On the day of South Korea's "Liberation Day", Lee Jae-myung posted: It is shameful that the Yoon Seok-yeol government took the lead in "whitewashing history" for Japan!
2024-08-15
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[Global Times Report] According to Yonhap News Agency, on the 79th anniversary of South Korea's "Liberation Day" (August 15), Lee Jae-myung, former leader of South Korea's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, posted on social media, criticizing the Yoon Seok-yeol government for "taking the lead in whitewashing history for Japan."
According to reports, Lee Jae-myung posted on Facebook that day, "The Yoon Seok-yeol government abused its veto power on people's livelihood (issues), but gave Japan "all-out assistance" to "whitewash" its history." "The Yoon Seok-yeol government is moving against the course of history. This is a shameful Liberation Day."
He also wrote, "If (the Yoon Seok-yeol government) continues to ignore the rational calls of the people and reverse history, it will absolutely not be able to avoid the judgment of the people and history," and the Democratic Party will do its utmost to stop the current regime's historically meaningless submissive diplomacy and pro-Japanese behavior.
File photo of Lee Jae-myung, former leader of South Korea's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea. Source: Korean media report
South Korea's Chosun Ilbo, which also reported on the incident, mentioned that opposition parties such as the Democratic Party of Korea plan not to attend the "Liberation Day" commemoration activities held by the Yoon Seok-yeol government this year.
According to previous reports by several South Korean media, the South Korean government has sparked controversy by appointing Kim Hyung-seok, a "controversial pro-Japanese (historical view) figure," as the director of the Independence Hall of Korea. The Hankyoreh said on August 8 that he was the central figure in the recent controversy over "appointing pro-Japanese figures."
"Yun Seok-yeol's administration whitewashes history," the Hankyoreh reported on the 8th, saying that during the recruitment of candidates for the director of the Independence Hall, the descendants of independence activists were not selected, and "pro-Japanese people" were repeatedly recommended. Lee Jong-chan, chairman of the Korean Liberation Society, questioned in a radio interview, "Does this personnel arrangement mean that there are spies from the Japanese colonial period somewhere in Yongsan (the presidential palace)?"
The Hankyoreh reported that the South Korean presidential office responded to Kim Hyung-seok's personnel arrangement by saying it had nothing to do with "historical views". A senior official of the presidential office said, "It was just the first choice candidate recommended by the recommendation committee composed of the Independence Hall Board of Directors who was appointed" and "President Yoon Seok-yeol does not know Kim Hyung-seok personally."
According to Yonhap News Agency on the 9th, some independence movement memorial groups have decided not to participate in the "Liberation Day" commemoration activities held by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security this year, such as the "Anti-Japanese Independence Martyrs Propaganda Group Federation", due to opposition to Kim Hyung-seok becoming the director of the Korean Independence Memorial Hall. The Liberation Society is also discussing this matter internally and has decided not to attend the luncheon for the descendants of independence activists hosted by Yoon Seok-yeol on the day before the "Liberation Day".
