Hong Joon-pyo Criticizes Controversy Over National Foundation Day as "Dividing Public Opinion"

"Establishing the Republic of Korea on April 11, 1919, is self-evident" emphasized
Criticism of the 'Founding Day controversy' as "an unexpected dispute causing national division"

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu.
Photo by Yonhap News

Hong Joon-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, recently commented on the emerging 'Geon-guk-jeol (Foundation Day) controversy,' stating, "It is difficult to understand why the Foundation Day controversy suddenly arose, causing national division and turmoil in the country."

On the 19th, Mayor Hong wrote on his Facebook, "Before August 15, 1948, the Republic of Korea had a provisional government in exile, and the Republic of Korea was founded then," emphasizing, "Our constitution recognizes the Shanghai Provisional Government as the legal predecessor of the Republic of Korea, so it is evident that the founding date is April 11, 1919 (the establishment date of the Shanghai Provisional Government)." He added, "We can say that after inheriting the legal lineage of the Shanghai Provisional Government and recovering the territory after liberation, the Republic of Korea government was re-established on August 15, 1948."

Mayor Hong also said, "It is hard to understand why the controversy over (Foundation Day) has arisen, causing national division and turmoil," and explained, "If the provisional government officials had returned during the U.S. military government after liberation and re-established the government, there would have been no controversy, but due to the confusion between left and right factions, the U.S. military government did not recognize the provisional government, which caused the problem." He continued, "The basic elements of a country are sovereignty, territory, and people, and although the Shanghai Provisional Government was a government in exile, it was established by our people, had sovereignty, and only the territory was invaded by Japan," adding, "Isn't that why our ancestors devoted themselves to the independence movement to recover the territory?"

He concluded, "Tibet also has a government in exile, and Palestine has a government in exile, so it is natural to view the Shanghai Provisional Government as a government in exile," and "Before the United Nations recognized the Republic of Korea on August 15, 1948, the Republic of Korea was founded on April 11, 1919, and at that time, there was a provisional government in the form of a government in exile."

The 'Foundation Day controversy' began when Lee Jong-chan, chairman of the Liberation Association and the father and political mentor of Lee Cheol-woo, a professor at Yonsei University Law School and a friend of President Yoon, raised objections to the appointment of Kim Hyung-seok as director of the Independence Hall. Chairman Lee claimed that Director Kim was a New Right figure who supports Foundation Day and argued that Kim's appointment indicated the government's intention to establish Foundation Day.

In response, the presidential office explained that it had not considered establishing Foundation Day, but the controversy continues.