Before the crisis in Japan distracted me, I had begun to write about the history of Korea. As I began to learn about Korean history, I came to believe that both the recent history and the ancient history of Korea are rich and complex. I found more reason to believe this around April 19th.
April 19th is the anniversary of the April Revolution. The April 1960 Revolution was a popular uprising against the government of Syngman Rhee, president of Korea's First Republic. Notably, Rhee was the leader of Korea during the Korean War. He professed to be a democrat, but he violently cracked down on his opposition and on protest movements against his presidency, both during and after the Korean War. By 1960, Koreans were increasingly fed up with the Rhee administration's authoritarianism and corruption. In March 1960, when it became clear that an election was rigged in favour of a candidate favoured by Rhee, a large protest erupted in the city of Masan, located a short distance to the west of Busan. This protest was violently repressed by the police. Shortly thereafter, it came to light that the police had not only murdered one of the protesters, but also tried to hide the evidence of this crime by tying rocks to the victim's body and throwing him into water. When all of this was reported to the public, many Koreans were outraged. Around April 19th, in Seoul, a large group of students marched from Korea University to the presidential residence, demanding that Rhee resign. The police again fired on and murdered some the protesters, this time possibly as many as 200. But they failed to scare away the demonstrators. As more and more people joined the protests, Rhee was forced to resign and seek refuge in exile a few days later.
Fast-forward now to April 19th, 2011...
Reading the news last week, I stumbled across a fascinating article featuring parts of an interview with a military official from the Rhee government era, a man who is now more than 80 years old. This individual explained that, in the days following April 19th, Rhee and his associates in government were willing to murder more and more people in a desperate attempt to cling to their power. But some police and military officials, including the interviewee featured in the article, subverted them by refusing to dispatch more troops and by refusing to distribute ammunition. This fascinating and insightful information was obtained thanks to a research project led by the Korea Democracy Foundation. This foundation is dedicated to the study of the history of democratization in Korea, and to strengthening Korean democracy. The Foundation has published on-line an insightful history of democracy in Korea.
Furthermore, reading other news articles, I learned that many of the people who were murdered during the April 19th revolution are buried in Seoul, in a special cemetery dedicated to their memory. Every year, on April 19th, a ceremony is held there in their honour, in the presence of some of their descendants. Well, this year, the adopted son of former president Rhee decided that he was going to make an appearance at this ceremony and read a statement of apology. This received favourable press in some news outlets, for instance in a KBS editorial arguing that historical events should be placed in "an objective and accurate light". But the family members of the April 19th revolution's victims would have nothing of it. They physically blocked the passage of Rhee's adopted son into the cemetery, and prevented him from reading his statement. In one editorial, the statement of apology was denounced as an attempt to revise history, and a shameful act of disrespect to the memory of those who sacrificed their lives in the name of democracy in Korea. When I first read about the apology, I saw it as a noble attempt at reconciliation. However, I am now firmly convinced that it was rightfully resisted. Following the April 1960 events, former president Rhee got to live peacefully in exile for a number of years, completely escaping responsibility for his role in the murder of hundreds of people. Since no one has accepted responsibility for these murders, apologizing for them is meaningless.
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