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President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol takes part in a ceremony commemorating victims of the Jeju April 3 Incident on its 74th anniversary on April 3, 2022. (still from Yonhap News TV)

South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said Sunday that he “will work to fully restore the reputations of the victims and bereaved families of the April 3 Incident” while attending a memorial service for the victims on the 74th anniversary of the uprising and massacre.

The April 3 Incident refers to an uprising that occurred on Jeju Island in 1948 and was brutally suppressed by the South Korean government. This is the first time a president or president-elect from a conservative party has attended a memorial service for the April 3 Incident.

“I want to express my sincere condolences for the victims. I also extend a word of consolation to their bereaved loved ones, who had to endure a period of suffering as they built Jeju into an ‘island of peace,’” Yoon said in his message at the memorial service, which was held at the Jeju 4•3 Peace Park at 10 am on Sunday.

“We remember the painful history of the April 3 Incident and each and every one of the innocent people whose lives were taken. It is sobering to contemplate the history of Jeju and the people of Jeju who relied on their longing to endure the grief of losing their loved ones, without being allowed to say a single word about the injustice they had faced,” Yoon said.

“Healing the pain and tending to the scars of the April 3 Incident is our duty, as those who remember, and it is the duty of the Republic of Korea, as we seek to move into a future of reconciliation and harmony. I will work to fully restore the reputations of the victims and bereaved families of the April 3 Incident.”

“The government will take responsibility for easing the pain of the survivors and the pain of the bereaved family members and the hard times they have lived through,” Yoon added.

“In a liberal democracy that pursues the universal values of freedom and human rights, it is the undeniable duty of the government and the public to warmly embrace innocent victims and to share their pain. The determination not to repeat the tragedy of the past continues at this event today, 74 years later, and it will continue in the future.”

“I think the power of the history of the April 3 Incident, which has moved from tragedy to peace, is the belief that while we cannot change the past, we can build the future together. The new administration will keep working so that the values of peace and human rights that are displayed here at the Jeju 4•3 Peace Park will spread around the world,” Yoon pledged.

While visiting Jeju in February, during his campaign for president, he had promised to attend the memorial service and do his best to ensure that bereaved family members received “suitable compensation.”

“When I visited here in February, there was a snowstorm. Today, the camellia flowers are in bloom around the island. Spring is here at last,” Yoon said in his message.

“I will work even harder to ensure that the warmth of spring blooms in each of your hearts. I will not forget my promise to join with the Korean people in warmly embracing the spirits of the innocent victims. Once again, I pray for the peace of the victims and express my sympathy to the bereaved family members.”

April 3 was designated as a national day of remembrance for the victims of the incident in 2014, during the presidency of Park Geun-hye, but she never attended a memorial.

By Oh Yeon Seo, staff reporter

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