hankyoreh

President Moon Jae-in sent a large bouquet of flowers to mark the 43rd anniversary of the People’s Revolutionary Party Incident. A memorial exhibit was held at the Seoul History Museum to honor eight patriotic martyrs who were charged with sedition by the Park Chung-hee regime and executed in 1975.

The background to the incident stems from demonstrations which were held against Park’s military government in 1974, two years after he launched the “Yushin Regime” which scrapped the constitution and gave Park dictatorial powers. The KCIA (the forerunner to today’s National Intelligence Service) arrested 1024 individuals who were accused of being part of the banned “People’s Revolutionary Party,” and violating the National Security Law. On Apr. 9, 1975, the Supreme Court sentenced eight of the accused to death, and the sentences were carried out 18 hours later. (provided by the April 9 Unification & Peace Foundation)