Gwangju rejects request to stop park for communist composer

Gwangju's city government dismissed a recommendation from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to cancel its initiative about a composer with communist ties...

The site of a park dedicated to controversial composer Jeong Yul-sung in Gwangju under construction on Wednesday. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs recommended the Gwangju city government to cancel the project on Wednesday, citing Jeong's communist ties. The city government dismissed the recommendation on the same day. [YONHAP]

Gwangju's city government dismissed a recommendation from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to cancel its initiative about a composer with communist ties.

“Commemorative projects such as the creation of the historical park for Jeong Yul-sung are local government projects, and according to Article 188 of the Local Autonomy Act, local government projects can receive a correction order from a minister only in cases where they are illegal,” said the city government in a statement Wednesday.

The city government said that its plan to create the park to honor Jeong Yul-sung, a naturalized Chinese composer also known as Zheng Lucheng, is part of a series of cultural projects that the Korean government has been engaged in “since the Roh Tae-woo government launched goodwill projects with China in 1988,” and that there is nothing illegal about it.

Jeong is believed to have been born in Gwangju in 1918.

Earlier on Wednesday, the ministry recommended the city government stop ongoing projects to honor Jeong, who it said not only composed music for the North Korean and Chinese militaries but also joined the North Korean-led invasion of the South in the 1950-53 Korean War.

“The projects reject the identity of the Republic of Korea and are disgracing the patriots who sacrificed their lives for the country,” said the ministry in its statement. “The ministry asks the city government to stop the projects and correct existing ones.”

The ministry’s recommendation holds no administrative mandate until it decides to issue a directive, which the ministry said Wednesday it would consider if the city government does not comply with its recommendation.

Gwangju's city government can file an injunction at the Supreme Court to dispute the directive.

Jeong is revered in China and North Korea for composing the military anthems for both countries, still played during marches today.

He is less known in South Korea, where critics call him an enemy of the state, citing his activities in the Chinese communist army during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Others argue he fought as an independent fighter during the 1910-45 Japanese annexation of Korea, though there are no official records.

Gwangju became the center of controversy after it was found to have spent 4.8 billion won ($3.6 million) in taxes to construct a park commemorating the Korean-Chinese composer.

The issue first came to light in August after the minister of patriots and veterans affairs, Park Min-shik, criticized Gwangju for using tax funds to commemorate Jeong, whom he called “a Chinese and North Korean hero” and equated the project as building “a commemorative park for Kim Il Sung for fighting against Japan.”

The controversy over the park project dedicated to Jeong is part of a series of ideological clashes between Korea's political parties over historical figures in Korea in recent months.

One is Hong Beom-do, a commander of the Korean Independence Army during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, busts of whom stand at the Ministry of National Defense and the Korea Military Academy in Seoul.

The Defense Ministry’s decision to remove the busts, along with those of other freedom fighters with alleged communist affiliations, has likewise fueled ideological debate.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]