baseless demands to withdraw the government’s nonexistent plan to promote Founding Day.” Despite clearly stating that there is no plan to promote Founding Day, the demand for the government to ‘stop promoting Founding Day’ is seen as a deliberate attempt to politicize the issue.