Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation Hosts Consolation Events Including Exhibitions and 4‧3 Memorial Tour from May 25th to 26th

Held in May, which is known as family month in South Korea, a consolation event was prepared for survivors of Jeju 4‧3 and their families.

The Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation (president: Yang Jo Hoon) hosted “The 4‧3 Memorial Tour with Jeju 4‧3 Survivors/Victims and Families” from May 25 to 26.

The event, held for a second straight year, was operated under the collaboration of the Youth Committee of the Association for the Bereaved Families of 4‧3 Victims (chairperson: Moon Jeong-shik), Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Mental Health Center, and Dongbaekgil, an 4‧3 supporters group of university students.

On the day of the event, approximately 100 people participated.

In particular, Kim Yoon-ok, whose story wrung tears from some 10,000 people’s eyes at the last 4‧3 memorial ceremony, appeared as well as recently exonerated prisoners falsely charged during Jeju 4‧3, including Yang Geun-bang, Hyeon Woo-ryong, Boo Won-hyoo, Oh Hui-choon and Kim Pyeong-guk, along with their families.

Also, three generations of Oh Tae-soon’s family took part in the event, manifesting intergenerational transmission of 4‧3, which was the event’s main objective.

On the first day of the event, programs focused on family unity, including a tour of the exhibition at the 4‧3 Peace Memorial Hall, a laughter therapy session and a group photo. Present during the opening ceremony were Jeong Min-goo, director of the 4‧3 Special Committee; Kim Chun-bo, permanent vice-president of the Association for the Bereaved Families of 4‧3 Victims; Kang Seong-ui, a provincial council member; Kim Jang-young, an educational committee member of the Jeju Provincial Assembly; and Heo Young-sun, director of the Jeju 4‧3 Research Institute.

Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation President Yang Jo-hoon stated in his greetings that he is “thankful for those who participated in the event, which we started last year to commemorate the survivors and victims.” He also added that “we will always do our best to be at your service and yearn for your well-being.”

During a meeting for survivors’ stories, survivors shared their experiences of 4‧3 while candidly expressing their love for their families.

Hyeon Dong-joon, the son of Hyeon Woo-ryong, said: “I feel sorry that I have not traveled with my father before. For the first time, I can now tell him that I love him. I feel unburdened now that my father’s resentment of being a convict has been resolved. I would also like to join next year’s event and share my delight.”

Yang Geun-bang thanked his wife, Ko Bok-seon, for “always staying with me even when I was shot during 4‧3 and imprisoned in different prisons.” He also said, “There is only little I can speak of my sorrow, but I am just happy.” His wife replied, “Let’s keep the happy days with love for each other until the end of our lives and in the afterlife as well,” which brought applause.

Meanwhile, the event concluded with a tour of Bukchon Neobeunsungi 4‧3 Memorial Hall on the second day.

Kim Byeong-shim won the poetry prize, no winners for fiction and non-fiction

The winner of the 7thJeju4·3PeaceLiteraryPrizewasannounced.

The Jeju 4·3 Peace Literary Prize Committee, chaired by writer Hyun Ki Young, held two final judging meetings on March 16 and 29, and selected “What happened when clear-eyed” by Kim Byeong-shim as the winner of the poetry section. However, they reluctantly decided to announce no winners for the fiction and non-fiction sections.

From last August to January, the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation, chaired by Yang Jo Hoon, held an open public submission for poetry, fiction and non-fiction, with the theme of “The Truth of Jeju 4·3, Peace and Human Rights, Reconciliation, and Coexistence.” As a result, 335 writers from Korea and abroad participated, totaling 2,166 entries accepted (2,031 poems from 200 poets, 119 pieces of fiction from 119 fiction writers, 16 pieces of non-fiction from 16 non-fiction writers).

The committee prepared the manual for the juries tailored to the 7th event and screened the applicants throughout the preliminary and final rounds for two months from February this year.

The jurors for each section revealed the criteria for the winners, saying that they placed the greatest importance on the works that could sublimate the painful memories of Jeju 4·3 into literature and help realize the values of peace and human rights/reconciliation and coexistence.”

The jurors for the poetry section highly appreciated the winning poem, with the assessment that “the poem comfortably depicted the lyrical emotions in the Jeju language, while beautifully expressing the spatial and temporal history of the people’s lives.” The jurors also stated, “The poet successfully adhered to the theme and put perfection in her work by overcoming the risk of leaving flaws.”

Poet Kim explained the motif of her creative work, saying, “I tried to express my regret over the peaceful villages that were lost during Jeju 4‧3 with few traces left amid the ongoing development projects.”

Born in Jeju in 1973, Kim completed her master’s in Korean Language and Literature at Jeju National University. She started her career after winning the Rookie of the Year Award at the 1997 Free Literature Contest for her poem titled “Dreaming of Balhae.”

Unfortunately, the sections for fiction and non-fiction failed to announce winners this year.

According to the jurors for the fiction section, four works succeeded to the final round. “They lacked the well-established narrative structures, though, which is the most important element in fiction,” they said in a statement. The jurors also expressed regret for not selecting a winner, explaining that “the unnatural stories and carelessly diversified views eventually weakened the narrative cohesion of the works.”

The non-fiction section was added to the prize for the first time this year. The jurors said: “We focused on the purpose of the audition, the theme of this year, the author’s historic insight, and the reality, present sense, and reliability of the content. However, most of the works failed to accord with the purpose of the audition because they were merely the combinations of the 4‧3 report and state-issued biased materials. We reviewed a few of the others several times, but they were also unfocused in terms of structure. We could not select a winner after all.”

The Jeju 4‧3 Peace Literary Prize was established in March 2012 by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. Since 2015, the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation has organized the audition and the selection. The total prize money is worth 90 million won (50 million won for the fiction section, 20 million won for the poetry section, and 20 million won for the non-fiction section).

[Field Report] Jeju 4·3 Memorial Ceremony Held in the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park

“Grandma, you look more beautiful when smiling than when crying. Please don’t feel sorry for having given little to your children. You are a wonderful parent. You endured the hardships of the past without complaint. So, Grandma, promise me that you will smile every day from now on,” said Jeong Yang-shin, 23, to her grandmother Kim Yeon-ok.

Kim is a survivor of Jeju 4.3 who suffered her whole life from lifelong sequela due to the incident.

After Jeong finished reading her family story, many of the audience began to shed tears.

The old lady, who was only seven years old when dragged to the detention camp near Jeongbang Waterfalls, also burst into tears. All of her family members were killed and she was the only survivor.

Seeing her grandmother wailing, Jeong gave her a hug of condolences.

Early on April 3, the 71^st Memorial Ceremony for the victims of Jeju 4·3 took place in the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park, located in Bonggae-dong, Jeju City. The ceremony site was crowded with those who gathered to comfort the souls of the Jeju 4·3 victims and share the spirit of peace.

In and around the Tombstone Park for the Missing and the Memorial Tablet Monument, bereaved family members performed vowing rituals for the victims and offered flowers as tribute, even before the main memorial ceremony.

The Ashes Enshrinement Hall also had many worshipers. The visitors touched one by one the memorial plaques of the some 14,000 people killed (officially identified by state as victims of Jeju 4‧3), while praying for the comfort of their departed souls.

On March 27, the Committee on Discovering Truth on Jeju 4·3 Incident and Restoration of Honor of Victims confirmed an additional 130 people as victims and installed their name plaques in the Ashes Enshrinement Hall. In front of these additional plaques as well, the victims’ bereaved families mourned and prayed that their family members will rest in peace.

The memorial service was hosted by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and organized by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province with the theme of “Revisit the spirit of Jeju 4·3, dream together the peace of the world.”

The heads of the nation’s five leading political parties attended the ceremony to offer their condolences, including Lee Nak-yon (Prime Minister), Kim Bu-kyeom (Minister, Ministry of Public Administration and Security), Won Heeryong (Governor, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province), Lee Hae-chan (Chairperson, Democratic Party of Korea), Hwang Kyo-ahn (Chairperson, Liberty Korea Party), Sohn Hak-kyu (Chairperson, Bareun Mirae Party), Chung Dong-young (Chairperson, Party for Democracy and Peace), and Lee Jeong-mi (Chairperson, Justice Party). The service was also attended by local lawmakers, such as Kang Chang-il, Oh Young-hun, and Wi Seong-gon.

For the first time this year, the national government invited to the event former prisoners, who had been wrongly convicted for unlawful causes during Jeju 4·3 and forced to live harsh lives away from their homes in Jeju Island.

The pre-event was held at 9 A.M., and at 10 A.M. a siren calling for silent tribute echoed throughout the island, which was the first program of the main memorial ceremony.

Do-ol Kim Yong-ok announced the Jeju Peace Declaration while actor Yoo Ah-in proclaimed the Resolution of 71 Years, stressing the transmission of the memories of Jeju 4·3 to the coming generations.

Distinguished guests including Prime Minister Lee offered flowers and burnt incense in turn. Then the audience sang the national anthem and pledged allegiance to the nation, including paying respect to the nation’s patriotic martyrs and fallen heroes as well as the Jeju 4·3 victims.

Prime Minister Lee delivered a memorial speech on behalf of President Moon Jae-in. During the speech, he stated, “I express my profound respect to the Jeju residents who have overcome destruction and devastation to rebuild their peaceful communities.”

He also pledged to “keep restoring the honor to the victims until we piece together the truth of Jeju 4·3 and hear from every one of you telling us ‘this is enough’.”

He concluded his remarks, saying: “Concerning the legislative matters such as establishing the National Trauma Center and state compensation and indemnification, we will suggest our ideas and opinions in consultation with the National Assembly.”

Won Heeryong, governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, stated in his speech: “Jeju 4·3 is one of the most painful events in our history but a task yet to be resolved even after 71 years. By conducting an additional investigation for the truth, we need to restore the honor to the wrongfully accused prisoners and establish justice.”

Song Seung-moon, president of the Association for the Bereaved Families of the 4·3 Victims, also addressed the audience and said, “The memorial ceremony this year should be the one where 80,000 victims and their families who lived with pent-up sorrows could feel the warmth of spring to the full.”

He also called for the revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act, and stated, “It is urgent to discover the genuine truth to clear the names of the imprisoned Jeju 4·3 victims.”

After the speeches, 10,000 participants together sang “Spring in My Hometown” and “Sleepless Southern Island” as the finale of the memorial ceremony, offering flowers to the Memorial Altar and praying for the eternal comfort for the souls of the deceased.