Moon criticizes Pres. Park for not attending Jeju uprising commemoration ceremony

Moon criticizes Pres. Park for not attending Jeju uprising commemoration ceremony. April. 04, 2015 07:18. constant25@donga.com.

“President Park Geun-hye should have attended (the commemoration ceremony for victims of the April 3 Jeju Incident) at least once in two years,” said Moon Jae-in, chairman of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD).

Moon criticized President Park for not attending the commemoration ceremony in honor of victims who lost their lives in a bloody uprising in the southern island Jeju on April 3, 1948. At the ceremony held at the Jeju April 3 Peace Park on Friday, Moon, Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo and ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung paid respects at the altar for the victims. However, President Park has not attended in the commemoration event for two consecutive years.

Moon expressed his regret by saying, “President Park should have attended the event to commemorate victims of the Jeju April 3 Incident. The April 3 uprising was belatedly recognized and evaluated by special act establishment under the Kim Dae-jung administration along with the Roh Moo-hyun administration’s acknowledgement of the state’s responsibility and official apology.”

To Moon`s remarks, ruling Saenuri leader Kim Moo-sung said, “The April 3 Incident must be remembered in the spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness, to achieve the unity of the people in Korea. I believe the president would have desired to come to this ceremony very much.”

Presidential office Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Min Kyung-wook said, “(Cheong Wa Dae) would not comment,” refraining from official comments. During the 2012 presidential election campaign, President Park made a campaign pledge to designate the April 3 Incident as a national memorial day and kept the promise after her inauguration. The reason for the president cannot attend the commemoration event for the April 3 Uprising is reportedly because some hardcore leftists who led the armed rebellion of communist remnants and killed policemen and their families are enshrined in the Jeju Peace Park.

The government has requested the April 3 Commission, the organizer for the commemoration event, to re-evaluate 53 enshrined people who are at the center of controversy over being unqualified. But there has been no discussion in progress for a year.

As some raised an issue that Moon sparked a flame of ideology, an NPAD insider drew a clear line, saying, “The April 3 Incident is historical pain for the Jeju islanders. Moon brought the issue up due to apathy of the Park Geun-hye administration. He does not have any intention to start an ideological dispute.”