Special Feature

Jeju 4·3: Intergenerational Transmission of Memories and Tasks for Just Resolution

Special Roundtable Talk with College Students

Marking the 75th anniversary of Jeju 4·3 and the publication of Vol. 50 of its bulletin “Jeju 4·3 and Peace,” the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation invited local undergraduates for a special roundtable talk under the theme of “Jeju 4·3: Intergenerational Transmission of Memories and Tasks for Just Resolution.”

Attendees included Park Ju-yeong, president of the Student Union at Jeju National University (JNU), Kim Hyeon-ji, president of the Student Union at Jeju International University, Kim Seong-ryoon, president of the Student Union at JNU College of Ocean Science, Ko Joon-hyeok, leader of JNU’s Jeju 4·3 Club “Jeju 4·3 Camellia Trail”, and Han Su-rim, head of the PR team of “Camellia Supporters” at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation. On the 75th anniversary of Jeju 4·3, the students discussed the remaining tasks for the just resolution of Jeju 4·3 and the implications of its intergenerational transmission.

Editor’s Note: (Conference Room of Jeju 4·3 Peace Memorial, Feb. 9, 2023)

Moderated by Jang Yoon-shik, head of Memorial Project Team, Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation

Transcribed by Yang Na-woon, staff member of Memorial Project Team, Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation

Photographed by Kim Yeong-mo, staff member of General Affairs Team, Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation

 

++ Kim Seong-ryoon

 

++ Han Su-rim

 

++ Ko Joon-hyeok

 

++ Park Ju-yeong

 

++ Kim Hyeon-ji

 

++ Moderated by Jang Yoon-shik, head of Memorial Project Team, Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation

 

Jang Yoon-shik: Thank you for joining us today. As we have invited college students, we’ve chosen the intergenerational transmission of Jeju 4·3 as the theme of this meeting. I believe that each of you has a vital role to play in it. First of all, a move to establish a postgraduate program for Jeju 4·3 studies at JNU has begun. Shall we talk about the initiative and implications?

Ko Joon-hyeok: I find it very inspiring that a memorandum of understanding has been signed to establish and operate a postgraduate program on Jeju 4·3 studies within JNU for the education of specialized researchers and the creation of a systematic academic foundation in the field. However, I think that students should have more opportunities to learn about Jeju 4·3 in earlier education. Only when the step-by-step approach continues will we be able to make the most of the planned postgraduate program on Jeju studies.

Kim Hyeon-ji: I totally agree. We need to ensure a systematic and continuous course on Jeju 4·3 throughout the curriculum in elementary, middle, and high schools. If students fail to be well-educated on Jeju 4·3 in primary and secondary courses, they will be unlikely to be interested in it in college. Since 2020, Jeju 4·3 has been added to the nation’s middle and high school curricula for history classes. I expect that by gaining impetus from this move, a postgraduate course will be opened to grant master’s and doctoral degrees on Jeju 4·3 studies and help foster researchers more actively.

Han Su-rim: That’s a good point. In fact, there has been a constant demand for a program to train specialists with expertise in Jeju 4·3, but we have had only some elective courses at the university level. Now, the provincial government, the provincial council, and the JDC will jointly provide a budget for professional education courses, while JNU will operate postgraduate courses as well as research and training programs. I feel so glad that there is finally a green light for the arrangement of academic foundations for uncovering the truth of Jeju 4·3 and exonerating the victims.

Park Ju-yeong: I think that the initiative should also take the practical elements into consideration. First, we need to prioritize general education on Jeju 4·3 by running a mandatory liberal arts class prior to the master’s or doctoral program. Second, conflicts may occur due to different perspectives on Jeju 4·3, so we should be very careful in terms of selecting educators. Third, we need to ensure career opportunities or sustainable research opportunities after completion of the postgraduate program so as to stabilize the course and further encourage relevant research.

Kim Seong-ryoon: To lay the groundwork for public awareness of Jeju 4·3 at national and international levels, it is essential to establish a postgraduate program on Jeju 4·3 studies. Broadened research will help navigate the path to discovering the truth of Jeju 4·3 and giving a right name to it.

Kim Hyeon-ji: My university doesn’t even have a class on Jeju 4·3. Therefore, I’m planning to propose opening courses about Jeju 4·3. I’ll also try to work together with other universities in the Jeju region to engage them in diverse projects or events hosted by the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation and to continue to raise awareness of Jeju 4·3.

Jang Yoon-shik: I believe that student leaders and clubs have significant roles to play to draw students’ attention to educational and promotional programs about Jeju 4·3 on campus.

Kim Seong-ryoon: As the leader of the Student Union of the College of Ocean Science at JNU, I’ve always thought about how we can imprint the significance of Jeju 4·3 in the minds of our schoolmates. In Gwangju, for example, the May 18 Foundation and local college students have been holding the 5·18 Red Festa. They operate food stands and arrange plays and singing and dancing performances through which young students can reinterpret and reproduce the significance of the Gwangju Democratization Movement. This year, the members of our student union have also been making efforts to prepare a participatory event, rather than a unilateral one based on learning by rote, where participants can contemplate Jeju 4·3 together.

Han Su-rim: Last year, I joined the Camellia Supporters at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation and participated in different PR activities. We updated card news [a Korean news format for social media that visualizes major issues at a glance using images and short sentences] and video postings on Instagram and set up a promotional booth, “When Camellia Flowers Bloom,” during the JNU Festival. I felt proud because people showed more interest in Jeju 4·3 than I expected. It would be great if there is also an educational program for the Camellia Supporters. It will help the supporters to share even greater responsibility for their roles, without simply engaging in the PR activities. And, most of the promotional events are concentrated in April, evolving around the Jeju 4·3 memorial day. If these events are more evenly distributed throughout the year, we’ll be able to ensure continuity in the PR activities.

Park Ju-yeong: JNU took the initiative in the movement to uncover the truth of Jeju 4·3, which makes me feel increased responsibility. My schoolmates and I will build solidarity with other universities for the intergenerational transmission of Jeju 4·3 memories. In the same context, we newly opened the Jeju 4·3 Solidarity Team within the JNU Student Union. I believe that we all need to build an organic solidarity for the resolution of Jeju 4·3. We’re planning to promote the Jeju 4·3 Grand March in collaboration with the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation and actively work with other universities nationwide to carry out campaigns to raise public awareness of Jeju 4·3.

Jang Yoon-shik: There are remaining tasks for the resolution of Jeju 4·3. One of them is to give it a right name. This topic may be difficult, but I’d like you to share your thoughts with others.

Ko Joon-hyeok: I heard some students ask if it is really necessary to properly define what happened 75 years ago. However, I believe that we need to accurately perceive the history of Jeju 4·3 and clearly define its historical characteristics. To this end, we should have accurate knowledge of the circumstances at the time, that is, what happened around and after the nation’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Dividing the period of Jeju 4·3 based on proximity in time from liberation, earlier Jeju 4·3 featured a resistance against oppression by force, while the subsequent period could be classified as a period of massacre where countless civilians were killed. I want to call it “Jeju 4·3 Resistance” to signify that Jeju residents aspired to build a unified, independent nation, and that they took the initiative in that regard during Jeju 4·3.

Kim Seong-ryoon: In my opinion, we need to distinguish armed clashes between the armed guerillas and the counterinsurgency forces from the massacre of innocent civilians. I would like to define what happened on and after April 3, 1948, as the “South Korea Labor Party Disturbance,” given that it was an ideological conflict between the Jeju members of the South Korea Labor Party and the US Army Military Government in Korea. As for the events that occurred after Song Yo-chan, the 9th Regiment Commander, issued a proclamation on Oct. 17, 1948, I’d like to call them the “Jeju Massacre.” In giving a right name to Jeju 4·3, we commonly wish to exonerate the victims. This is why it is important to find the right name for Jeju 4·3 based on established facts.

Han Su-rim: Jeju 4·3 didn’t happen instantly but was prolonged over seven years. During these seven years, there occurred massacres, resistance, and counterinsurgency operations. It is deemed very difficult to describe this whole series of events with one term. Therefore, I think we need a new term that can better explain Jeju 4·3.

Jang Yoon-shik: Listening to your different opinions, I realized that we still need more research and discussion on what would be the right name of Jeju 4·3. We also have another task of clarifying the responsibility of the United States in Jeju 4·3. Mr. Park, could you share your thoughts?

Park Ju-yeong: Revealing the responsibility of the U.S. must be completed without fail, however long it takes. I think it was a significant move to hold the symposium with the theme of “Jeju 4·3, Human Rights, and ROK-U.S. Alliance” recently in Washington DC. The U.S. Army Military Government had branded the entire region of Jeju as the “Red Island” and carried out hardline crackdowns. Countless innocent people were killed in the process. We need to let the world know about the process and the history of resolving Jeju 4·3, which has continuously valued peace and human rights. A desirable path for the ROK-U.S. alliance would be that the South Korean government should make efforts for the U.S. not to turn a blind eye to the Jeju 4·3 issues and to draw out a sincere apology and reconciliation. The JNU Student Union plans to start a signature-collecting campaign to call for the clarification of the responsibility of the U.S. Army Military Government and the U.S. government for Jeju 4·3.

Ko Joon-hyeok: Club “Camellia Trail” of JNU has constantly interacted with history clubs of other universities across the country. I want to emphasize one thing. It was the U.S. Army Military Government that altered the thawing mood surrounding the April 28 Peace Treaty to hardline crackdowns. This resulted in the killings of countless innocent people and the devastation of the local communities. In discussing the responsibility for Jeju 4·3, the misconduct of the U.S. Army Military Government is always considered important. This shows that the U.S. Army Military Government shares a significant part in the responsibility for Jeju 4·3.

Kim Seong-ryoon: Of course, I think the U.S Army Military Government should be held responsible. Yet, I’m worried about the possibility that current ROK-U.S. relations might be damaged. Therefore, I think that specialists with profound knowledge of Jeju 4·3 should be appointed as members of the National Jeju 4·3 Committee. There should be no denial or derogation of Jeju 4·3 coming from within the committee.

Jang Yoon-shik: The U.S. President has expressed regret over the deaths of Korean civilians in No Gun Ri. It is one of the civilian massacres that occurred during the Korean War. When it comes to revealing the truth, I think apologies can translate into stronger alliances. Do you have any further comments on Jeju 4·3?

Kim Hyeon-ji: I am a Jeju 4·3 victim’s family member. So, I have recently applied for the payment of compensation. Preparing for the application, I learned that many victims and bereaved family members have yet to be identified due to inaccurate family registers. I felt very sad as a bereaved family member. The revised Jeju 4·3 Special Act initiated the indemnification for the damages inflicted by state violence, but we still have many other challenges. Jeju 4·3 is in the middle of the journey toward its complete resolution. I pledge that my generation will join forces in that journey.

Jang Yoon-shik: Thank you. It is regretful that we are unable to discuss more due to the limited pages in the bulletin allocated to us. I hope today’s talk gave you a good opportunity to think about the role of college students in the intergenerational transmission of Jeju 4·3 and to renew commitment to addressing remaining challenges.

Thank you for your participation.

 

 

Resolution of Jeju 4·3: Achievements and Contributions – Judge Jang Chan-soo

 

Vivid testimonies of victims’ families echo in court

Judicial healing underway

<Editor>

“The court judges that each defendant is not guilty.” Do you remember the retrial court ruling for some 1,100 victims of unlawful verdicts during Jeju 4·3? These were the people who had no knowledge of the law when alive. They became defendants without any idea about their charges and ended up going to heaven. Nearly 75 years have since passed. Some of the bereaved families stood before the law on their behalf. Unexpectedly, the judge reminded the audience of “living justice.” He allowed the defendants time to vent their pent-up resentment and sorrow, consoling the families mourning for their loved ones. Chief Judge Jang Chan-soo, a man who turned Chamber 201 of the Jeju District Court into a historically unprecedented court soaked in tears. After completing his three-year term in Jeju, he was appointed to the Gwangju District Court — Gwangju is where he spent his childhood. Before this interview, he and his wife had just come from buying flower bulbs in a sunlit, spring market and had planted them at home. During the interview, he said that all he did was just follow the legal procedures in the court, the last gate knocked on by those who desired to appeal for the acquittal of their unlawful charges. This is why he humbly declined to receive the certificate for an honorary Jeju resident registration card. Expressing his emotional ties to Jeju, he pointed out that there remain additional tasks to be completed.

Interviewed by Heo Young-sun

Arranged and photographed by Yang Na-woon, Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation Memorial Project Team

 

You began your term in Jeju in 2020 with the ex officio retrial for unlawful verdicts related to Jeju 4·3 for which you announced the judgment in December of that year. It has been almost a week since you were transferred to the Gwangju District Court after serving three years in Jeju. How does it feel?

Jeju is such a beautiful place. I was very depressed by the time I was leaving Jeju. Perhaps this is because I learned the painful history of Jeju 4·3 hidden behind the beautiful scenery.

I’m embarrassed to say that I was attracted to that very scenery and thus applied to serve in the Jeju District Court, but my earlier perception of Jeju 4·3 at the time of my appointment was way too abstract. My understanding was, so to speak, that there used to be an ideological confrontation on Jeju Island before the Korean War which resulted in Jeju 4·3 and the deaths of countless Jeju residents. Honestly, I felt at a loss when I received the retrial request for more than 300 defendants who had been convicted in the courts-martial.

Thoughts, ideologies, and institutions are designed for human dignity and happiness, while throughout history, there sometimes occurred cases where their ends were overturned and trampled by their means. It is said that we learn history so as not to repeat the same mistakes, but I am doubtful if we are properly learning lessons from the past.

I believe that there should be an accurate understanding of Jeju 4·3, humanistic compassion and comfort for the victims’ families, and movement forward towards true forgiveness and reconciliation between the perpetrators and the victims. I approached the case thinking that all of us still living need to stay alert so that no such thing as Jeju 4·3 recurs. This is a change in my perception which occurred during the Jeju 4·3 retrial.

Now that I left Jeju and started my term in Gwangju, I think you came to ask me not to forget about Jeju. As a judge in charge of the final judgment of the case in the Jeju District Court, I brood over whether I fully understood the feelings of victims’ families and Jeju residents and whether I failed to allow more of them to speak for themselves due to time constraints. I’m also concerned that I was unable to conclude the case during my term and had to leave in the middle. But I expect that my successors will carry it forward much better than I would have done.

You acquitted 1,191 people through an ex officio retrial. As a judge in charge of making the final decision, what did you want to convey to the bereaved families and the local community of Jeju?

Jeju 4·3 is one of the most tragic events in contemporary Korean history that took place in the time of the establishment of the Republic of Korea. Its truth was not completely discovered for decades, with embitterment of victims and their families piled up, layer upon layer. It was very difficult to examine the case due to the lack of relevant records. There were also ideological views toward the retrial, rather than focusing on the legal grounds. All of these are the factors that made proceeding with the retrial difficult. The biggest reward for me would be that the defendants and their families have been exonerated despite all these difficulties, while caring about one another.

In terms of content, it was hard to listen through each defendant’s desperate story without having empathy or becoming intensely emotional. The court would be the last place for a falsely accused person to appeal to. One of the functions of the law is to comfort those who fall victim to unlawful acts while rigorously admonishing those who commit crimes. The Jeju 4·3 retrial case, particularly, involved so many victims, which is why I left words of consolation for their bereaved families in the written judgment. The judgment in itself is pretty simple. “The court hereby judges that each defendant is not guilty.” I added some more comments to it for four reasons: First, for consolation; second, for reflection on the massive scale of lost lives; third, to pray for the victims to rest in eternal peace; and last, to show determination to ensure the case is properly remembered, without letting the memory fade. Hoping to convey these messages, I tried to use Jeju words, though not fluent, and quoted phrases from books and poems. One of the quotes was from your essay, “You at least spent spring feeling grief.” We all greet a new spring every year, feeling regretful about its passing. But the deceased victims didn’t even have a chance to feel the coming of that new spring. That’s why I wanted to tell others that we, the living, are to share a large part of the remaining task.

Would it be the reason? I heard that you proceeded with the retrial with the aim of “realizing justice in accordance with the law.”

It is as it literally means. Resolution of disputes through trials has the function of “realizing justice in accordance with the law,” going beyond the fulfillment of judicial relief for individuals. In this regard, it is significant that the retrial on Jeju 4·3 identified the cruel acts that had been committed during the past trials by investigative agencies and exonerated the related defendants by addressing the cases once again. At the same time, it reaffirmed that efforts had failed to abide by the Constitution of the Republic of Korea and its Criminal Act and Criminal Procedure Act. This relates to the context of “realizing justice in accordance with the law.” Here, it is important to be wary that the verdict of “innocence” for the defendants in the retrial does not correspond to a procedure to confirm that they were ideologically flawless at the time of Jeju 4·3. Allow me to reiterate that the retrial on Jeju 4·3 is not to determine the rightness or wrongness of a certain ideology. The court has no authority to make such a decision.

Did you happen to encounter any personal concerns during the retrial?

It would be a lie to say that I didn’t have any personal concerns. I think it was when I was ideologically questioned over my hometown and the content of my judgment. Therefore, I read books about Jeju 4·3 and Jeju Island, thinking, “I should first have knowledge of what my case is about.” Starting with “Jeju 4·3 Incident Investigation Report,” the official report on the case, I kept reading various books and articles, including Sun-i Samch’on, written by Hyun Ki-young, Jeju 4·3 Testimonies, released on The Jemin Ilbo, Jeju 4·3 Prisoners Who Came Back Alive, published by Jeju 4·3 Research Institute, Camellias Fall, a collective of works by painter Kang Yo-bae, Jeju 4·3: In Search of Its Truth, written by Yang Jo Hoon, former president of Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation, and Jeju 4·3: Questions for the United States, written by journalist Huh Ho-joon. Your books, such as To You Who Ask Questions about Jeju 4·3 and the series Jeju 4·3 and Women, containing vivid testimonies of elderly Jeju women, were also very good resources for my understanding of Jeju 4·3.

In particular, I remember feeling suffocated when reading “Jeju 4·3 Testimonies,” unable to pass onto the next page thinking about how those in charge of the coverage had felt. In the case of “Jeju 4·3 and Women,” three volumes have been published so far, and I strongly recommend reading them. Additionally, the testimonies by victims’ families I heard outside the court or directly from them in the court also helped me greatly to accurately perceive and understand Jeju 4·3.

Heading the panel of judges, all I did is respect the nation’s constitutional principles of prioritizing the basic free and democratic order as the highest value to pursue and to move the retrial forward in accordance with the laws enacted under those principles. I’d like to reiterate that a retrial is not a procedure to determine the rightness or wrongness of an ideology. Rather, it is the process of judging whether human rights were violated without going through due process. Social confusion has been aggravated recently due to extreme conflicts and confrontations over values. In that regard, I took a lot of things into consideration so as not to give the impression that I was biased to a certain side.

You heard in the court what you read in the book, directly from the bereaved families. The atmosphere in which they told their stories made an impression as they were sometimes crying and sometimes laughing.

I took into account “therapeutic jurisprudence,” one of the functions of the judicature. It was also intended to document their voices as a historical record. In retrospect, there are so many people who suffered severe damage but lived in silence for over seven decades without saying, “I suffered unbearable damage.” I hoped that although belated, their pain could be healed with jurisprudence by allowing them to speak out in court, saying, “My parents died under false charges and I also lived a life with unbearable hardships,” and to at least express part of their deep-rooted resentment and sorrow.

It still rings in my heart how each of the defendants’ families told their mournful stories in the court. An elderly woman cried out that all her elder brothers had been killed because of her and that her entire family scattered afterwards. Another elderly woman said that she sighed her whole life because of grief and waited for her child to return home, not knowing whether the child was dead or living. There was also a grandchild of a victim who shared his grandfather’s story with the audience. Jang Jeong-eon, former chairperson of the Jeju Provincial Council, recounted his memory of his mother who had no idea where her first son had been taken and prepared a bowl of clean water every morning to pray for his return.

And on March 16, 2021, the day finally came to announce the court’s judgment for over 300 defendants. I remember that for days I had ruminated whether I should dismiss the indictment or acquit them. One day, I was leaving work after handling trials the whole day when I saw victims’ families holding a press conference in front of the court’s main gate. I couldn’t bear to use the front gate and came out of the rear gate, thinking, “Oh… I’m in such a historical position today.” This memory will likely last for a long time.

Is there any improvement you felt while leading the trial?

I heard that starting from this year, the ex officio retrial for the victims of unlawful Jeju 4·3 trials other than the courts-martial will be assigned to the Jeju 4·3 Ex Officio Retrial Joint Task Force. It is a positive change. There are about 3,000 defendants anxiously waiting for a retrial, but at the pace of moving the retrials forward, I’m not sure how many more years it will take to complete the task. Therefore, I think it is necessary to encourage more defendants to request an ex officio retrial. The resulting increase in workload will be able to be carried out if the task force secures additional workers.

Concerning the next improvement, the applications for retrials should follow the order of the dates of when the judgments were originally announced in the general trials against the defendants. It is a perfunctory process.

Now, it might be a more concrete realization of justice to add material efficiency to deciding the order based on the specific sentence of each defendant. During the retrial process, I thought there was a lack of listening to the statements of the victims’ families. I hope that the statement-hearing process will be more solidified through consultation with the judges, the prosecution, and the defense counsels.

Finally, the retrial in the Jeju District Court currently involves a structure wherein one chief judge operates two collegiate courts. It appears that there will be a significant increase in requests for an ex officio retrials for summary orders from general trials. Therefore, I think that if the Jeju District Court creates a separate court in charge of the Jeju 4·3 retrials and appoints its presiding judge to head the collegiate courts, it will help grant more swift relief for the victims’ rights.

++ On March 29, 2022, the historic first ex officio retrial trial of 40 defendants, who had served prison terms under false accusations for committing crimes of insurrection or for violating the National Defense Guard Act, was held at the 4-1 Criminal Division of the Jeju District Court (Chief Judge Jang Chan-soo). (Source: The Jeju Sori)

 

It is prospected that there will be an ex-officio retrial for the defendants of general trials.

In my humble knowledge of legal terms, Jeju 4·3 retrials often refer to an “ex officio retrial” that the prosecutor claims for the benefit of the related defendants. But there is also a “retrial as per request” that a defendant or his or her family members claim as specified by law.

Prior to 2022, retrials on Jeju 4·3 were conducted only as per request, but with the general revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act, an ex officio retrial could be directly requested by the prosecutor. As a result, retrials as per request and ex officio retrials were first filed with the Jeju District Court in 2022. The generally revised Jeju 4·3 Special Act introduced a clause on the ex officio retrial for the defendants of courts-martial, while the legislature has been cautious about introducing ex officio retrials for the defendants of general trials. As is well-known, this is because it is evident that the courts-martial were related to Jeju 4·3, but some of the general trials may have involved defendants not related to Jeju 4·3.

Currently, the Jeju 4·3 Special Act does not explicitly introduce ex officio retrials for the victims of general trials. In this regard, the prosecution’s request in December 2022 for an ex officio retrial of the defendants of general trials is considered positive, although there still should be some improvements. In most of the general trials, there remains the written judgment, which makes it easy to confirm the identity of the accused and determine whether the crime is related to Jeju 4·3. Therefore, it is judged that the retrial process for these general trials will be somewhat easier than that for the courts-martial. I think it is time to consider whether it is necessary to revise the Jeju 4·3 Special Act to include an ex officio retrial clause on general trials.

What would be the remaining tasks?

Many people refer to “reconciliation and mutual prosperity” as the ultimate goal of resolving Jeju 4·3. It is also suggested that the day to achieve that goal will be when the Baekbi [a symbolic gravestone without an epitaph] in the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park will finally be erected. It is difficult for me to mention anything without being very careful because there must be many issues to be resolved and people have different thoughts and opinions. But at least concerning the retrials, I hope that you will consider the following points and work to find solutions.

Currently, requests have been made for ex officio retrials, irrespective of the convictions in general trials and courts-martial. But the eligibility of the defendants of these retrials presupposes the determination of his or her status as a victim as specified in the Jeju 4·3 Special Act. However, there are hundreds of defendants whose status as victims have yet to be determined. And chances are very low that the victim-status determination is to be made in the near future. The reason why the statuses of these people has not been determined as victims is that most of them do not have any family members left alive. Wouldn’t it be because the eligible defendant’s family members were killed without any trial at the time of Jeju 4·3? Although it is clear that the defendants suffered more devastating damage than those who died without family members did, there seems to be little possibility of restoring his or her honor through a retrial. Without a surviving family member, there is no one to request a retrial on his or her behalf. I am well aware that the prosecution is in a difficult position to request ex officio retrials for these people. If so, wouldn’t it be a remaining task for us to sincerely consider how to restore their honor?

Any last comment you would like to make?

The nation’s public has high expectations for the judicature’s role as the final authority to settle disputes. So, as a judge, it is very rewarding when not only retrial cases but all disputes are resolved fairly and rightly.

The retrial over the past three years is the fruit of your efforts. Undeniably, it helped discover the truth of Jeju 4·3 and restore honor to the victims. My favorite Jeju word is “Sunureum.” [Sunureum refers to the Jeju tradition of providing labor by turns to other members of the community.] Hopefully, anyone involved in this movement will refrain from being complacent about current achievements or emphasizing their individual contributions to those achievements. I expect that greater progress will be achieved by keeping in mind the ultimate goal to reach together over the long-term period of time, despite the difficulties. There remains a long path along which to walk.

 

 

Special Report

 

What does Jeju 4·3 mean to us?

Bishop Peter Kang U-il

Bishop Emeritus of the Catholic Cheju Diocese

 

A deep, rugged valley of trauma left in a victim’s soul

A few weeks ago, I visited an elderly lady who turned 93 this year. She is the mother of one of my close friends. Although I have known her for 20 years, it was the first time we sat together for a long conversation because before, I had simply greeted and asked after her when having a chance to see her. After retirement, I finally had time to relax and decided to visit her. It was a good opportunity to see how she had been doing. I had previously thought that she lived an ordinary life just like other stay-at-home mothers. During the talk, however, she told me for the first time about her direct experiences of Jeju 4·3 and the Korean War in her younger years.

When Jeju 4·3 broke out, she had been teaching at an elementary school. Soon, the police called in school teachers one after another for investigation. Male teachers were the first to be interrogated and forced to confess their connections with rioters. They were subjected to terrifying torture, with three of them shot to death in the end. Without exception, female teachers also underwent interrogation to extract coercive confessions. The elderly lady I recently visited was intimidated to confess to having connections to rioters. Having had no encounter or communication with anyone involved in the riot acts, she made a futile counterargument that she had nothing to confess. In the end, she lost consciousness after an unspeakable beating. Despite her simple description of “losing consciousness,” I could at least vaguely imagine how dreadfully she had been insulted, assaulted, and tortured. Even after all the ruthless beating, no evidence of suspicion was brought against her, and she managed to be released later thanks to her relatives who made desperate petitions to save her life. The feeble, young woman, outrageously beaten with a club, had no place left intact on her body. When greeting the daughter who had been thought dead but returned home alive, her mother applied medicine, sobbing, all over the body of her daughter who had been beaten black and blue.

What’s more striking, however, is that until very recently, the victim had never spoken of her painful experience of overcoming the near-death crisis, not even to her children. The shock and torment she suffered back then was so severe that she didn’t even want to think of it, letting alone share her memory with others. For decades, she had had no choice but to live with her mouth closed. After getting married and raising several children, she could not dare say a word about what she had experienced, for she feared whatever misfortune her children would suffer. Now that some 70 years have passed, the elderly woman finally began speaking after seeing people talk freely about Jeju 4·3, as well as being acquitted through retrials, and receiving compensation and reparation. The greater the agony and wounds one has experienced, the deeper and more rugged the valley of trauma in his or her soul. They can only just barely peer into it, and only after a long time has passed and memories have faded. The elderly lady told me, “You would never know how many more others lived in silence, embittered and wounded all their lives.”

 

Memory: An asset that links the past, the present, and the future

The tragedy and misery of Jeju 4·3 are important knots in contemporary Korean history that should not be tarnished and oxidized in the years of silence and oblivion. From antiquity to the present, we have slowly learned about the freedom, equality, and dignity of human beings through a range of conflicts and disputes, oppression and sacrifice, discrimination and resistance, and dictatorship and revolution. Experiencing so many hardships in different chapters of the long history, we have slowly recognized and assured that everyone is a dignified being with noble characteristics that no others can invade or damage, regardless of ethnicity, family, status, class, occupation, culture, and skin color. This mental evolution of humankind has been possible through “remembering” the past, correcting the misconduct, and opting for a better path. Therefore, remembering the past is a very basic but most important move towards the development and growth of human history and culture. People who cannot remember the past properly are unable to move forward and doomed to go extinct. Memory is a link that connects the past and the present and an asset that creates a new future. Farmers continue to farm their land, relying on the memories passed on from their elders about when to water rice paddies, when to transplant rice, and when to harvest. Fishermen build their work experience and knowledge, relying on the memories they learned by listening to their elders about which fish are caught at what time and at what depth, which bait they should throw, and where they should cast their net. However, although human society knew how to pass on these external, physical, and mathematical memories and technologies well, internal, mental, and ethical heritage often failed to be passed down intact across generations, easily disappearing due to deterioration and dilution.

Around the beginning of the 20th century, Japan, based on imperialism and nationalism, forcibly invaded and broadly colonized many of its Asian neighbors, turning them into battlefields and sacrificing countless lives of its own people and of those of others. Through the desperate defeat in World War II, Japanese people learned that the myths of imperialism and nationalism they had firmly believed in and relied on were a complete fiction, error, and reason for defeat. However, this enlightenment and knowledge is gradually fading and disappearing into the realm of oblivion as the 21st-century postwar generation, who did not directly experience World War II, occupies the majority of Japanese society. After World War II, Japan added a pacifist clause to its constitution that prohibits Japan from maintaining armed forces and permanently renounces its potential to wage war and the right of belligerency of the state. In recent years, however, the Japanese government has begun the move to turn the memory of peace gained at the expense of countless people’s lives back to nothing and reverse time and history. It has implemented phased plans to transform itself into a country capable of waging war by neutralizing the pacifist constitutional clause and heralding a huge arms buildup to secure capabilities to attack enemy installations. Meanwhile, the Chinese government views Taiwan as a part of its country and avows not to rule out the possibility of using force for its complete reunification. In response, the U.S. government professes that they will willingly send U.S. troops to Taiwan in any case wherein it is invaded by force. In the event of collision between the two countries, Japan and South Korea, where U.S. military forces are stationed, will have no choice but to intervene. If this continues, not only Northeast Asia but the whole world will face an unaffordable disaster.

 

Protect the nation’s self-reliance and democracy earned with blood and sweat

Korean society is on the verge of entering the ranks of advanced countries through innovative democratization and industrialization, which the world compliments. We owe this achievement to our ancestors and previous generations who suffered ineffable torment and sacrifice. Korean history has seen the exploitation and hardships during the Joseon Dynasty and the ensuing Japanese occupation, followed by the April 19 Revolution against the injustice and oppression of the Syngman Rhee regime after liberation as well as the sacrifices and resistance of countless righteous people against the 30-year-long military dictatorship. It is thanks to this history that authoritarian and oppressive state power has been relatively weakened and considerable consensus has been achieved that individual citizens should recognize and protect their inalienable freedom and dignified human rights. Recently, however, significant changes in national consciousness have been detected in younger generations without direct experiences of past hardships and sacrifices making up a large part of society. A growing number of generations have little or no knowledge of the suffering and adversity that our ancestors and forebearers endured and what hardships and burdens they carried until guaranteeing freedom and human rights as they are today. If historical transmission, which properly reflects on the memories of our past and conveys them to future generations, is not properly carried out, the fruits of noble democratization that were achieved with blood and sweat might be wasted in vain.

 

How to pass down the memory of Jeju 4·3

As Korea kept silent on Jeju 4·3 for more than half a century, many Koreans still lack knowledge of its truth. Even Jeju residents know little about Jeju 4·3 due to the silence of their parents’ generation and the neglect of educational authorities. A large number of residents have never heard of or learned about Jeju 4·3. We need to discern, identify, study, and remember what happened during Jeju 4·3, as well as against what backdrop it occurred, who should be held accountable, how many people suffered and to what extent, what aftereffects are continuing to this day, and what side effects it will bring to our future. And we have to recount and convey this memory to future generations repeatedly so that it will be revisited and remain unforgotten. For the transmission of these memories, all Jeju residents should become independent storytellers. In private education institutes, at home, and in society, the memories of Jeju 4·3 should be recalled, reflected on, and matured using various opportunities and methods. Poets with poetry, writers with literary works, and performing artists with music, plays, and films should embody and make current Jeju 4·3 and teach future generations about it. Jeju 4·3 should be established and utilized as a field for stronger and more solidified human freedom, dignity, and human rights. This would be our task and mission today so as to reward and live up to the suffering, sacrifice, and dedication of those noble, innocent people who lost their lives often not knowing what was happening or why it was happening during Jeju 4·3.

 

Bishop Kang U-il

• 1963 – Graduated from Gyeonggi High School • 1969 – Bachelor of Philosophy, Sophia University (Japan) • 1970 – Master of Philosophy, Sophia University (Japan) • 1973 – Master of Theology, Pontifical Urban University (Italy) • 1999 – Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (Sogang University) • 1974 – Ordained a Catholic priest • 1975 – Parochial Vicar, Yakhyeon Catholic Church • 1976 – Parochial Vicar, Myeongdong Cathedral • 1977 – Secretary to Bishop of Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul • 1978-1985 – Director of Education and Public Relations, Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul • 1980 – Ecliastical Chapter member, Seoul Archdiocese • 1985 – Parochial Priest, Nangok-dong Catholic Church • 1986 – Ordained a Catholic bishop • 1986-2002 – Auxiliary Bishop, Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul • 1995-1999 – Inaugural President, Catholic University of Korea • 2001-2002 – Vicar General, Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul • 2002-2020 – Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Cheju • 2005-2008 – Vice President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea • 2008-2014 – President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea • 2008 – President, Catholic Terminology Committee of Korea • 2013-2018 – Member of Office of Human Development, Federation of Asian Bishops Conference • 2014 to present – Chairperson, Jeju 4·3 Peace Awards Committee • 2016 to present – President, Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation • 2017 to present – President, Integrated Pastoral Center of Korea • Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Cheju (retired)

Publication – “A walk around the world with Bishop Kang U-il” (2012) / “Remember and build solidarity” (2014) / “A walk along the path of hope with Bishop Kang U-il” (2017) / “Thoughts from a forest path” (2022)

Translation – “In a crowd of people” by René Böheim (1982)