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[Editorial] A historic reconciliation

Published: 27 Mar. 2023, 20:34

A serene scene unfolded on Sunday — the 148th birthday of Korea’s founding president Syngman Rhee (1875-1965) — in the National Cemetery in southern Seoul, where he and his Austrian-born wife, Francesca Rhee, are buried together. More than 50 people had demanded the resignation of the former president, whom they called a “dictator,” during their massive April 19 Revolution in 1961, when they were college students. They laid a wreath before their grave to pay tribute to the late president, which marked a historic reconciliation in 63 years.

They include Lee In-ho, an emeritus professor at Seoul National University (SNU); Han Hwa-gap, a former head of the Democratic Party (DP); Lee Jae-hoo, executive lawyer of Kim & Chang; and Lee Kyung-jae, a former chair of the Korea Communications Commission — all in their 80s.

Former lawmaker Lee Young-il, who led the demonstration as a junior studying politics at SNU, thanked the founding president for “orchestrating the establishment of a government based on free democracy and market economy despite his critical flaws” and for “setting the foundation for economic development and national security by drawing the Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty after the Korean War.” Sohn Byung-doo, a former board chair of KBS, stressed, “There is no reason for a conflict between Rhee’s dream for a free democracy and the April 19 generation’s call for a fair election system.”

There were many twists and turns until the stunning rapprochement. The former president’s adopted son tried to pay respects to his father in the April 19 Democracy Movement Cemetery in northern Seoul but could not due to vehement resistance from opponents. He attempted to apologize for his father’s merciless clampdown on democracy fighters but had to turn away.

The reconciliation carries more weight after the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA) decided to set up the provisionally-named Syngman Rhee Memorial. In the ceremony to mark the birthday of the founding president, MPVA Minister Park Min-shik stressed the need to appreciate the former president for his remarkable achievements regardless of his dictatorship during his 12-year reign. The ministry plans to announce the location for the new presidential memorial in June when the status of the ministry elevates to the ministerial level.

As the founding president of the provisional government in China, Rhee was devoted to the independence of the country from Japan’s colonial rule and led the founding of a free democracy. On the occasion of the 70th year of the Korea-U.S. alliance, we hope the former democracy fighters’ rapprochement with the past will guide the country to a brighter future.