The pagoda tree in front of the old Jeonnam Provincial Office in Dong-gu, Gwangju, has been damaged by a typhoon and has fallen down. Photo by Yonhap News
The controversy surrounding the proposal to transplant the pagoda tree, which witnessed the tragedy in front of the former South Jeolla Provincial Office during the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, to the Blue House has been settled after it was confirmed that the tree in question is not a "child tree" but a "grandchild sapling."
On August 1, the Gwangju City Government issued a statement saying, "We would like to clarify misunderstandings regarding the pagoda tree in front of the former South Jeolla Provincial Office," and explained, "The proposal is not to send the pagoda tree currently growing in front of the former provincial office to the Blue House, but rather to send a 'grandchild sapling' that was grown from a cutting of the child tree."
The city further explained, "At the recent award ceremony for contributors to the 45th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement, an elementary school teacher from Gwangju proposed transplanting a 'grandchild sapling'?which had been propagated two years ago from the child tree?to the Blue House. The city made the same proposal to Huh Min, the head of the National Heritage Administration."
The city added, "Moving forward, considering the historical significance and symbolism of the pagoda tree, we will review and promote the transplantation of the 'grandchild sapling'?which is a sapling from the child tree?at an appropriate time, in full consultation with the teacher who owns the sapling, civic organizations, and citizens who cherish the pagoda tree. The current pagoda tree will remain to forever guard the final battleground of the May 18 Democratization Movement," the city emphasized.
The pagoda tree that witnessed the tragedy in front of the former South Jeolla Provincial Office, the final stronghold of the citizen militia during the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980, was uprooted and died due to Typhoon Bolaven in 2012.
Upon hearing the news of the tree's death, a citizen who had been nurturing a sapling that grew beneath the original tree stated, "I am raising a 'son tree'," and donated it as a successor.
According to an investigation by the National Institute of Forest Science under the Korea Forest Service, DNA tests confirmed the genetic match, and the sapling was officially recognized as the child of the original tree. The successor tree was planted in front of the former provincial office in 2014.
Since then, the Gwangju Practical Education Teachers' Association, which has used the story of the pagoda tree in various educational materials such as songs, musicals, and picture books, propagated cuttings from the child tree in 2023 to promote the spread of the pagoda tree, and some of these cuttings successfully grew into saplings.
Previously, misunderstandings arose regarding whether the tree to be transplanted to the Blue House was a "child tree" or a "grandchild sapling," leading Lim Taek, head of Dong-gu District, to write on social media, "The pagoda tree of May should remain in its place. Why should the symbol of May 18 leave Gwangju?"
In response, Mayor Kang commented, "I believe the proposal was to plant one of the child trees at the Blue House," to which District Head Lim replied, "If that was the proposal, I understand."
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