In May, the Bongha fields were as generous as former President Roh Moo-hyun’s casual laugh. There was a time when angry supporters blocked conservative politicians at the entrance to the neighborhood and sent them back, but this time they took it like a big river. At the 13th anniversary of former President Roh held on the 23rd, the ruling and opposition parties gathered together to pay tribute to the deceased. There were occasional boos when the Yun Seok-yeol government and people from the People’s Power entered the building. However, the crowd stopped themselves saying “Wow!” and the commotion quickly subsided. Chung Sye-kyun, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyung Foundation, introduced people from the power of the people before the memorial service and asked for applause. Is that why? As a reporter personally, I think the temperature of the air was a few degrees higher than at the commemoration ceremony of the May 18 Democratization Movement in Gwangju a few days ago.
Prime Minister Han Deok-soo attended the ceremony on behalf of the government. He was also the last prime minister of the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Prime Minister Han held the hand of former President Roh’s wife, Kwon Yang-sook, and offered her condolences to President Yoon. Ms. Kwon would think the prosecution drove her husband into her limbs, and the reality of her former prosecutor becoming president can be uncomfortable. Still, Ms. Kwon’s expression as she held the Prime Minister’s hand seemed comfortable.
Prime Minister Han looked around the newly opened ‘Awakened Citizens Cultural Experience Exhibition Hall’ in Bonghama Village. He said that the words of former President Roh, ‘mature democracy’ displayed there, came to mind.
He told reporters, “It would be better to start with an approach to thinking rather than starting from something too big.” Politics and state affairs are a kind of accumulation of time, which means that more records of cooperation should be accumulated. As I got off the plane to Gyeonggi-do, I heard the news that Jeong Ho-young, a candidate for Minister of Health and Welfare, whom the opposition had opposed, voluntarily resigned. One small step towards cooperation may have been accumulated.
President Yoon, who had to turn away from the entrance due to crowd protests during his visit to the May 18th National Cemetery in November last year, led 99 members of the People’s Power to attend the ceremony. There is still a long way to go to wash away the distrust in the eyes and the core of the heart. Still, if we take these steps one step at a time, maybe the day will come when the ruling and opposition parties will mingle together without any political tension at the 5/18 commemoration and the Roh Moo-hyun memorial.
[정치부 = 성승훈 기자 hun1103@mk.co.kr]
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