Opposition candidates visit deceased progressives’ graves

Posted on : 2012-10-27 13:18 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Visits to activists’ graves take place on same day that Park Geun-hye visited her father’s grave
 South Gyeongsang province
South Gyeongsang province

By Kim Bo-hyeop and Song Chae Kyung-hwa, staff reporters

Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo paid visits to different grave sites on Oct. 26, which is the 33rd anniversary of former President Park Chung-hee's assassination.

Moon, the Democratic United Party's presidential candidate, paid respects at Hyochang Park in Seoul's Yongsan district, the gravesite for independence activist Ahn Jung-geun, who assassinated Ito Hirobumi, the first Prime Minister of Japan and the first Japanese Resident General of Korea 103 years ago. Independent candidate Ahn, who is currently on a visit to South Gyeongsang province, traveled to the March 15th National Cemetery in Changwon.

Moon said that when he was selected for the DUP nomination, he had intended to visit not only the National Cemetery but also the grave sites of Kim Koo, Ahn, and key figures in Korea's provisional government during the Japanese occupation. "Only then would I have done what was right. Since liberation, we have failed to deal adequately with the history of collaboration with the Japanese, and there has been an unfortunate failure to properly respect their spirits, both literally and figuratively," Moon said.

The candidate also sent out a Twitter message the same day saying that October 26 was "both the day on which the wrath of our people was aimed at the Japanese empire's Hirobumi Ito, and a day of tragic history in 1979." The former was a reference to Ahn's assassination of Ito, a four-time prime minister of Japan and Resident-General in Korea, while the latter was a reference to Park Chung-hee's assassination.

In his message, Moon went on say that history was "a process of recalling the past for the sake of the future, rather than simply forgetting it."

Jin Sung-joon, a spokesman for Moon's election campaign, said that October 26 was a "day on which a tragic incident occurred. We offer our sincerest condolences to Park Geun-hye." Park, the New Frontier Party presidential candidate, is the daughter of Park Chung-hee.

Meanwhile, Ahn paid his respects at the March 15th National Cemetery, which houses the remains of people who died in the March 1960 protests that led to a national movement spurred by electoral corruption on April 19 of that year.

The candidate left a message in the visitors' book reading, "I will never forget the spirit of those who gave their lives for democracy. I intend to usher in a new future."

Ahn responded to reporters' questions about Park's assassination by saying, "The judgment of history has already been made. There is nothing to add."

Ahn's camp also made reference to the Seoul mayoral by-election that took place on the same day in 2011. Spokesperson Yoo Min-young said, "The people are intelligent and wise. I think they know to make the obvious choice, to form their own judgments, and to show courage. I think that's how change begins."

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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