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Korea to officially pay tribute to victims of April 3 Jeju Massacre

Korea to officially pay tribute to victims of April 3 Jeju Massacre

Posted January. 17, 2014 05:28,   

한국어

The government has decided to designate April 3 as a national commemoration day to pay respect to the victims of the April 3 Jeju Uprising. On April 3, 1948, right after Korea’s liberation from the Japanese colonial rule, Jeju residents rose up against the police oppression and the founding of South Korean government that excludes the communist North, and in the process tens of thousands of civilians were killed by military forces. Among the major resistance movements in the modern history of Korea, the Jeju Uprising has become the fourth people’s movement officially honored by the nation, along with the April 19 Revolution, the May 18 Democratization Movement and June 10 Democracy Movement.

The Ministry of Security and Public Administration announced that it would pre-notify on Friday the revision of "Regulations on All Kinds of Anniversaries" and the designation of April 3 as a national commemoration day for the victims of Jeju Uprising. Going through the authorization process, the designation will be completed before April 3 this year. Accordingly, the ceremonies that have been organized by private institutions will be upgraded to national ceremonies supervised by the government. During her president campaign, President Park Geun-hye had also said, “The Jeju Uprising is a painful history for all of us. (I) will make efforts until your agony is relieved.”

According to the "Regulations on All Kinds of Anniversaries," there are 45 national commemoration days in total. Among those are not only current and past holidays, such as Children’s Day, Memorial Day and Arbor Day, but also days that are not well-known to the public, such as Taxpayers’ Day (March 3), Law Day (April 25) and Police Day (Oct. 21).