▲ While President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol decided to attend the 4.3 commemoration ceremony on the 3rd, Jeju Provincial Council Chairman Nam-su left and provincial legislators are holding a camellia planting ceremony to commemorate the revision of the 4.3 Special Act on the 1st. yunhap news
President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol will attend the ceremony to commemorate the victims of the 74th anniversary of the Jeju April 3rd to be held tomorrow. A spokesperson for the elected president-elect said, “Elect Yoon emphasized that it is the duty and duty of all people to commemorate and warmly comfort the souls of the innocent victims of the innocent sacrifice of both people, regardless of the cause.” The 4·3 Incident is a tragic incident that resulted from a severe ideological conflict during the Korean War following liberation. Still, some conservatives are not able to shake off the negative perception of the government’s commemoration and compensation for the 4·3 victims. Under this circumstance, the decision of the conservatives-elect to attend the memorial service is evaluated as one of the desirable changes.
The 4·3 Incident occurred on April 3, 1948, during the suppression of the right-wing youth group and the military and police following the attack of the left-wing armed forces at the police branch. The ‘4·3 Incident Facts Investigation Report’ states that it was the second largest loss of life following the Korean War in modern Korean history, lasting regarding 7 years. Former President Roh Moo-hyun and President Moon Jae-in attended the memorial services in 2006 and 2018 respectively, but no conservative president attended.
President-elect Yoon visited Jeju during his presidential campaign and said, “I think that participating in the April 3 commemoration is the way to achieve peace and national unity in accordance with the spirit of human rights and liberal democracy.” I think that the fact that the 4·3 related organizations that have established a quarrel with the previous conservative governments have expressed their welcome to Yoon-elect’s participation in the memorial service is a positive sign to unravel the clue to national unity.
Yoon-elect’s participation in the memorial ceremony was made in order to keep his promise, “Once I become elected, I will visit the 4.3 Memorial Park once more.” As such, I believe that the promise of “if I take over the next government, I will do my best to ensure that reasonable compensation is provided to the families of the victims” will be kept. As such, President-elect Yoon’s participation in the 4·3 incident commemoration ceremony should not be limited to merely fulfilling a one-off promise. It must be the first step in efforts to overcome the still serious ideological confrontation in our society and achieve national unity. When the president-elect, the president following May 10, takes the lead and breaks down the old barriers of ideological confrontation one by one, true national unity will not be far away.
