hankyoreh

Bae Eun-sim, mother of Lee Han-yeol, a South Korean student activist who died after being hit in the head by a tear gas canister fired by police during a protest in June 1987. (Kang Jae-hoon, senior staff photographer)

The mother of an icon of South Korea’s democratization movement has offered words of encouragement and support to the students taking part in the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong. Bae Eun-sim’s son Lee Han-yeol, a student at Yonsei University, died after being struck by a tear gas canister fired by the police in June 1987.

Bae’s message was made public by Oh Je-ha, a member of a Yonsei University club that supports the Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrations, on Dec. 4. “During a phone call with Bae Eun-sim, mother of Lee Han-yeol, on Nov. 28, she conveyed a message of support for the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong,” Oh said.

“The most heart-breaking thing is that Hong Kong students are dying right now. I wish they wouldn’t get hurt. To be honest, I can’t even bring myself to tell them to take courage. I told my son Han-yeol that if he joined the protests, he should stay in the back and not go to the front. You can imagine how I was feeling.”

“Even though I begged him not to go to the front, that’s where he was when he was killed. Han-yeol was from Gwangju, but until he went to university, he didn’t know about what happened there,” Bae said, referring to the 1980 massacre of protesters carried out by the military junta, which was intent on extinguishing a pro-democracy campaign.

“He didn’t learn about that until he went to university. That’s why he stayed in the front, because he was from Gwangju,” Bae said, as she recalled those fateful events.

“I told him not to stand in the front because I’m his mother, but that wasn’t enough. He wasn’t in a position to listen to me. There’s only so much a mother can do,” Bae said.

“They say [the protesters] won the last election [the local elections in Hong Kong held on Nov. 24], and those elections confirm public sentiment. I want to encourage them not to keep pushing ahead and not to give up. I hope they’re victorious without getting hurt,” Bae said, wrapping up the conversation.

While relating Bae’s words, Oh voiced his own appreciation. “Many of the young people, students, and others who are fighting for democracy in Hong Kong have apparently received a lot of encouragement and inspiration from watching films [about the Gwangju Uprising] such as ‘1987: When the Day Comes’ and ‘A Taxi Driver.’ While I was listening to Bae, I found myself crying and being encouraged and inspired myself.”

By Kang Jae-gu, staff reporter

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