Generational Transmission 4·3·2·1_JMTour of Jungmun High School

Article and photographs by Lee Eun-gyun, a Jungmun High School teacher

Jungmun High School Historical Tourism Product Development Club (JMTour)

The era of the pandemic continues. Due to the COVID-19 spread, schools have experienced many changes, while having to routinize remote classes, quarantine, and disconnected conversation. Contrary to public concerns, however, students adjust themselves more quickly than expected to the changing environment and make changes accordingly. In this issue of “Jeju 4·3 and Peace,” the Generational Transmission 4·3·2·1 section will cover the members of the Jungmun High School Historical Tourism Product Development Club (JMTour). <Editor>

 

[Students pay silent tribute to the Jeju 4·3 victims after a tour of the Seodal Oreum Memorial Monument for Jeju 4·3 Victims.]

JMTour, a club at Jungmun High School, was established in 2020 to study medical and historical tourism. The JMTour members visit local tourist sites in Jeju Island to conduct research and promote the island’s history.

The members participating in the club activities this year agreed to develop historical tourism products under the theme of Jeju 4·3. These days, most local students have at least a understanding of Jeju 4·3 because elementary, middle, and high schools in Jeju educate them on Jeju 4·3 every year and to derive the value of peace and human rights from the historical event. The current goal of JMTour is to further the extent which students can learn about Jeju 4·3 by designing relevant historical tourism products.

“Since it became nearly impossible for people to travel abroad because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeju has become a more favored tourist destination. Tourists visiting Jeju seem to be traveling in search of beautiful scenic sites. In fact, the whole island of Jeju reflects the pain people suffered due to Jeju 4·3. I hope we can create an opportunity for tourists visiting Jeju to think about it.”

Based on the lessons learned from trial and error through the club’s experiences, its members tried to run the club for the 2021 academic term by developing and following a thorough plan. First, an online club room was opened to share opinions among upper-year and lower-year students, while continuously discussing the management of club activities. As a result, they set the goal of producing leaflets on Jeju 4·3-related dark tour contents. To achieve this goal, a five-stage operational plan was established as follows:

Step 1. Visit historical sites related to Jeju 4·3

For the first step, the students decided to conduct a survey in Daejeong, a region relatively close to the school and frequently visited by tourists. As field trips have been rare due to COVID-19, students were eager to get started. Taking a tour of Daejeong, the club members enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and took group photos, savoring the freedom they had not been able to feel in the classroom in recent years. However, there was one place where everyone naturally lowered their voices and felt solemnity at once, and it was in front of the Seodal Oreum Memorial Monument for the Jeju 4·3 Victims.

“I thought I knew about Jeju 4·3. But when I saw the monument in person, my heart ached beyond words. And I wondered why there are a lot of people visiting nearby Songaksan but no one here even though it is not that far away. I really need to tell people about Jeju 4·3.”

Step 2. Find Jeju 4·3-related historical sites scattered throughout Jeju

As the students became more intensely motivated, additional site visits were planned, but field tours were no longer possible due to the strengthened quarantine guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Given the situation, the club members engaged in activities in the classroom to explore historical sites related to Jeju 4·3 in Jeju instead of surveying them through site visits. First, the students zoned Jeju Island into four regions: the southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest. Then the students were divided into groups of four members to conduct a survey of data on the zone they were assigned to. It was a valuable experience where both the students and I (their instructor) could gather various information related to Jeju 4·3.

Step 3. Plan tourism products under the theme of Jeju 4·3

Students who secured various data in the second stage decided to select historical sites by zone in consideration of the traveling expenses, traveling distance, means of transportation, and tourist preference from the perspective of tourists. As a result, five places were selected for each zone, and the tourism product was named “Jeju 4·3 Dark Tour.” Then they arranged and selected the pages of the leaflet to be made by referring to several types of leaflets, followed by an in-depth discussion on its potential contents.

“There are already many leaflets related to Jeju 4·3. But they mostly feel hard and heavy. Promotional materials made by tourist businesses look rather cute and friendly. How about illustrating the historical sites?”

[Handwritten letters and snacks are carefully prepared to distribute to tourists with a leaflet.]

Step 4. Let’s express Jeju 4·3 with an illustration.

Six Classes were held during summer vacation. We invited a Jeju-based instructor specializing in illustrations and explained our goal to customize the course accordingly. Although it was given over a brief period, the students showed interest and followed the educational progress well. Illustrations of four zones selected at the previous stage were born one by one from the hands of students. Although they were far from perfection, that made the leaflet even more cute and friendly.

Step 5. Let’s promote our products ourselves.

The project was fun but the JMTour’s first Jeju 4·3 Dark Tour leaflet was produced with great difficulty. After printing 1,000 copies, the students had lots of conversations about how to promote it. They concluded the leaflets’ success will depend upon the sincerity with which it is distributed in the field. This means that the students decided to deliver their hand-made leaflets to tourists themselves. They also prepared many meaningful items to distribute along with the leaflets, including hand-written letters and snacks. I secured a large amount of camellia flower badges and camellia flower masks through the cooperation of the Jeju Office of Education. However, it was difficult to go outside due to the strengthened COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, and the waiting time was prolonged. Then in November, when the quarantine guidelines were eased, we were finally allowed to go out. Although the outdoor activities were still limited, the club members were happy to put into practice what they had planned. Leaflets were distributed to tourists in Songaksan, Saebyeol Oreum, and Sangumburi to publicize Jeju 4·3.

“To be honest, I was hesitant when distributing the leaflet. I was afraid at one point, thinking, ‘What if they refuse to receive it? What if they just throw it away?’ But every tourist accepted it, and not a single leaflet was thrown away on the road. I cried when people of my parents’ age complimented me and said they were proud of us.”

“What you put your heart into works.” As the saying goes, the students successfully completed their one-year journey.

In 2021, JMTour was selected by the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Office of Education to implement its Jeju 4·3 Peace and Human Rights Club Supporting Project. This helped run the club smoothly, especially in terms of budget. It is regrettable that the club activities planned amid the COVID-19 pandemic did not operate as expected. However, the students actively engaged in the project by setting a shared goal and helped organize lively history education through the exploration of Jeju 4·3-related historical sites. In particular, designing a tourism product themselves was an opportunity to build capacity before considering career opportunities in the tourism industry. They could also form a consensus that pain exists behind the beauty of tourist attractions on Jeju Island by promoting the tourism product through the distribution of leaflets. I have lofty expectations for JMTour students to grow to empathically understand the painful history of Jeju 4·3, going beyond just memorizing data.

 

News Focus

Jwa Dong-cheol, deputy editor of Jeju Ilbo

 

The bill to partially amend the “Special Act on Discovering the Truth of the Jeju 4·3 and Restoring Honor to the Victims” went into effect April 12.

With the enforcement of the revised law, 90 million won will be designated to compensate the families of victims who died or went missing due to Jeju 4·3. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security also decided to apply 60% of the said compensation (i.e. 54 million won) to those victims who have suffered residual disability caused during Jeju 4·3 with regard to the loss of their ability to work, on the grounds of the nation’s disability grading scheme and the fact that the victims lost the ability to work.

Meanwhile, 20 million won will be given as compensation to those who have been recognized as Jeju 4·3 victims of residual disability and whose degree of disability is difficult to determine.

For the victims who experienced unlawful imprisonment concerning Jeju 4·3, the ministry proposed to pay up to 20 million won as consolation money for emotional distress with the amount determined by the Jeju 4·3 Committee, which multiplied the number of days of imprisonment and detention at a daily maximum rate of criminal compensation (i.e. 364,000 won) as of the year the decision for the payment was made.

 

Gov’t to accept applications for compensation from June

The compensation application period for Jeju 4·3 victims is three years from June 1 to May 31, 2025.

The applications will be accepted by the Jeju provincial government, Jeju City and Seogwipo City governments, and 43 eup-, myeon-, and dong-level Community Service Centers. Eligible applicants must fill in and submit the application form (i.e. a written report) along with a copy of their Family Census Register either to the Jeju 4·3 Compensation Support Team of Jeju province or to competent agencies. Bereaved family members residing outside the province and overseas can only apply to the Jeju 4·3 Compensation Support Team. The required Family Census Register is a detailed Family Census Register that is issued by the General Civil Service Office of the islands’ city halls and relevant eup-, myeon-, or dong-level Community Service Centers.

The Family Census Register needs to be issued on the basis of Jeju 4·3 victims, not of their inheritors.

Once a written report is submitted, a preliminary fact-checking investigation will be undertaken to determine if the applicant is eligible for compensation. Then, after collecting the submitted reports by region groups of Jeju City and Seogwipo City, the application will be reviewed to ensure the applicant is deemed to be a rightful claimant under the Civil Act. Under this procedure, a family tree will be drawn for each Jeju 4·3 victim requesting compensation. It can be understood as a “genealogy” of each victim that the administrative office creates. The family tree is required both to check whether the applicant is the rightful inheritor based on the Family Census Register and to clarify the share of inheritance to be divided among the surviving family members. When the written report and the Family Census Register collated by administrative city offices are submitted to the Jeju Provincial Government, the Jeju 4·3 Compensation Support Team will check them again.

The ensuing procedures are as follows: 1) the deliberation of the Jeju 4·3 Working Committee 2) the deliberation of the Central Jeju 4·3 Committee 3) the payment decision of the Central Jeju 4·3 Committee’s subcommittee on compensation 4) the payment resolution of the Central Jeju 4·3 Committee’s plenary meeting and 5) the payment decision of the Jeju 4·3 Working Committee.

Under these procedures, the eligible claimants will be notified if they can receive compensation. Subsequently, the compensation will be paid within 30 days into the account of the claimant or claimants: the surviving victims or the bereaved family members of the victim. In accordance with the share of inheritance to be divided, the compensation will be transferred into the designated individual accounts of which the copies of bank books are preliminarily submitted. The number of Jeju 4·3 victims who have been recognized by the government since November 2011 is 14,539, including 10,425 people who were killed, 3,632 people who went missing, 196 people who have suffered from residual disability, and 286 people considered Jeju 4·3 convicts as they served jail terms under unlawful convictions. And the number of bereaved family members is 81,106.

[President Moon Jae-in presides over a state council meeting that deliberated and passed a resolution on the partial amendment of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act at Yeomingwan, Chung Wa Dae, on Jan. 4. Moon said, “It is a relief that justice came true 70 years after Jeju 4·3.”]

 

Compensation will be first paid to surviving victims and then in the order victims were recognized

Compensation will be paid by priority to surviving Jeju 4·3 victims who are expected to receive their compensation at the end of this year. The number of the surviving victims is 109 as of the end of February. Approximately 1,800 people who were the first to be recognized as Jeju 4·3 victims by the government on Nov. 20, 2002, will be the first to receive compensation.

The government allocated 181 billion won in the budget to cover the compensation to be paid to Jeju 4·3 victims in the order they were recognized. (A total of 1,800 will receive compensation in the first year of compensation.) Starting from July, the Jeju provincial government will accept compensation applications from around 2,000 people every five to six months.

According to the order in which Jeju 4·3 victims were determined, the applications will be accepted sequentially such as 2,000 people in January 2023 and 2,000 people in June 2023. The applications for compensation will be accepted for three years from this year to 2024, and the compensation will be dispersed over a five-year period ending in 2026.

In situations where the compensation is paid a year after it was applied for, interest at the one-year regular deposit rate at commercial banks will be applied as additional compensation for the deferred payment. In cases where compensation is paid after two years, a two-year delayed interest rate will be applied.

 

The surviving spouse and children of victims will be the first to inherit compensation

According to the Civil Act, compensation will be paid to both the children as lineal descendants of the victim and the surviving spouse of the victim as the first inheritors. The statutory share in the inheritance is deemed to be equal to the spouse and the children, with an additional 50% given to the spouse.

If the victim has a surviving spouse and three surviving children, for example, the proportional share in the inheritance is calculated as 1.5 for the spouse and 1 for each of the three children.

To explain it simply, if compensation is 100 million won, the spouse’s share of inheritance will be 33.33 million won, or 1.5 to the total 4.5 (33.3%), and the three children will each receive 22.22 million won, as each will take the statutory share of 1 to the total 4.5 (22.22%)

If the spouse and children of the victim are dead and the inheritance by representation is made for grandchildren or great-grandchildren, their share of the inheritance is greatly reduced.

If the victims died unmarried and childless, the compensation should be paid in the order of lineal ascendants (i.e. parents or grandparents), brothers and sisters, and collateral blood relatives within the fourth degree (i.e. uncle and aunt). And, if there do not exist inheritors within the fourth degree, the collateral blood relatives within the fifth degree can inherit the compensation in place of the inheritors within the fourth degree, so long as they perform the ancestral rites and manage graves of the victim or victims, such as mowing the grass. However, the inheritor concerned within the fourth degree must be a bereaved family member of the Jeju 4·3 victim in question. And it must be proved by the assurance procedure that the collateral blood relative within the fifth degree performs the ancestral rites and manages the grave of the victim because the inheritor concerned within the fourth degree died.

If the Jeju 4·3 victim was a person who did not have a family relations register as he or she was too young at the time of massacre or his or her birth failed to be registered, the victim’s brother or sister can request compensation. The number of victims recognized as having no family relations register by the provincial government is 894. Of them, 278 victims (31%) were found to have bereaved families. Additionally, 3,547 victims have been identified without any bereaved family member who has the right of inheritance.

In the case of a person who was listed on the Family Census Register (formerly called the family relations register) as an adopted son or daughter, he or she can request the compensation payment. But if he or she is listed only on the genealogy and not on the family relations register, their eligibility for compensation application will be refused. In addition, if a de facto spouse who is determined as a bereaved family member remarries, he or she will lose the right to claim compensation.

Under the Civil Act, each inheritor can apply for compensation individually or through a representative elected from among persons who have the right to an inheritance. The collective application must be accompanied by the certificates of seal imprint from mandators and the certificates of personal signature documents. Even if an inheritor is a person with bad credit, he or she can open an account and apply for compensation. The Jeju provincial government will send text messages to the applicants regarding the progress after the application for compensation payment has been made.

[On Dec. 9, 2021, people celebrate in the Meeting Room of the National Assembly Members’ Office Building to mark the National Assembly passing the amendment of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act.]

Correcting the altered family relationships should be implemented

The amendment bill also stipulates exclusions from compensation. Those who were determined either as persons of distinguished service for the state or as persons eligible for veteran’s compensation in relation to Jeju 4·3 and then received compensation or veteran’s allowances are excluded from this payment. This is because the current law prohibits duplicate benefits.

Furthermore, those who previously received compensation and indemnification in accordance with the past court ruling and the investigation results of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be paid compensation after deducting the amount of money that they have already received.

Previously, the court decided to pay compensation based on the so-called 8·4·8·4 rule in which 80 million won is paid to the victim, 40 million won to the spouse, 8 million won to the parents and each child, and 4 million won to each sibling. As 80 million won has already been paid to the victim according to the court ruling, they will receive an additional 10 million won.

During the historical turmoil of Jeju 4·3 between 1947 and 1954, there were many cases in which the birth, death, and marriage of Jeju residents were incorrectly registered for fear that they would be harmed by the guilt-by-association system that followed the massacre.

In addition, it was very common for surviving children whose entire family had been exterminated during Jeju 4·3 to enter their names in the family relations register of their grandfathers or their father’s brothers as their children.

If these family relationships are not corrected, the surviving children won’t be able to receive compensation.

Regarding this issue, lawmaker Oh Young-hun (Democratic Party of Korea, Jeju B) said “many Jeju 4·3 victims are in a situation where they are unable to receive compensation due to incorrect family relationships.”

“I will work hard to resolve the issue. After finishing research with an external institute to develop a system for correcting incorrect family relationships, I will propose a bill to settle this issue in the first half of this year. And I’m planning to allocate 100 million won into the budget as a government expense,” he added.

 

Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation and JDC jointly translate an existing commentary video into foreign languages and sign language

A new video touring the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park and Memorial Hall will teach people the world over about the island’s tragic history.

Produced under an agreement between the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation and the Jeju Free International City, the video titled “Walking the road to peace and human rights” provides those unable to visit the park due to the COVID-19 pandemic the opportunity to view the facility’s halls with artist and Jeju 4.3 Peace Park consultative committee and Memorial Hall head Park Gyeong-hoon providing commentary.

Hose Manuel, an international student from Mexico and a member of the 4th Camellia Supporter Group for Jeju 4·3, and Kim Na-yeon, a third-grade student at Jeju Jungang Girls’ High School who has won multiple prizes in nationwide literary arts contests regarding Jeju 4·3, also appear in the film to help viewers understand Jeju’s complicated history.

The video begins at the gatepost of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park, and moves to the Wall of Time, the Memorial Service Altar, the Memorial Tablets Enshrinement Room, the Tombstone Park for the Missing, the Ashes Enshrinement Hall, the Headstone Monument Engraved with Names of the Deceased, Sculptures “Return to the sky” and “Biseol,” and the Memorial Hall while the tragic details of Jeju 4·3 are revealed.

 

Previews are available on the foundation’s website and the YouTube channel. To advertise Jeju 4·3 to the world, the foundation and JDC also created English, Chinese, Japanese and sign-language versions of another commentary video, “Visiting the Jeju 4·3 Memorial Hall with Choi Tae-seong,” to help anyone experience the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park and the Memorial Hall without the limit of time and place. The videos are available on the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation website and YouTube Channel.