hankyoreh

It has belatedly come to light that the Ministry of Patriots‘ and Veterans’ Affairs replaced many of the veteran historians on its committee for the study of the meritorious actions of independence fighters. Among those replaced last month was Sookmyung Women‘s University emeritus professor and former National Institute of Korean History head Lee Man-yeol, former Hansung University president Yoon Kyung-ro, Sungkyunkwan University professor Suh Joong-suk, and Yonsei University research professor Lee Jun-sik. All of them have been recognized for outstanding research into the independence movement. It is fundamentally in doubt whether any proper reviewing of meritorious actions is even possible with all of them dropped from the committee.
　The period covered by the ministry’s review extends from the Righteous Army of Eulmi in 1895 to Liberation on Aug. 15, 1945. No accurate assessment of meritorious service is possible without many years of research to develop a detailed understanding of the conditions and currents of the independence movement over this period and the activities of the individuals under review. This is why the seats on this committee demand more expertise than any others in the government. In that sense, it flies in the face of all common sense to replace Lee Man-yeol and the other professors. Lee is someone who previously served as head of the Independence Hall of Korea‘s Korean independence movement history institute and the compilation committee for the history of the Korean independence movement. Nor is there any need to go back over the expertise of Yoon, who wrote such books as “A Study of the 105-Man Incident and the New Korea Society,” or Suh, the co-president of the society for efforts to commemorate the Shinhung Military School.
　It is difficult to interpret this sudden move by the ministry without considering the political leanings and actions of Minister Park Sung-choon. This appears to be an effort by the blindly right-wing Park to remove conscientious scholars from the committee due to their politics.
　Lee and the others played leading roles in the publication of the Encyclopedia of Pro-Japanese Figures, which included the late former President Park Chung-hee for his suppressions of anti-Japanese forces as an officer with the Manchurian Army. In 2010, they successfully opposed the Ministry of National Defense’s attempted conferment of an honorary “General of the Army” title on reserve general Paik Sun-yup. The issue there was Paik‘s collaboration with Japan while serving as a first lieutenant in the Manchurian Army. It is very likely that these professors were a thorn in the side of Park, a former army lieutenant who has made no secret of his conservative leanings, for example by leading an opposition to the reversion of wartime operational command to South Korea. It also appears that harsh criticisms from the conservative media after the ministry rescinded its decoration of 19 people, including Chang Chi-yon and Yun Chi-yong, South Korea’s first Home Minister, factored into the decision to replace the professors.
　The MPVA added a number of non-specialists in history as review committee members from areas such as political science and sociology, and a number of them are reported to be New Right figures. It is very troubling to think that the review process for independence fighters might end up distorted by their political leanings. The ministry should cancel its replacement of the committee members and maintain a foundation of expertise and conscientiousness.
　Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]