Inheriting the Jeju 4·3 spirit, we vow to take the lead in presenting future-oriented solutions.

Koh Anna

Commemorative Project Team, Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation

The Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation has carried out the Jeju 4·3 College Students Peace March for nine years. It also support local college students in Jeju in various programs to publicize the history and value of Jeju 4·3 during the memorial period on and around the Jeju 4·3 memorial ceremony. The 2023 project was remarkable because the number of students greatly increased from last year, and the participants actively engaged in making suggestions and requests for different programs. It was obvious that the students were desperate to let their schoolmates know about Jeju 4·3 and thought a lot about how to do it. They created an impressive scene where so many students gathered and spoke with one voice that it was difficult to capture in one picture. College students spoke out on each issue of Jeju 4·3, shouting for the truth about the tragedy and calling for the revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act. In the year that marks the 75th anniversary of the historical event, they vowed to play their role as the main players of passing down the spirit of Jeju 4·3 from one generation to another.

 

Response to attempts to defame Jeju 4·3 and distort history and efforts to publicize Jeju 4·3

Students of four universities in Jeju gathered to have a street march from Gwandeokjeong Pavilion to Jeju City Hall. On April 1, 2023, the Jeju 4·3 College Students Peace March was held by Jeju National University’s Student Union “Eoullim” (President Park Ju-yeong), Jeju Tourism University’s Student Union “Daol” (President Yoon Bo-ra), Jeju International University’s Student Union “Garam” (President Kim Hyeon-ji), and Cheju Halla University’s Board of Student Representatives “Harang” (Chairman Yang Gyeong-min). On the day, more than 260 local college students gathered at Gwandeokjeong Pavilion, with their representatives announcing the joint statement. On behalf of the local college students and other residents, the young intellectuals were united with one accord at the site where Jeju 4·3 began. Inheriting the movement to reveal the truth about Jeju 4·3, the student heads vow to take the lead in bringing a complete resolution to the historical issue. In the joint statement, they demanded that ill-intended groups stop making attempts to distort and defame historical truth and wished that the documentary heritage related to Jeju 4·3 would be inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register. The students concluded their statement by emphasizing the need to clarify the responsibility of the United States Army Military Government in Korea in the atrocious massacres of Jeju residents and to persuade the United States to express sincere apologies. The gathering to announce the joint statement was followed by the street march that started from Gwandeokjeong Pavilion and passed through the intersections around Jungang Rotary and Gwangyang Rotary until the participants reached the front gate of Jeju City Hall. Those who joined the street march raised their voices, shouting, “Stop distorting the history of Jeju 4·3 and defaming the victims!”

On the following day, some 180 students volunteered to place condolence flowers in front of 4,007 headstones for the missing Jeju 4·3 victims in the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park, praying for the rest of the souls of the deceased. The representatives of the Korea Confederation of National and Public Universities (headed by Kim Yo-seop, president of Busan National University Student Union) also joined the program and stayed with their peers until the memorial ceremony was over on the following day.

On April 3, all of the student representatives attended the memorial ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of Jeju 4·3. Once again, they vowed to fulfill their roles and responsibilities as the main players of intergenerational transition of Jeju 4·3. Earlier on the day, the mourners to the memorial event and other Jeju residents were startled by the disturbance due to a planned rally by the self-proclaimed Northwest Youth League. College students responded by holding a picket that read “Stop hurting the victims’ families by defaming Jeju 4·3.” Their demonstration echoed not only the bereaved families who attended the memorial ceremony for the first time in a few years due to the pandemic but also other adults on the event site who were watching the situation. Kim Yo-seop, president of Busan National University Student Union (representative of the Korea Confederation of National and Public Universities), said: “I attended the memorial ceremony after volunteering to place condolence flowers in the graveyard for the missing victims. Thank you for allowing me to have a valuable time to learn and think about Jeju’s history. I sincerely hope that the remaining problems related to Jeju 4·3 solved can be resolved as soon as possible and that Jeju 4·3 can become a product of peace and coexistence, not of ideological and political confrontations. We, college students, will also try to remember Jeju 4·3 and become a generation with one heart,” he said.

 

During the memorial period, Jeju National University ran various memorial programs on campus. The university’s Student Union installed a memorial altar and a Jeju 4·3 Postbox on the first-floor lobby of the Student Union Hall. Students were encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas about Jeju 4·3 by using the postbox. Some of their letters were sent to victims’ families on May 4, and some others were placed at the Jeju 4·3 Little Exhibition Hall.

The student council installed a April 3 post box along with a memorial altar on the first floor of the student hall, where students attend the most. Each student could freely write down what they thought and put it in the mailbox, and some of them were delivered to the April 3 Victims’ Family Association on May 4, and some were displayed in the April 3 small exhibition hall.

Jeju National University also prepared various activities and programs, including △ Jeju 4·3 Book Exhibition and Talk Concert (College of Humanities) △ Panel Exhibition on the Progression of Jeju 4·3 (College of Ocean Sciences) △ Screening of “Jiseul” and Special Lecture on Jeju 4·3 (College of Social Sciences) △ Jeju 4·3 Bulletin Board “Jeju, Colored with Peace” (College of Education) and △ Jeju 4·3 Trail Walking in Bukchon (College of Applied Life Sciences).

In addition, promotional booths were set up at the Student Union Hall during the memorial period, under the theme of “Let’s learn about Jeju 4·3.” Students made various approaches to learning about Jeju 4·3 by participating in different programs, such as: △ Making a Camellia Diffuser (College of Economics and Commerce) △ Making a Camellia Ring and a Memorial Ribbon (College of Natural Sciences) and △ Decorating the National Flag with Camellia Flowers and Picketing to Denounce Far-rightist Attempts to Defame Jeju 4·3 (Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation’s Camellia Supporters).

 

Memorial ceremony joined by college students nationwide

The student unions and history clubs of 39 colleges around Korea, including those of national or public universities, educational colleges, and four Jeju-based colleges hung memorial banners on campus for Jeju 4·3 victims. Thirteen colleges set up and operated a memorial altar for the Jeju 4·3 victims in their respective Student Union Halls or in other sites on campus.

Participating universities and student clubs include: △ Jeju National University △ Jeju Tourism University △ Cheju Halla University △ Jeju International University △ Seoul National University △ Busan National University △ Chungnam National University △ Korea Transportation University △ Korea National University of Cultural Heritage △ Hanbat University △ Kangwon National University △ Kunsan National University △ Mokpo National University △ Sunchon National University △ Jeju National University’s Teachers’ College (Sara Campus) △ Gwangju National University of Education △ Busan National University of Education △ Seoul National University of Education △ Jeonju National University △ Korea National University of Education △ History Club ‘Sadari’ (Dongguk University, Hanyang University, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul Women’s University, Ewha Womans University, Incheon National University) △ Issue Photo Club ‘Chalkak’ (Konkuk University, Hongik University, Paju Typography Institute, Kyung Hee University) △ Jinbo College Student Network (Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University, SungKongHoe University, Kyungnam University) △ UnivWing (Hallym University, Chuncheon National University of Education) △ Jinju National University of Education’s History Club ‘Yeokdong’ △ Gyeongsang National University’s History Club ‘Interference of History’ △ Changwon National University’s History and Travel Club ‘Root’.

Jeju University’s Student Union held the Korea College Students Jeju 4·3 Contest, a contest for works in the categories of poetry and video images that lasted for a month. Applications were received from 184 students at 55 universities in the poetry category, while 5 students at 5 universities competed for the contest in the video images category. The award ceremony was held on May 13 at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Memorial Hall, and the winners in the poetry category include: △ Grand Prize (Ko Do-yeong, Jeju National University) △ Best Prize (Kim Jae-hyeon, Jeju National University; Ko Hee-ju, Sungkyunkwan University) △ Excellence Prize (Lee San-ha, Gyeongsang National University; Ko Joon-hyeok, Jeju National University; Kim Jeong-eun, Cheju Halla University; Kim Tae-hoon, Gyeongsang National University). The video images announced five winners for: △ Excellence Prize (Kang Jae-seong, Jeju National University; Lee I-rang, Kangwon National University).

In addition, an online relay event, titled “Let’s Keep Memories of Jeju 4·3,” was held for the registration of documents related to Jeju 4·3 as a documentary heritage recognized by UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme. Participants shared a handwritten note on social media that read “I pray that the documentary heritage of Jeju 4·3 representing the values of peace, human rights, and mutual prosperity will be inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World register.” The program was intended to provide an opportunity to inform college students across the country of the value of Jeju 4·3-related documents.

 

Young Jeju locals established themselves as the key players of intergenerational transition of Jeju 4·3

Park Ju-yeong, president of Jeju National University’s Student Union, said: “This year, there emerged various issues such as the attempt to distort the history of Jeju 4·3 and disparage the victims and the promotion of the need to have the documentary heritage of Jeju 4·3 be added to the UNESCO Memory of the World register. Therefore, I felt a strong sense of responsibility that college students, who are the key players of intergenerational transition of Jeju 4·3, should respond sensitively to the emerging issues. We will continue to make concerted efforts to remember Jeju 4·3 as representing the value of reconciliation and mutual prosperity.”

This year will be marked with various exceptional cases of defaming Jeju 4·3 victims. On all occasions, members of Jeju National University’s Student Union and other college students delivered their messages explicitly. It is true that there have been concerns and complaints that college students may hold one-time events in April. However, the student unions of local colleges in Jeju have tried to inform students of Jeju 4·3 and draw consensus on the related issues. Wouldn’t it be possible because they could follow the footsteps left by their foregoers who pondered upon the issues year after year, month after month, and day after day? It was thanks to their aspirations and solidarity built up over the long period of time that enabled the discovery of the 75-long history of Jeju 4·3 and the exoneration of the victims. Although the situation may have changed, local college students still value the spirit of Jeju 4·3 at all times.

They will continue to march next year, taking advantage of what they practiced this year.

 

 

++ College students march from Gwandeokjeong Pavilion to Jeju City Hall (top).

 

++ Student unions of four universities in Jeju issue a joint statement for the 2023 Jeju 4·3 Peace March for College Students (left).

 

++ Students take a commemorative photo after volunteering to place chrysanthemum in front of the Tombstones for the Missing (right in the center).

 

++ As the self-proclaimed Northwest Youth League try to hold a rally on the road in front of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park where the memorial ceremony is held, local college students are picketing to stop them from hurting the bereaved families by defaming Jeju 4·3 victims (lower right).

 

++ Memorial banners for Jeju 4·3 victims are hung by 39 colleges nationwide (left).

 

++ A memorial altar and a postbox are installed under the theme of Jeju 4·3 on the first floor of the Jeju National University Student Hall (above).

 

++ South Korea’s national flag is hung at Jeju National University. The flag was decorated with camellia flowers by the 6th-year members of Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation’s Camellia Supporters (above).

 

++ 2023 Jeju 4·3 Poster Contest for College Students (below).

 

Rooting for ‘Jeju 4·3 arts,’ which is at the forefront of the struggle for memory

Han Hyeong-jin

Culture Desk Writer, The Jeju Sori

++ The musical team for “The Great April” gives a greeting onstage.

 

The outdoor yard of Jeju Culture and Art Center at 7 p.m. on March 31, 1994. The unconventional poster of the inaugural Jeju 4·3 Art Festival shows a bull’s eye marked on Jeju Island. The beginning date of the festival is printed at the bottom of the poster.

The Evening Event of the Memorial Ceremony for Jeju 4·3 Victims was started in 1994 by the Jeju People Artists Federation (former Jeju branch of the Korean Federation of People’s Arts Organizations). The annual art fair is held around April 3 and marks its 30th anniversary this year.

“Initially, the evening event (organized by the Jeju People Artists Federation) consisted of Chohongut [a shamanic ritual to invoke the spirits of the dead] and Madanggut [a shamanic ritual to send off the invoked spirits] performed in Gwandeokjeong Square. A few years later, Georigut [a shamanic ritual performed in neighborhood streets] was added to the process. Now, Chohongut takes place in front of Jeju City Hall, while Georigut is led by various culture and art organizations, victims’ families, and civic groups along the street from Nammun Rotary and Jungang Rotary to Gwandeokjeong Square, where Madanggut is finally performed. This outline of the evening event has been formalized to reflect Jeju Island’s long shamanic tradition from a contemporary perspective.”

– From An Introduction to the Jeju 4·3 Cultural Movement as a Struggle for Memory in “Progression of the Struggle for Memory and Cultural Movement”

 

++ The musical team performs “The Great April” onstage.

 

As Kim Yeong-beom, professor emeritus at Daegu University (current president of the Jeju 4·3 Research Institute) explains, the Evening Event of the Memorial Ceremony for Jeju 4·3 Victims starts with activities on the streets. The Jeju 4·3 movement has gradually experienced institutional changes in the course of the enactment of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act (2000), the designation of April 3 as a national memorial day (2014), and the revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act to include clauses on national compensation and retrials for the victims. Likely, changes have been made to the Evening Event of the Memorial Ceremony for Jeju 4·3 Victims as well.

The event has been held both indoors and outdoors, in the Outdoor Grand Theater of the Jeju Culture and Art Center, the front yard of Gwandeokjeong Pavilion, the square in front of Jeju City Hall, and the Jeju Arts Center. The content and genres have also changed, featuring shamans and young musicians, to deliver messages in various ways.

Apparently, the 2023 evening event will be remembered as another remarkable moment in its 30-year-long history.

The 2023 Evening Event of the Memorial Ceremony for Jeju 4·3 Victims – Again, The Wind Blows was held at the Jeju Arts Center. The main program was divided into two parts. Part 1 began with a concert featuring the Gwangju May 18 Dawn Youth Orchestra, Han Chung Eun & Forest, and Choi Sang-don. The concert was followed by the delivery of messages by Kim Dong-hyun, president of the Jeju People Artists Federation, Oh Young-hoon, Governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Kim Kyung-hak, chairman of Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council, Kim Chang-beom, chairman of the Association for the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4·3 Victims, and Koh Hee-bum, president of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation.

While the Gwangju 5.18 Dawn Youth Orchestra proved the significance of youth art activities, Han Chung Eun & Forest showed off experienced skills through traditional Korean music and Western musical performance. After the performance by Choi Sang-don, a symbolic figure in music and arts activities in the Jeju 4·3 movement, the heads of Jeju 4·3-related agencies and institutions touched upon the remaining tasks to resolve Jeju 4·3 in their respective positions. As detailed above, Part 1 of the evening event featured music and messages, while Part 2 presented formal musicals that had rarely been shown in previous years.

Theatrical art has been attempted a little at a time at the previous evening events. In 2011 when the event was held indoors for the first time, the program began with a reenactment of the 1947 police shooting of civilians during the commemorative rally marking the anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement. Madanggeuk and other performances were also staged on previous occasions. The history of Jeju 4·3 and Jeju Island has been reproduced on outdoor stages under the name of Georigut. In 2018, Georigut turned into a collective drama on Jeju 4·3, titled “Halla,” and was performed in the Grand Theater of the Jeju Culture and Art Center. Although it may be criticized to be incomparable to highly advanced performances that are enough to attract investment, theatrical art capabilities featuring unique emotions have steadily built up within the Jeju art world, centered on the Jeju People Artists Federation.

Based on these capabilities, more specific changes took place in 2022. (Changes began on the 70th anniversary of Jeju 4·3 in 2018 when the evening event organizers hired Kim Myung-soo, CEO of Ida, who is known for his outstanding capabilities in performance planning.)

 

++ A message is read during the evening event of the memorial ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of Jeju 4·3.

The 2022 Evening Event of the Memorial Ceremony for Jeju 4·3 Victims include a performance of the 30-minute musical “Beyond Stigmatization and Discrimination.” By telling the story of a Jeju 4·3 victim’s family who faced the false charge of getting involved in a fabricated espionage case, the musical focused on the pain of those who continue to suffer from stigmatization and discrimination. For the 2022 Evening Event of the Memorial Ceremony for Jeju 4·3 Victims, a gala concert was arranged by compiling key scenes from “Beyond Stigmatization and Discrimination.” The trial aspect of the performance was highlighted because songs from mainstream commercial works that had already been released, such as “Hero” and “Les Miserables,” were included. And, a year later, it was presented to the audience with advanced elements.

“The Great April” premiered on the 75th anniversary of Jeju 4·3. It features a framed plot where an elderly man named Seungjin returns to his hometown in Jeju and recalls his memory of what he experienced in the past. Except for Seungjin, all the characters are young people who have undergone the nation’s liberation from Japan and the outbreak of Jeju 4·3. Their singing of “New Country, New Land” represents the aspirations, hopes, and frustrations that many Koreans had at the time. And their heading to the mountain emphasizes that the motive for the uprising of April 3, 1948, was not a by-product of ideology or power, but rather a “unwinnable fight” that the deprived needed to endure to retain the last bit of their dignity.

Part 2 of “The Great April” was performed for 60 minutes, twice as long as last year. The songs were made exclusively for the work. Due to the poor budget and the resulting lack of time, only videos without stage equipment were prepared. The choral group, Philmusic Ensemble, the orchestra, and the production team sympathized with the purpose and agreed to perform with the unfortunate status of lower-paid guest performers.

 

 

++ Singer Choi Sang-don is singing “The Song of Baby Camellia.”

 

Despite these conditions, young actors and actresses including Choi In-hyeong, Kim Min-kang, Kwon So-i, Koo Joon-mo, Lee Won-min, Ko Ji-hyeok, Choi Woo-seong, and Choi Yoon-woo, who had gained experience in Seoul, were faithful to their given roles with solid basic skills. The production crew, including Jeong Won-gi, who composed and directed the music, and Park Eun-yeong, who was in charge of stage management and choreography, completed the staging by playing two or more roles each. It may be questionable whether it is appropriate for the Evening Event of the Memorial Ceremony for Jeju 4·3 Victims and the Jeju People Artists Federation to include the genre of musical. However, if the focus is on theatrical art on Jeju 4·3 and on the entire Jeju 4·3 arts, it will be read as a sufficiently meaningful attempt.

In terms of Jeju 4·3 theatrical art, which was opened by the theatrical group Hallasan, it is difficult to avoid criticism that it has the weakest driving force among the major Jeju 4·3 art genres, such as literature, fine arts, films, and music, excluding those other genres where few attempts have resulted in unnoticed outcomes. Regretfully, Jeju 4·3 theatrical art has failed to escape a downward slump over time.

In recent years, however, efforts have been made outside the Jeju People Artists Federation.

Therefore, the performances of “Beyond Stigmatization and Discrimination” in 2022 and “The Great April” this year are read not only as an inclusion of the musicals but also as a “hot” genre loved by the public, and as a manifestation of the responsibility of the Jeju People Artists Federation.

In addition, creating musicals on Jeju 4·3 also represents an extended perspective of interpreting Jeju 4·3 artistically. “The Great April”, written by Kim Dong-hyun and Kim Jin-cheol, processed the story of Kim Si-jong, a Korean-born novelist in Japan. The work titled “Beyond Stigmatization and Discrimination” deals with a manipulated espionage case. Although resources from outside of Jeju were put into the performance in most elements, including actors/actresses, composition, and directing, the story-building (playwright) was taken on by Jeju artists, who gained valuable experience.

Just as the historical task of Jeju 4·3 changes with the times, Jeju 4·3 arts should also go on a path that has not been taken, without hesitation in terms of expression and content. The musical performed on the Evening Event of the Memorial Ceremony for Jeju 4·3 Victims is considered a symbol. It is a symbolic proclamation that art will take the lead in the long procession of the Jeju 4·3 movement; the struggle for memory, as was the case with the first evening event and art festival of 30 years ago. To emphasize once again, it is the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation and the Jeju municipal government that should serve the important role of supporting the continued efforts towards diversity and preventing the results from disappearing in vain.

– Inside story of the memorial ceremony for the 75th anniversary of Jeju 4·3

Kim Dong-hyun, Literary Critic

 

 ++ The self-proclaimed band devoted to the reconstruction of the Northwest Youth League appears at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park on the morning of April 3 when the memorial ceremony for the Jeju 4·3 victims was held. They claimed that the history of Jeju 4·3 had been distorted. The number of people who were to attend the rally as originally reported was 20, but only three people appeared in a van at the scene. Victims’ families and Jeju residents who visited the memorial ceremony immediately surrounded the vehicle and protested strongly, and the confrontation continued for a while. The far-rightists left without even getting out of the car. The bereaved families and Jeju residents expressed anger, saying, “Get out of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park!” “How dare you come here in the name of the Northwest Youth League that massacred civilians at the time of Jeju 4·3?” “Is it to disturb others on the day of their ancestral rites?” and “The souls of the tens of thousands of victims must be enraged!”

 

 

Disdainful finger-pointing incurred by politics of disregard

The President did not attend the memorial ceremony. The ruling party leader used to pay a courtesy visit but did not show up this year. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who attended on behalf of the President, hurriedly flew back to Seoul after reading the President’s memorial speech.

That memorial speech was full of the language of high-tech industries and development, rather than that of mourners. All condolences by nature express belated regret; therefore, any language of mourning must inevitably contain remorse for the deceased. All that remorse might be the same as a kind of terrible self-blame. This is one of the reasons why the memorial service is held every year.

To speak in the way of Roland Barthes, you need to share your sorrow with others but not be hardened by remaining in your own grief. You shouldn’t be a monument for mourning alone.

It might be wrong to expect their utmost mourning in the rhetoric used by politicians. But there must be a minimum acceptance value in a psychological sense. Evidently, it was not the language of high-tech industries and development that was expected by those victims’ families and Jeju residents who visited the memorial site at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park for the first time in three years due to COVID-19.

When the Prime Minister read the President’s speech, sharp lamentations were heard from among the audience. It was also heard around the venue that participants said to themselves, “This is disappointing.” In one corner of the press room, reporters were counting the number of syllable blocks in the conspicuously shortened memorial speech. It was 635. Of course, a lengthy speech is not all good. However, there was no room for even minimal mourning and remembrance within these 635 syllable blocks.

While South Korean politics disregarded mourning, mockery came into bloom like weeds. There was disdainful finger-pointing that was once believed to have expired. The Northwest Youth League, a group which assumes the title of the “successor” to the organization with the same name reminiscent of the atrocious massacres in Jeju, visited the island during the memorial ceremony. However, it was a foreseen visit. On the day of the memorial ceremony, the Youth Committee of the Association for the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4·3 Victims, the Jeju Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, and other local civic groups in Jeju surrounded the road near the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park. It was where it had been reported that the outdoor assembly would be held by the Northwest Youth League members. Despite the media hype to amplify the issue, only three people appeared on the site. But not a single member would be allowed to enter the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park. The police were dispatched to prevent any possible clash, and confrontation between the civic groups and the far-rightists lasted for a while. The unwelcome guests were laughing as they filmed the whole scene with their cell phones. It was a mockery, an obvious mockery.

It was a moment when the slogan, “Jeju 4·3 is a part of Korean history,” was overshadowed. It was a scene where the minimum common sense built up by democracy in this land after the 1987 June Democratic Struggle was denied. It was a recoil that took place on the national memorial day to mock the achievements made, including the public apologies and official investigations by the state. The flag of mockery was still pinned on the site where only two years ago it was declared that the truth about Jeju 4·3 is an undeniable chapter for democracy in Korean history. There may be many other reasons behind the scene, but clearly, it was caused due to those irresponsible people in power.

While the President was crying out about liberal democracy, the seeds of contempt under the guise of freedom were budding. It is none other than clear negligence. It is not about knowing what is shame and what is courtesy. If the nation’s principles of democracy and the spirit of the Constitution were properly understood in South Korea, that misdeed by even a handful of ill-intentioned people could not have been disregarded. It was a bud of instigation that grew while a Supreme Council member of the ruling party praised a pastor who calls Jeju 4·3 a “communist riot act” and flattered himself as being the guardian of liberal democracy. As long as the politics feeding on that instigation continue, the bud will likely keep growing. It should have been weeded out. Separation from it should have been declared earlier.

Nevertheless, it is clear why this instigation continues. This is because there are still forces who look at Jeju 4·3 with ideologically prejudiced eyes. And so it became clear. The memorial ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of Jeju 4·3 proved that there is an obvious reason to discuss Jeju 4·3 once again.

Despite its remarkable achievements, the enactment of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act in 2000 was an outcome of political compromise.

And, the general revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act in 2021 was an achievement with an unfinished task. We shouldn’t have been satisfied with it. We should have asked more intense questions. We should have refused to accept a compromise that eventually left some issues as unrevisitable topics.

 ++ The outside of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park, where the memorial ceremony was held, is plastered with banners hung by bereaved families and civic groups to prevent the so-called advocates for the reconstruction of the Northwest Youth League from rallying.

 

Toward a new movement refusing to accept unrevisitable topics

You own your own words. Words that the speaker fails to take responsibility for are nothing but a representation of hypocrisy. It was repeatedly said that the truth about Jeju 4·3 would be revealed. It was a remark made by the President of the Republic of Korea, not anybody else. With the revision of the Jeju 4·3 Special Act, compensation for the victims has begun. There has been a move to have the documentary heritage about Jeju 4·3 be inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register. Despite all these efforts, however, the language of politics is still empty. The argument made by the ruling party’s Supreme Council member concerning the importance of the memorial ceremony cannot be regarded as a personal mistake. The product of compromise, which still defines Jeju 4·3 as a “massacre of innocent civilians,” has nourished mockery and contempt.

This is why we need to ask questions. Is the President’s attendance a standard for mourning and remembrance? What would be mourning in a true sense? Who should be mourned, and what should be remembered? As former President Moon Jae-in said during his visit to the 73rd anniversary ceremony, are we calling the names of those who were killed “for opposing national division in the dream of complete independence”? Now that the reality of division remains and there are a considerable number of those who applaud the reaction of history, should we neglect the forced silence once again? As the memorial ceremony approaches every year, many call for the President to attend it. It may be natural to ask for the President’s attendance because April 3 is a national memorial day. However, the President’s attendance should not be a standard for mourning. In a sense, the perplexing landscape faced by the 75th anniversary memorial ceremony may signal to us that we need a new attitude towards remembrance and mourning.

Death is a universal event in that one’s life is to end with his or her death. However, a death has specific causes.

The confrontation between those specific causes is another battle of life and a battlefield for remembering time. We now stand on a battlefield. This is not a physical fight. It is a confrontation with a reaction that denies the sheer legitimacy of it in order to maintain memories. It is also a huge relapse. It is those who instigate the reaction who are the servants of anti-democracy and anti-human rights protection.

But we are well aware. Reaction always comes wearing a mask of good faith. When the target of the massacres is defined as “civilians,” if not “innocent civilians,” the memory of resistance against state violence will undergo something like taxidermy and be neglected.

Negligence and avoidance cannot overturn the reaction. Even at the moment I am writing this article, a politician named Tae Yong-ho still asks what he should apologize for. Some politicians take his side, saying, “We can’t openly punish others for what they think.” I am not saying that we need to punish their thoughts. We need to punish the irresponsibility of expressing these thoughts. Where should we be headed at a time when the far-right group, the self-proclaimed advocate of the reconstruction of the Northwest Youth League that interfered with the memorial ceremony, is pressing charges against the bereaved families with the law as their weapon? What should be the mourning for Jeju 4·3 in a true sense?

Chinese author Lu Xun said that crazy dogs should be beaten with a club. Didn’t we let go of the club that we should have grabbed, when we were instead intoxicated by the achievement of April 3 becoming a national memorial day? Didn’t we neglect the memory of the fight, avoid the fight, and forget the names we are supposed to call out clearly?

In the face of the continued attempts to distort and defame Jeju 4·3 whenever a conservative regime is established, we need to grab the club again. Rather than relying on the good will of the state, we need to use the club to beat the state that is about to turn evil. Tolstoy said, “The state is a violent institution.” Indeed, the state is a violent institution.

Now our Jeju 4·3 needs to establish itself as another movement to refuse to accept unrevisitable topics. It should be Jeju 4·3 as a verb, not as a noun. This is why we have to discuss Jeju 4·3 and live to befit Jeju 4·3.

 

++ Students from Jeju National University’s student union are picketing.