The 75th anniversary of Jeju 4·3 and the Yeo-Sun incident and the 43rd anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement jointly commemorated

A special concert was held to offer beautiful melodies, which were accompanied by the warm sea breeze of May. Under the theme of “Spring Again, From April 3 to May,” the event took place on May 28 at the Tapdong Seaside Concert Hall to jointly commemorate the 75th anniversary of Jeju 4·3 and the Yeo-Sun incident and the 43rd anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement.

The annual concert has been held since 2021 for the purpose of remembering the painful history of Jeju 4·3, the Yeo-Sun incident, and the Gwangju Democratization Movement and of sharing the values of peace, human rights, democracy, and cohesion. The event organizes its performances alternately in the related cities, and this year, Jeju was in charge of the opening performance.

The concert is hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Gwangju Metropolitan City. The organizers include the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation, the Gwangju Cultural Foundation (CEO: Hwang Pung-nyeon), and the Yeosu Symphony Orchestra (Representative: Moon Jeong-suk). The concert combines creative content from Jeju, Gwangju, and Yeosu, featuring original songs from operas with the themes of the historical events from the three cities. “Sun-i Samch’on” was adopted from Hyun Ki-young’s Jeju 4·3 novel with the same title, and “Silence in 1948” re-examines the Yeo-Sun incident and the pain that the victims suffered. “Gwangju” was motivated by “March for Our Beloved,” a song composed in memory of the victims of the Gwangju Democratization Movement.

In the opening speech, Koh Hee-bum, president of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation, referred to the Korean saying that sharing halves the pain and doubles the joy. “I hope this concert will create an opportunity to halve the pain of Jeju 4·3, the Yeo-Sun incident, and the Gwangju Democratization Movement by sharing it with the whole nation, and to double the joy of having the events be recognized as proud chapters of Korean history,” he said.

When printing the brochures, the organizers used recycled pulp to reduce paper waste, and the eco-friendly technique of monochrome output minimized ink usage. The performance also provided sign language interpretation and subtitles for those with accessibility issues.

Gwangju staged the performance on May 30 at the Bitgoeul Citizen Cultural Center, and the Yeosu event is scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 11 (Wednesday) in the Grand Auditorium of the Yeulmaru Art Center.