A fresh start for national unity

The sons of former presidents Park Chung Hee, Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung joined a committee to establish a memorial hall for founding President Syngman Rhee. Park Ji-man, CEO of EG Corporation and son of Park Chung Hee; Roh Jae-heon, president of the East Asia Culture Center and the son of Roh Tae-woo; Kim Hyon-chul, son and board chair of the Kim Young-sam Foundation; and Kim Hong-eop, son and head of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center have all signed up as advisers to the memorial hall construction committee which has recently launched. They have united regardless of their political differences to establish the belated memorial hall for the founding president.

Rhee was an independence fighter and the first president of the provisional government of Korea. He set the foundation of Korea based on the principles of free democracy and a market economy and fought to draw a mutual defense treaty with the reluctant United States. Security alliance allowed economic progress of the country. Unlike North Korea, which seized land for state-controlled distribution, Rhee compensated and gave land to tenant farmers. They prospered through their own farming while their North Korean peers couldn’t.

But the founding president could not get an official appreciation and a memorial center for nearly six decades since his death due to political wrangling. He left a poor legacy by getting elected through a vote scam. But as former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, chairman of the memorial construction committee, pointed out, “It is important to view him in a balanced way.” The chairman insisted on “telling the facts” to the people without political fights. The joining of the offspring of the former presidents — who were often imprisoned at home and even received death sentences in their battle against Rhee’s government — underscores the need for reconciliation with the past.

Members of the committee also include former student activists who fought against Rhee. Those former activists who were arrested for their participation in the April 19 Revolution in 1960 paid their respect at Rhee’s grave in the National Cemetery in March. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has ordered the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to spearhead the construction.

The committee plans to receive some state funding according to the law on respecting former presidents — and collect the rest through donations. Unity is needed, particularly in times of intense political conflict. People Power Party leader Kim Gi-hyeon expressed hope that the committee would help the public learn about the country’s first president for national unity. The Democratic Party also must celebrate the construction for historical reconciliation.