Hwang Hyunpil: "I Have Never Denied North Korea's Invasion... Jeon Hangil Seems to Have an Inferiority Complex Towards Me"

"Attended Pro-Impeachment Rally for Yoon in Gwangju with a Heavy Heart"

Hwang Hyun-pil, a Korean history instructor and director of the History Correction Research Institute, said to fellow Korean history instructor Jeon Han-gil, "I have never denied North Korea's invasion," adding, "It seems that you have an inferiority complex."

Hwang Hyunpil, Director of the Institute for Correcting History (left), Korean history instructor Jeon Hangil. YouTube Hwang Hyunpil Korean History, Kkotboda Jeon Hangil capture

On the 17th, Hwang said on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "(Jeon) is someone who has studied history and lectured on the Korean War. You know what my intention was when I spoke," he said.

Previously, Jeon criticized Hwang for his past statement that "the Korean War was a war orchestrated, scripted, and planned entirely by the United States." On the 15th, Jeon took the stage at a national emergency prayer meeting held by the conservative Christian group Save Korea in Geumnam-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju, and said, "That instructor (Hwang) teaches that the Korean War was a war started by the United States. Who is the more accurate history instructor?"

Regarding this, Hwang stated, "I have never denied that Kim Il-sung, with the permission of Soviet leader Stalin, invaded South Korea at 4 a.m. on June 25, 1950," adding, "However, in the atmosphere that could become a stage for ideological confrontation during the Cold War, the U.S. forces withdrew from South Korea in July 1949, and China became communist in October. Then, in January 1950, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson publicly announced the Acheson Line worldwide. Considering these factors, it is possible to discuss the responsibility of the United States."

In January 1950, the U.S. government announced the so-called 'Acheson Line,' the U.S. Far East defense perimeter. However, South Korea was excluded from the Acheson Line, and there is a perspective that this judgment became a trigger for the Korean War. It sent a wrong signal that even if North Korea and the Soviet Union invaded South Korea, the U.S. would not intervene.

Hwang said, "In the process of discussing (the U.S.) responsibility, I first assumed that Kim Il-sung invaded South Korea with the permission of the Soviet Union," adding, "It means that the U.S. is responsible for not preventing Kim Il-sung's invasion, and that it is no different from a war started by the U.S., though I did not use the exact phrase 'no different.' This is what makes me very angry."

Regarding his participation in the pro-impeachment rally for President Yoon Seok-youl held in Gwangju last weekend, Hwang said, "At Geumnam-ro, where so many people died at the barrel of martial law troops' guns and blood was shed, an anti-impeachment rally was held," adding, "It was a rally that defended martial law, supported the leader of the rebellion who imposed martial law, and in a way, supported and condoned the massacre. This really crossed the line. I went down to Gwangju with a heavy heart."