The person behind the removal of Hong Beom-do’s statue from the Military Academy was the New Right professor, Na Jong-nam

The bust of the late General Hong Beom-do in front of the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Kim Chang-gil

On September 5, it was confirmed that the person who oversaw the practical business of the committee for the relocation of monuments in the Korea Military Academy, which led efforts to remove the busts of five independence activists including General Hong Beom-do erected in the Academy, was Na Jong-nam, a professor of military history at the Academy.

Na was one of the authors of the contemporary history section in the state designated textbook at the time of the Park Geun-hye government. According to the press coverage in 2011, when the Korean Contemporary History Society--known for its New Right perspective--launched, Na was on the list of members who prepared the establishment of the society. The Yoon Suk-yeol government and the military raised an issue with General Hong’s history with the Communist Party in the Soviet Union and decided to remove his bust from the Military Academy, while restoring the webtoon of General Paik Sun-yup (Baek Seon-yeop), who has a history of collaborating with Japan. The latest discovery reveals circumstances that suggest that the New Right forces were behind the latest effort to erase the history of our independence movement.

On Tuesday, the Kyunghyang Shinmun confirmed through the office of Democratic Party of Korea legislator Jung Sung-ho that Na oversaw the details as a secretary of the committee for the relocation of monuments in the Military Academy. This was the first time that the list of committee members was confirmed since the controversy over the statues of independence activists was first triggered.

Na Jong-nam participated in writing the contemporary history section of the state designated textbook under the Park Geun-hye government in 2016. At the time, the New Right’s view on national foundation day--that the Republic of Korea was founded on August 15, 1948--was reflected in the state designated textbook along with more sections glorifying the Park Chung-hee government and the chaebol, stirring controversy. Na ended up in the center of the controversy after it was revealed that he had shared writings by scholars praising former President Park Chung-hee on social media at the time.

The Korean Contemporary History Society is an organization founded mostly by New Right figures. The society argued that history textbooks should be revised to state “democracy” as “liberal democracy” in 2011 under the Lee Myung-bak government. In 2013, under the Park Geun-hye government, the society also wrote the Korean history textbook published by Kyohaksa. The textbook was criticized for reducing and distorting the issue of comfort women in the Japanese military and for glorifying the Rhee Syng-man and Park Chung-hee governments.

Professor Na also contributed to the New Understanding of the Foundation of the Republic of Korea. The book was published to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the nation’s foundation in 2008 by New Right figures, who argue that the nation was founded on the day the Rhee Syng-man government was born--on August 15, 1948. Minister of Unification Kim Yung-ho co-authored the book.

Now that it has been revealed that Na, a New Right figure, was the man behind the relocation of monuments in the Military Academy, the Yoon Suk-yeol government’s New Right perspective of history is expected to come under public scrutiny. In the past, the military and the government claimed they were simply relocating the bust of General Hong to another location where his contribution to the nation’s independence could be better illuminated and denied any bias toward New Right ideas. On Tuesday, when Prime Minister Han Duck-soo answered parliamentary questions, Democratic Party lawmaker Sul Hoon asked, “Must the biased ideas of the far-right New Right become the philosophy of the Republic of Korea?” The prime minister answered, “I do not agree to the view that the Yoon Suk-yeol government has a far-right New Right perspective.”

Legislator Jung Sung-ho said, “The person who led efforts to remove the bust of an independence activist in the Military Academy turned out to be one of the authors of the state designated textbook under the Park Geun-hye government, a man with far-right tendencies,” and argued, “The defense ministry and the Korea Military Academy must disclose the reason they appointed one of the authors of the state designated textbook, which stirred controversy for distorting history, as the person in charge and also disclose the entire list of members on the committee.”

The Military Academy explained, “The position of secretary is not one that leads the decision-making, but one that contacts the necessary people to run the committee and convenes and moderates meetings,” and said, “The committee cannot be led by a certain person. All nineteen committee members discuss issues together, and as for the issues they discuss, people in major positions in the school discuss concepts and engage in field discussions multiple times to make a decision.”