Special Discussion

The 90^th anniversary of Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement, and Jeju 4·3

 

Park Chan-shik

President, Jeju Culture Promotion Foundation

 

Memories of Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement brought back during Jeju 4·3

Late in June 1948, Kim Sang-hwa, a reporter for the Gwangju-based Honam Shinmun, published a series of seven articles under the title of “A visit to Jeju, an island of turbulence” covering Jeju while the island was in the vortex of Jeju 4·3. To introduce the outbreak of the chaotic incident, Kim retold the history of resistance of the Jeju residents as follows:

Needless to say, the Uprising of Lee Jae-su [the 1901 Jeju Uprising], which left a pioneering lesson of a revolution, occurred at the end of the Joseon Dynasty in scathing defiance of the government-inflicted oppression of Jeju residents. In another historic event that happened hundreds of years earlier, the enraged residents of Jeju Island, led by Bang Seong-chil, stood up against the immoderate oppression inflicted upon them by the governor, eventually correcting the administrative affairs. Other events under Japanese colonial rule, such as the struggle of residents during the nationwide March 1 Independence Movement, the well-known uprising of Jeju haenyeo, and many other movements led by students, also broadly spread patriotism and progressive ideas among innumerable young people.

With regard to the historical background of Jeju 4·3, the eyes of journalists from outside Jeju Island were on the 1898 Peasant Uprising (led by Bang Seong-chil), the 1901 Jeju Uprising, the 1932 Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement, and the like. These events brought up historical memories behind the uprising and the resistance movement of Jeju 4·3.

As this year marks the 90th anniversary of the full-scale Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement, the related historical memories have been revisited. In January 1932, more than 1,000 haenyeo in the eastern region of Jeju Island, including the Hado, Jongdal, Sehwa, Udo, Siheung, and Ojo villages, took to the forefront of the anti-Japanese movement. Due to the region’s extremely infertile land conditions, it was difficult for any woman in the area to survive without doing muljil (diving underwater to harvest seafood). It wasn’t until they began attending night schools that they became newly aware of the value of their muljil work, which had been deemed simply as a means to make a living. By taking night classes, haenyeo received modern, nationalistic education from young intellectuals who lived in their neighborhoods. They studied books written for the purpose of expanding one’s horizon, such as “Nongmin Dokbon” (“A Reader for Peasants”) and “Nodong Dokbon” (“A Reader for Workers”), while being taught how to read the Korean alphabet and Chinese characters, and even on how to read scales.

Entering the 1930s, the Jeju Haenyeo Association, which was supposed to guarantee the rights and interests of the haenyeo, became thoroughly controlled by the government, with its tyranny running to an extreme. Under these circumstances, Kim Ok-nyeon and other haenyeo organized a new association to solidly stand up to the government-backed Jeju Haenyeo Association. Eventually, their struggle against the Jeju Haenyeo Association, which began in December 1931, unfolded as a large-scale protest through gaining momentum during the Five-day Market days on Jan. 7 and 12 of the following year.

During the Jan. 12 protest, women divers holding jonggae homi (hoes used to collect seaweed) and bitchang (sickles used to collect abalone) rushed Jeju Gov. Taguchi Teiki and his party as they were passing through Sehwa Village, shouting, “If you respond to our demands with a sword, we will respond with death!” The Japanese police suppressed the protest by force. Heanyeo leaders, including Kim Ok-nyeon, Bu Chun-hwa, and Bu Deok-nyang, were arrested, but their anti-Japanese spirit did not break under six months of torture and interrogation by the police. The haenyeo’s struggle is considered in Korean history as a women-led public movement against Japan that did not occur in other parts of Korea during the Japanese colonial period.

[The busts of Kim Ok-nyeon, Bu Chun-hwa, and Bu Deok-nyang, the three leaders of the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement, were erected in Yeondumang Hill in September 2018.]

 

Historical memories of the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement leaders

The historical memories of the 1931-1932 Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement haves been clearly imprinted in the minds of Jeju residents for more than 90 years. In the decades following liberation, those who led the nation’s public struggle from the March 1 Shooting Incident through the Jeju April 3 Uprising accepted the haenyeo’s fight as an example of the resistance of Jeju residents. Under the military regime after the 1960s, however, Jeju-based historians evaluated the haenyeo struggle as a simple movement to protect their rights, rather than as an anti-Japanese movement for national liberation, because the victim mentality of the public and anti-communist ideology remained predominant.

With the heightening atmosphere of the democratic movement in the late 1980s, a new evaluation of the popular movement under Japanese colonial rule was made, along with the production of subsequent empirical studies. Moreover, the national level of independence merit bestowed on the key players helped the haenyeo struggle become recognized by the state as an official history related to the nation’s anti-Japanese independence movement. Those leaders, such as Bu, Kim, and Ko, lived with a clear memory of their struggle as an anti-Japanese movement. They were women who led the struggle in January 1932 in which more than 1,000 haenyeo members from the Hado, Jongdal, Sehwa, Udo, Siheung, and Ojo villages participated. On behalf of all participants in the haenyeo struggle, they negotiated with the Japanese-born Jeju governor. Bu and Kim were arrested by the police and suffered hardships for six months while confined in detention at the Jeju Police Station as prisoners on trial.

Bu became a haenyeo at the age of 15. It was in 1923 when she began to realize modern national consciousness after studying Hangeul during night classes offered by the Hado Village Common School in Gujwa. In 1928, the then-21-year-old haenyeo was appointed as the representative of the Gujwa Regional Haenyeo Association under the umbrella of the Jeju Haenyeo Association and served as chairman of the regional branch. Later, Bu remembered the haenyeo struggle and accurately recognized it as an anti-Japanese struggle. Compared to what she remembered, her ties with the Hyeogwoo Alliance and her guiding local youth remained uncovered. Social activists have simply been remembered as the masterminds behind the struggle. For Bu, the red complex of Jeju 4·3 overlaps with her memory of the haenyeo struggle. She said in a testimony, “I returned to my hometown after national liberation and experienced Jeju 4·3. When the counterinsurgency forces left, I suffered another ordeal. At the time, each village had people write a letter of repentance, which I persistently refused. I said I would write a letter of repentance if they told me what I had done wrong. Then, out of nowhere, they mentioned the haenyeo struggle. I scolded them. The haenyeo struggle happened in early spring when I was 24 years old. Now it’s been more than 50 years since then. That incident chased me all my life.” This testimony shows that social memories of the haenyeo struggle and personal memories collide while experiencing the turmoil of Jeju 4·3.

Kim Ok-nyeon started performing muljil when she was nine years old. Being a good diver, Kim ranked first or second among the divers of her age. Despite the opposition of her parents, she went to night school and became educated. Later, she remembered that attending night school had been an important turning point in her life. She recalled, “I encountered a really good opportunity, which made a big turning point in my life. I mean when a night study center opened in my village, I used my evening hours to flee my parents’ opposition and study in the center. This lasted for two years. By attending night school, I met my husband and formed a relationship with those who led the haenyeo struggle with me. During the Japanese colonial period, the night school provided education mainly for conscious young male intellectuals as part of the independence movement; and on the other hand, it created opportunities for women to study as well. As independence movements were easily detected and suppressed at the time, the teachers worked to enlighten the public nationwide as an indirect and long-term preparation for independence.” According to her testimony, the haenyeo movement was “an organized anti-Japanese struggle led by Bu Chun-hwa and myself, who had been taught by Oh Moon-kyu and Kim Soon-jong, core members of the Jeju Island Youth Council”.

She was arrested by the Japanese imperial police for playing a main role in the haenyeo struggle, for which she spent six months in jail. While being interrogated, she was beaten with a cow whip, she had her arms twisted behind her back, and was forced to kneel on a wooden bar several times. During her testimony, she also remembered night school teachers who had taught her Hangeul and the history of the Korean people, while escaping the vigilance of the Japanese government, as well as young people affiliated with the socialist movement who had been imprisoned along with her for their involvement in the haenyeo struggle. Later, she married Han Young-taek, a young man from Jongdal Village who protested along with her in the haenyeo struggle. After national liberation, however, she would never see her husband again as he made the voyage to Japan and then to North Korea during the repatriation of Korean residents. The pain the leading actors of the haenyeo struggle suffered due to their participation in the anti-Japanese movement was compounded by the events following national liberation, such as Jeju 4·3 and national division.

The South Korean government has taken the process of recognizing the series of academic and local government achievements to remember the haenyeo struggle as an anti-Japanese movement. On Aug. 15, 2003, the government officially declared the struggle as an anti-Japanese independence movement by awarding two haenyeo members (Bu Chun-hwa and Kim Ok-nyeon) and two members of the Hyeogwoo Alliance (Moon Do-bae and Han Won-taek) the independence merit for their efforts. Subsequently, the selection of additional winners of the merit were announced on March 1, 2005, including to Kang Chang-bo, who had taken responsibility for the Jeju branch of the socialist group of Yacheika, and Kang Kwan-soon, Kim Seong-oh, and Kim Soon-jong, who had been members of the Hyeogwoo Alliance. On Aug. 15, 2005, the independence merit was also presented to Bu Deok-nyang (the other member of the three main actors of the haenyeo struggle), Shin Jae-hong (the virtual leader of the Hyeogwoo Alliance), and Chae Jae-oh (a member of the Hyeogwoo Alliance). With this, the haenyeo struggle gained the status of a nationally recognized anti-Japanese independence movement and regained its place following repressed under the anti-communist regimes in the history of Korea’s democracy movement.

[The first graduation photo of the Hado Night Study Center: The five main actors of the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement, including Bu Chun-hwa, Kim Ok-nyeon, Bu Deok-nyang, Ko Soon-hyo (also known as Ko Cha-dong), and Kim Gye-seok, were all graduates of the first class.]

 

The 90^th anniversary of Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement

During the National Liberation Day ceremony on Aug. 15, 2018, President Moon Jae-in mentioned the history of the 1932 Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement in his congratulatory speech. President Moon said, “In 1932, Gujwa-eup on Jeju Island was the epicenter of the female divers’ anti-Japanese resistance, which was sparked by five divers: Ko Cha-dong, Kim Gye-seok, Kim Ok-nyeon, Bu Deok-nyang and Bu Chun-hwa. The anti-Japanese movement spread among 800 female divers, and approximately 17,000 women participated in 238 rallies in total during three months. Now a monument to the Jeju female divers’ anti-Japanese movement stands in Gujwa-eup.” He also said, “Any endeavor made for liberation will certainly be given due credit and legitimate esteem. The government will identify more accounts of the independence movement without discrimination on the basis of one’s gender or role. I believe that the complete identification of the independence movement’s unknown history and independence activists will be the consummation of yet another liberation.”

The 1932 Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement is a people’s movement that holds an important position in the history of the anti-Japanese independence movement during the Japanese colonial era. Above all, the movement is unique in that the main agents were female divers. It is the largest anti-Japanese movement to take place on Jeju Island during the Japanese colonial era, with some 17,000 people participating, and at the same time, it is the largest fishers’ uprising in Korea. It is also evaluated as an organizational anti-Japanese movement that had an organic connection with the youth social movement in Jeju.

Under the anti-communist regimes, which caused the collective deaths of tens of thousands of residents during Jeju 4·3 and its subsequent suppression, the haenyeo struggle was long regarded as an impure movement connected to socialist activists, where the main actors of the struggle were suppressed. The memory of the fight for national independence had been hidden. Local historians shrunk the memory of the haenyeo struggle by documenting the case merely as a movement of haenyeo to protect their livelihood. The memory of the haenyeo struggle was returned to its rightful place as a result of the liberalization and democratization of Korean society.

The memory was handed down as an official one in such efforts as the compilation of The History of Jeju Anti-Japanese Independence Movements and The Annals of Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Struggle, the construction of the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement Memorial Tower, the creation of the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement Memorial Park and the Jeju Haenyeo Museum, the hosting of the commemorative ceremony for the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement, and the erection of a bust of the main actors.

The Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement was an organized and systematic struggle against economic discrimination, exploitation, and oppression by the Japanese during the harsh Japanese colonial era. The movement went beyond the boundaries of the haenyeo community to receive support from other Jeju residents, developing into an islandwide movement.

The Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement was revived as a historical memory during the Jeju 4·3 resistance following liberation. Newspaper articles conveying the public sentiment of Jeju residents at the time of Jeju 4·3 described the resistant atmosphere against the tyranny of external forces, represented by the Northwest Youth League and their supportive police forces, by comparing it to the haenyeo struggle against Japanese imperialism.

In marking the 90th anniversary of the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement today, Jeju residents stand in another place demanding a transition of the times. It is necessary to reflect on the historical significance of the resistance movements in Jeju, which have striven to protect the self-esteem and identity of the community through the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement and Jeju 4·3.

Voted on Nov. 9…new clause designating 90 million won per victim included

Revision collectively welcomed by 4·3-related institutes and organizations

The revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act is celebrated on Dec. 9, 2021, by Hyun Ki-young, a novelist, Oh Im-jong, chairman of the Association of the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4·3 Victims, Song Seung-moon, former chairman of the Association of the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4·3 Victims, Koo Man-seop, acting governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jwa Nam-soo, chairman of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial council, Yang Jo Hoon, director of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation, and members of the National Assembly and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council.

The motion on the partial revision of the Special Act on Discovering the Truth of Jeju 4·3 and Restoration of Honor to the Victims (Jeju 4·3 Special Act) made the final legal hurdle by being passed at the National Assembly plenary session.

Late on Dec. 9, 2021, the National Assembly held the 14^th plenary meeting of its 391^st regular session and held a vote on the bill on the revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act.

Rep. Oh Young-hun, who proposed the revision on Oct. 28, represented those who made joint signatures, explained the purpose of the bill, and followed with a report on the examination of the bill. The bill was put to vote with the presence of 177 out of 295 incumbent council members. The passing of the proposed revision was determined with 169 affirmative and 8 blank votes.

The revised statutes detail the equal provision of 90 million won to each Jeju 4·3 victim (including those who died or disappeared due to Jeju 4·3) to fully compensate for any psychological damage (in the form of consolation money) and/or immediate damage caused. “Compensation money” has been selected to define both indemnification and compensation in the section titled “Provision of Special Support Including Consolation Money, etc.”

The clause also determines that those who bear residual harm or who experienced unlawful conviction will be paid the compensation money of not more than 90 million won. In inheritance of compensation money, persons become inheritors in the order of the ancestor’s spouse and lineal descendants (i.e. children and grandchildren), the ancestor’s lineal ascendants (i.e. parents and grandparents), the ancestor’s brothers and sisters, and the ancestor’s collateral blood relatives within the fourth degree. If the ancestor has no inheritor who is at least his or her fourth-degree blood relative, a relative within the fifth degree will be recognized as holding the right of inheritance on the condition that the relative performs the victim’s ancestral rites or maintains his or her grave.

The Jeju 4·3 Committee, a national body responsible for matters relevant to Jeju 4·3 issues, will establish a deliberation subcommittee to pay the compensation money through the subcommittee’s deliberations and decisions.

A clause was also added to the revised act that stipulates the exoneration of 2,530 victims who were unlawfully convicted during the two courts-martial in 1948 and 1949 by entitling the prosecutor to request ex officio retrials for their collective cases. Another additional clause stipulates that the victims shall not be prohibited from claiming criminal compensation under the Act on Criminal Compensation and Restoration of Impaired Reputation even after receiving the compensation money.

The bill also contains a new clause prescribing the interest in arrears. This clause was once at risk of being deleted because ministries and government departments had failed to reach an agreement.

During the deliberation process, however, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly decided to delete the special clauses on individual lawsuits demanding affiliation and marriage. Originally, these clauses were proposed to exonerate the victims whose birth or marriage failed to be recorded properly due to Jeju 4·3 by correcting their family relations registers. The Court Administration has expressed objection to the creation of these statutes with concerns over the possibility that approval of such cases may cause instability to the systems of the Act on Registration of Family Relations and the Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act.

To complement the deleted clauses, the Ministry of Interior and Safety plans to assign an external agency in January 2022 to undertake research on institutional enhancement for the correction of incorrectly recorded family relations between the Jeju 4·3 victims and their spouses and/or children.

The National Assembly voting results for the bill on the revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act show no negative votes.

The passage of the motion at the National Assembly plenary session was highly praised by institutes and organizations related to Jeju 4·3.

The Association of the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4·3 Victims (chairman: Oh Im-jong) announced that the association welcomes the decision, saying that “the revision has set up a new milestone which will enable Jeju 4·3 to be proudly established as a pivotal point in Korean history so that the nation’s past wrongful events will be justly resolved.”

The association also noted that the latest revision is highly significant in that state authorities will be held accountable for Jeju 4·3, and corresponding national compensation will be made for the damage to victims. However, victims’ families expressed regret about the deletion of the special clauses concerning family relations because their absence will highly likely exclude those de facto family members of the victims from the categories of persons holding the rights of inheritance under the current law. In-depth discussions need to promptly take place to complement and overcome the aforementioned issues, they emphasized. Expressing gratitude to their fellow citizens who have supported the revision, the Jeju 4·3 victims’ families asked for continued active participation throughout the course of justly resolving Jeju 4·3.

The Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation (president: Yang Jo Hoon) also issued a statement to welcome the National Assembly’s decision. According to the foundation, the revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act realized national compensation for the damage, which is considered a symbolic measure for the restoration of honor to the victims. This proved once again that Jeju 4·3 is an exemplary solution to the nation’s past wrongdoings in contemporary history, it stressed. Concluding the statement, the foundation expressed its determination to strengthen cooperation with related parties so that the measures ensuing the revision will be addressed in a prompt and seamless manner.

The Jeju 4·3 Research Institute (president: Lee Kyu-bae; director: Huh Young Seon) explained in its announcement that the government-level research on institutional improvement will be conducted in the following year since the bill has been passed with the special clauses concerning family relations deleted. “As the bill fails to fulfill the long-cherished wish of the bereaved families, we will pay keen attention to whether or not the research project is properly managed,” it emphasized. The institute also clearly stated that “The Jeju 4·3 Special Act must be legislation not for exclusion but for inclusion,” calling for proactive interest in the resolution of the so-called ‘excluded victims.’

The Jeju 4·3 Commemorative Project Committee, the Pan National Committee for Jeju 4·3, and the Association of Jeju 4·3 Victims’ Bereaved Young Family Members in Seoul also welcomed the passage of the bill, with an additional comment stressing the necessity of completing the remaining tasks to resolve Jeju 4·3.

The Joint Memorial Ceremony Commemorating the 73^rd Anniversary of Yeo-Sun 10·19

The Jeollanamdo Provincial Institute of Korean Traditional Performing Arts performs a requiem dance for the Yeo-Sun 10·19 victims.

Joint memorial ceremony commemorating the 73^rd anniversary of Yeo-Sun 10·19

Early in the morning on Oct. 19, 2021, citizens started to gather one by one in Yi Sun Sin Square in Yeosu, where the sculpture of the Geobukseon [turtle ship] stands. The badge attached to each visitor’s jacket stood out, as the camellia flower design symbolizes the victims of the October 19 Yeosu-Suncheon Incident (Yeo-Sun 10·19). As if proving the ‘twinship’ relations, Yeo-Sun 10·19 and Jeju 4·3 continue to have close ties across the sea even after 73 years have passed since the two events broke out in 1948. Before the memorial ceremony, the National Assembly decided during its plenary session on June 29 to pass the bill on the legislation of the Special Act on Discovering the Truth of the Yeosu-Suncheon 10.19 Incident and Restoration of Honor to the Victims (Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Act). The monumental achievement after 73 years heightened the atmosphere of the memorial event.

The sky was blue and the weather was clear on the day of the joint memorial ceremony commemorating the 73^rd anniversary of the Yeo-Sun 10·19. The ceremony was co-hosted by Jeollanamdo Province and the Association of the Bereaved Families of Yeo-Sun 10·19 Victims. Due to COVID-19 quarantine guidelines and social distancing rules, the number of participants was limited to 90.

Distinguished guests attend the joint memorial ceremony commemorating the 73^rd anniversary of Yeo-Sun 10·19.

Key figures in the Yeosu and Suncheon regions participated in the ceremony, including Kim Yung-rok, governor of Jeollanamdo Province, Kim Han-jong, chairman of the Jeollanamdo Provincial Assembly, Jung Keun-sik, president of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Jang Suk-woong, superintendent of the Jeollanamdo Provincial Office of Education, and Kwon O-bong, mayor of Yeosu City. The participants from political circles featured Rep. Song Young-gil, Leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, and lawmakers from the region’s constituencies, including Rep. Joo Cheol-hyeon, Rep. Kim Hoijae, and Rep. Lee Yongbin. President Moon Jae-in, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, and Lee Jun-seok, head of the People Power Party, sent floral tributes to express their consolation for the souls of the deceased and their families.

The Jeju 4·3-related authorities and organizations also sent a delegation including Lee Seok-moon, superintendent of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education, Oh Im-jong, chairman of the Association of the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4·3 Victims, Yang Jo Hoon, president of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation, and Huh Young Seon, director of the Jeju 4·3 Research Institute.

Prior to the memorial ceremony, condolences were paid through a requiem dance performed by the Jeollanamdo Provincial Institute of Korean Traditional Performing Arts, the reading of a story told by a victim’s family member, and a memorial choral singing performed by the Yeosu City Choir.

“My grandmother used to feel saddened by the fact that the lack of education and the resulting poverty recurred in our family, generation after generation. She had waited all her life for her missing husband, living a harsh life in silence. She passed away this year, when the bill on the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Act was passed at the National Assembly. Now that the bill has been passed, I hope that my grandparents will put down all their worries, pains, and sorrows and be reunited in the other world, visiting Yeosu and Suncheon on a fine spring day. Grandma, I love you and thank you. May you rest in peace.”

Seo Yeong-no, a victim’s grandchild, read a letter, titled “Dear Grandpa and Grandma”, and shared the story of his grandparents who were the victims of ideological conflict.

The memorial program followed the consolatory event, under the theme “Yeo-Sun 10·19: Flowers of Truth Are in Bloom”. At 10 a.m., the memorial ceremony began with a siren sounding throughout Yeosu City, requesting a silent tribute to be paid to the victims. The event then proceeded with the screening of a video, after which key participants laid flowers and burned incense on the altar for the deceased. The floral tribute and incense burning was followed by memorial speeches by distinguished guests as well as stage performances by the Jeollanamdo Provincial Institute of Korean Traditional Performing Arts.

Prime Minister Kim said in his memorial video message that Yeo-Sun 10·19 remains an unresolved issue in contemporary Korean history. Kim described the case as “the most painful historical event”, which must not be glossed over just because decades have passed. The leader of the ministries also promised that the government will spare no effort in exonerating the victims and their bereaved families through the activities of the Committee on Discovering the Truth of Yeo-Sun 10·19 and Restoration of Honor to the Victims (Yeo-Sun 10·19 Committee), which is slated to be launched in 2022.

Song, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, also stated that his party members will make incessant efforts until the scars from Yeo-Sun 10·19 are fully healed and until the honor of the victims is restored. The five-term legislator also received an ovation for his pledge to work for the designation of Oct. 19, the day Yeo-Sun 10·19 began, as a national memorial day. As the presidential election is taking place in less than a year, the ruling party leader expected that he will be able to attend the joint memorial ceremony next year, accompanying the fourth president from his party.

Park Seong-tae, chairman of the Association of the Bereaved Families of Yeo-Sun 10·19 Victims, said he was three years old when his father passed away due to Yeo-Sun 10·19. The 76-year-old survivor performed a kneeling bow, expressing his gratitude for the enactment of the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Act.

Yeo-Sun 10·19 was sparked on Oct. 19, 1948, when members of the nation’s 14^th constabulary regiment based in Shinwol-dong, Yeosu City, rose up against the order to be dispatched to Jeju for counterinsurgency operations during Jeju 4·3. The suppression of the uprising caused the deaths of more than 10,000 innocent civilians by state power. Dubbed “a twin incident” of Jeju 4·3, the contemporary historical tragedy is considered a case to which Jeju residents owe a debt of gratitude.

Jeollanamdo Province held other events to commemorate Yeo-Sun 10·19, such as the opening of an online memorial hall on the websites of the provincial government and the region’s municipal offices. Yeosu City also publicized the history and truth of the incident to its citizens by hosting a range of programs, including an exhibition of original paintings from the recently published historical graphic novel “Until Camellia Flowers Blossom”, solo exhibitions of Park Geum-man and Kang Jong Yeol, a performance of the opera “Silence in 1948”, an exhibition of Yeo-Sun 10·19 archives at the Yeosu Municipal Library, a peace concert commemorating the 73^rd anniversary of Yeo-Sun 10·19, and the launching of the online memorial hall.

The second round of the forum on the enforcement decree of the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Act is being held.

“Issues remain to be resolved…” Second forum held to discuss enforcement decree

On Oct. 18, 2021, the second round of the forum was held at the Yeosu Culture Hall to discuss matters to be addressed regarding the enforcement decree of the Yeo-Su 10·19 Special Act following the legislation and promulgation of the act.

The forum was hosted by the Yeosu Municipal Council and the Pan-National Committee on the Truth and History of Yeo-Sun 10·19 (Yeo-Sun 10·19 Pan-National Committee), and was organized by the Yeosu Community Research Institute (YCRI). The event was prepared to complement the new statutes, based on the ideas and opinions that were gathered from the participants of the first forum and from other experts in different fields of society. The session was moderated by Lee Youngil, the YCRI president who has studied the case for the past 23 years. Lawyer Jang Wan-ik, who presented an in-depth analysis of the special act in the first forum, was invited for the second presentation. Jang emphasized the roles of the subcommittees and their chairs in running the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Committee, pointing out that they are to be directly involved in the tasks of discovering the truth of Yeo-Sun 10·19. The lawyer contrasted this with the setup of the Jeju 4·3 Committee, which lacks a separate statutory ground for its subcommittees and assigns the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation with the working-level tasks on the ensuing investigation of Jeju 4·3.

In terms of organizing the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Committee, the legal expert also stressed that the positions need to be filled not only by government officials in general service but also those in special service. This is another difference from the Jeju 4·3 Committee, which consists of general-service officials dispatched from the government. The speaker concluded his speech by calling for the consideration of endowing the working-level subcommittees the authority to carry out the tasks of recording the victims’ Family Relations Registers, as well as the relevant applications and registrations under Article 12 of the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Act.

The panel discussion featured Yang Jo Hoon, president of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation, Kim Deuk-jung, historical material research officer at the National Institute of Korean History, Min Deok-hee, chairwoman of the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Committee at the Yeosu Municipal Council, and Lee Ja-hoon, chairman of the Association of the Yeo-Sun Resistance Bereaved Families in Seoul.

President Yang of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation shared his comparative analysis of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act and the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Act, based on the experience of the Jeju 4·3 Committee which started its activities 20 years ago. Yang explained that the Jeju 4·3 Committee also served as the Planning Committee for Developing the Jeju 4·3 Incident Investigation Report. The Jeju 4·3 expert emphasized the significance of how to organize the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Committee, recalling that the Jeju 4·3 Committee had faced the rage of the victims’ families and Jeju society due to its constitution led by the national government.

Yang understood the concerns over the separate promotion of the investigation of the truth of Yeo-Sun 10·19 and the registration of victims, as it was in the case of Jeju 4·3. He also said that both the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Act and the Jeju 4·3 Special Act lack a clause on the appointment of permanent members of the relevant committee and the composition of its secretariat. “In the first phase, the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Act will have to focus on the investigation of the truth and the identification of the victims, and then prioritize the exoneration of the victims and compensation for damage in the second phase,” he added.

In the meeting with victims’ family members, Chairwoman Min of the municipal-level special committee stressed the importance of popularizing the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Special Act and arousing social interest in the issue. The municipal council member also urged the local government to take active, responsible measures for publicization of the case. “Time is running out,” she said, demanding the archiving of the testimonials of survivors as well as first and second-generation family members of deceased victims, as well as that of documents that provide proof.

Lee, head of the Seoul-based bereaved family members, mentioned the legitimacy and imperativeness of the resistance movement. Calling for ensuing measures of the special act legislation, he placed importance on a comprehensive national-level investigation into the progression of the resistance and identification of the perpetrators, as well as the revision of the school textbooks.

Kim from the National Institute of Korean History pointed out that the latest legislation failed to address the matters concerning the non-permanent positions of the subcommittee chairs. The history expert also mentioned the issue of organizing the investigation report planning committee, calling for the need to revise the special act.

The Yeo-Sun 10·19 Pan-National Committee and the YCRI plan to complement the content of the enforcement decree and propose the related bill immediately after the launch of the Yeo-Sun 10·19 Committee on Jan. 29, 2022.

Soprano Kang Hye Myung and the Yeosu Symphony Orchestra takes a curtain call after staging the opera “Silence in 1948”.

Voices of those silenced now heard through opera

The Yeosu Symphony Orchestra (Representative: Moon Jeong-sook) staged “Silence in 1948” once again. The original opera shed new light on the Yeo-Sun ‘incident’, which has yet to be properly named, and the sufferings inflicted on the innocent citizens during the historical tragedy.

On Oct. 19, 2021, the Grand Theatre of the Yeulmaru Art Center in Yeosu City was crowded with the audience members of the opera. The event was organized three years after the first performance that was staged in commemoration of the 70^th anniversary of Yeo-Sun 10·19.

The opera begins with a scene where Yeon-sook, a 77-year-old woman, accidently watches a documentary on TV titled “Yeo-Sun 10·19: Unforgettable Historical Event in Contemporary Korean History Caused Due to Ideological Confrontation in the Nation’s Turbulent Era”. The documentary arouses the lady’s memories of how she has lived for 70 years, especially with the post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing all of her family members killed on Oct. 19, 1948, when she was only seven years old.

The voice of the little girl, now aged 77, was heard through Soprano Kang Hye Myung. The professional vocalist is well known for directing and starring “Sun-I Samch’on”, an original operatic work about Jeju 4·3 which was first staged in 2020.

Kang has expressed her consistent aim to contribute to the popularization of the painful memories of Jeju people. She is also determined in her efforts to encourage people to remember Jeju 4·3 and Yeo-Sun 10·19 together.

“I will keep in mind the pains that the victims’ families have suffered and the struggle for memories that has continued for a long period of time,” the soprano said, expressing her heartfelt gratitude to those who worked for the performance without giving up hope under difficult circumstances.