The 3rdJeju4‧3 Peace Prize Award Ceremony was successfully held on April 1

Korean novelist and Vietnamese peace activist awarded the prize

Novelist Hyun Ki Young, 78, who authored “Sun-I Samch’on” about Jeju 4‧3, and Vietnamese peace and human rights activist Nguyen Thi Thanh, were honored as the winners of the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Prize.

The Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation, chaired by Yang Jo Hoon, and the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Prize Committee, chaired by Cheju Diocese Bishop Peter Kang U-il, held the 3rdJeju4‧3 Peace Prize Award Ceremony on April 1, 2019, at Jeju KAL Hotel.

An estimated 300 guests attended the ceremony, including the bereaved families of Jeju 4‧3 victims and the heads and officials of major institutes from inside and outside Jeju. The distinguished attendees included Won Heeryong (Governor, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province), Kim Tae-suk (Chairperson, Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council), Song Sam Hyun (Chief, Jeju District Public Prosecutor’s Office), Koh Hee Bum (Mayor, Jeju City), Yang Yoon Kyung (Mayor, Seogwipo City), Yi Kyoung-ja (Chairperson, Writers Association of Korea), Han Woo-sung (Chairperson, Overseas Koreans Foundation), Chu Chin Oh (Director, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History), Song Seung-moon (President, Association for the Bereaved Families of the 4‧3 Victims), Lee Chullwoo (Chairperson, May 18 Memorial Foundation), and Chung Koodo (Chairperson, No Gun Ri International Peace Foundation).

The ceremony was especially meaningful with the attendance of other esteemed figures, such as Kim Shi-jong (a renowned Korean-Japanese poet), Kim Dong-jeon (Director, Jeju Research Institute), Ko Kyung-dae (Chairperson, Jeju Culture & Art Foundation), Kang Yobae (a renowned Korean painter), and members of the Japanese Association for the Bereaved Families of the 4‧3 Victims, as well as a group of Vietnamese guests.

Chairperson Yang Jo Hoon of the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation stated in his opening speech that the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Prize is awarded not just to compliment the performances of the winners but “to globally publicize the love of humanity, respect for peace and human rights, and the spirit of incessant struggles for correcting historic distortion.”

In presenting the award, Bishop Peter Kang U-il pointed out that Jeju Island suffered unspeakable grief over the numerous deaths seven decades ago. “We should bloom flowers of peace with the deaths of 30,000 Jeju 4‧3 victims as fertilizers,” Kang stressed, adding that in that manner, we can transmit the lessons learned to our future generations and fulfil our duty as the descendants of the innocent victims to comfort their souls.

Novelist Hyun, the winner of the Main Prize, stated in his award acceptance speech that it is necessary to make efforts to incessantly revive the memories of Jeju 4‧3 to protect its truth, and called such an effort “the movement for continued memories.” Mentioning Jeju 4‧3 as “an eternal task that should be repeated over and over,” Hyun emphasized that continuous efforts to discover the truth of Jeju 4‧3 is “the only way to appropriately appease the victims’ souls.”

Nguyen from Vietnam’s Ha My Village, the winner of the Special Prize, stated in her acceptance speech that she will share the joy of winning this prize with the countless victims of Vietnamese massacres. She also pledged that the prize will serve as “a great impetus” for her continuous struggle for peace.

The survivor of the Phong Nhi/Phong Nhat massacre, Nguyen offered the honor of winning the prize as a “tribute to the departed souls of the 74 victims.” She also expressed her warmest gratitude to her fellow Korean activists for supporting her and all the other victims of the Vietnamese massacres.

The Main Prize winner was granted prize money worth US$ 50,000, and the Special Prize winner US$10,000.

Both of the winners visited the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park early the next morning to pay silent tribute to the souls of the Jeju 4‧3 victims at the Memorial Altar and toured the Ashes Enshrinement Hall and the Tombstone Park for the Missing.

Hyun wrote “Bloom, the flowers of Jeju 4‧3” in the guest book. Nguyen left a written prayer that reads, “I and all of the other Vietnamese people wish that the souls of the Jeju 4‧3 victims will find eternal rest.”

At the end of the visit, the winners joined in the camellia tree planting campaign of the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park and attached the name tag to the tree.

– Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation is receiving donor applications from February to late March

An initiative has been prepared to plant camellia flowers, the symbol of Jeju 4‧3, in the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park in order to promote the park as a scenic spot and publicize the value of peace, a lesson learned from Jeju 4‧3.

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation announced Jan. 29 their plan to start the “Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park Camellia Tree Planting Campaign” under the slogan “A tree of camellia flowers, a step toward peace.”

The campaign is sponsored by the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education and the Association of the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4‧3 Victims. From February to late March of this year, Jeju residents may apply to donate their camellia trees.

Trees eligible for donation should be native Jeju camellia trees aged 10 years or older, and the transplanting expenses will be covered by the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation.

The tree planting ceremony will be held in March, with major local institute heads and key donors in attendance. During the 71^st Jeju 4‧3 Memorial Ceremony, South Korea’s Prime Minister will be invited for an additional planting event.

Anyone who wishes to donate a tree may visit the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation website (https://jeju43peace.or.kr/) and download the application form from the “Notice” section. Applications are accepted either in person or over the phone. The donated trees will be planted in the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Park after an on-site inspection of the trees and consultation with the donors.

Camellia flowers are recognized as the symbol of Jeju 4‧3 because the souls of the Jeju 4‧3 victims fell to the cold ground as silently as the red camellias.

Last year, the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation produced 700,000 camellia flower badges in commemoration of the 70^th anniversary of Jeju 4‧3 and distributed them across the nation.

– Art exhibition reveals paintings by 18 Jeju 4.3 survivors

The Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation with the 70th Anniversary Committee exhibit painting records of survivors

Exhibit showing in the peace memorial hall from Feb. 16 to April 14

“I couldn’t wish for anything more than to live with my hands and legs unharmed. Still after several decades have passed, I start crying whenever I talk about what happened when I was eight. Now, I like it best when I paint at home.” (From Kang Soon-deok’s “My left arm”)

Seventy years might be long enough for a victim to give a calm account of his or her painful memory. However, the pain Jeju 4‧3 survivors have suffered might be too severe to be expressed in writing. Now, 18 Jeju 4.3 survivors speak of their individual lives in paintings.

The Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation and the Memorial Committee for the 70th Anniversary of Jeju 4·3 will jointly host the painting exhibition of 18 Jeju 4‧3 survivors, titled “A landscape that might have been forgotten.” The painting records of the survivors are on display now until April 14 in the Temporary Exhibition Hall on the 2nd floor of the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Memorial Hall.

The exhibition is the result of the art project for Jeju 4·3 survivors, organized last year by the Memorial Committee for the 70th Anniversary of Jeju 4·3.

The event has been prepared to share the painful individual memories of Jeju 4·3 with the public and build empathy, featuring nine artists (Ko Kyeong-hwa, Ko Hyeok-jin, Kim Yeong-hwa, Park So-yeon, Park Jin-hee, Shin Hyeon-a, Oh Hyeon-lim, Yang Dong-gyu and Hong Bo-ram) and 18 Jeju 4·3 survivors (Oh In-gwon, Hong Ki-seong, Ko Yeong-soon, Yang Chang-ok, Yoon Ok-hwa, Kang Soon-deok, Kim Haeng-yang, Kim Ki-yoon, Oh Tae-soon, Bu Soon-yeo, Song Gap-soo, Yang Seong-bo, Yang Neung-yong, Kang Jong-hwa, Ahn Heung-jo, Park Chun-sil, Jang Yeong-yoon and Kim Yeong-ja).

The exhibition offers diverse objects on the site, displaying the original paintings by the 18 survivors, their self-portrait photographs, interviews and archives. It is the first time survivors have participated in such an event.

The artworks that the elderly survivors painted as a form of therapy retraces their memories of Jeju 4‧3 and help visitors feel empathy and learn about the personal stories of Jeju 4‧3. It is noteworthy that the exhibition touches upon the long history of Jeju 4‧3 based on the lives of the individual survivors.

Yang Jo Hoon, chairperson of the Jeju 4‧3 Peace Foundation, stated in his invitation: “This exhibition has been prepared by some of the Jeju 4‧3 survivors to talk about what they have yet to speak of, in memoriam of the 70th anniversary of Jeju 4‧3. Hopefully, it will attract many visitors who will build empathy with the victims and share their pains.”