Government’s National Liberation Day celebration ignores past history between Korea and Japan

President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee wave Korean national flags with participants at a government-organized National Liberation Day celebration on August 15. The Presidential Office

Leaders of the opposition parties sing the Liberation Day song with participants at a National Liberation Day ceremony hosted by the Heritage of Korean Independence on August 15. Reporter Kwon Do-hyun

Korea’s third National Liberation Day celebration under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration revealed a divided Korean society. The controversy over the government’s pro-Japanese view of history, which was triggered by the president’s appointment of the head of the Independence Hall of Korea, led to an unprecedented situation in which the speaker of the National Assembly and the six opposition parties were absent from the government celebration ceremony. In his Liberation Day speech, Yoon did not mention the issue of past history with Japan at all. Instead, he laid out a vision of unification by absorbing North Korea and attacked political opponents as “anti-liberal and anti-unification forces.” The opposition criticized the government as the "pro-Japanese traitorous regime" and Yoon’s speech as "a divisive speech, not a congratulatory one."

President Yoon, the first lady, and officials of the government and the ruling party attended a government-organized National Liberation Day celebration held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul on August 15. The head of the Heritage of Korean Independence and the National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, who attended the event every year, were not seen. Of the seven opposition parties, only Heo Eun-ah of the Reform Party was present.

Yoon's congratulatory speech was devoid of any criticism of Japan's colonial rule and calls for reflection. Nor was there any mention of the New Right controversy sparked by his appointment of Kim Hyung-seok as the head of the Independence Hall. Yoon summoned the “anti-liberal and anti-unification forces,” saying, “Our people must firmly have the values and capabilities to promote free reunification.”

Instead of criticizing Japanese colonization and calling for reflection for future-oriented Korea-Japan relations, the president’s speech focused on summoning anti-liberal forces with no substance to divide society and unite conservatives. The Reform Party leader Heo Eun-ah said on her social media account, "I declared to the world that he is not the president of the people, but ‘half of the president.’”

Yoon, who has been controversial over ideological bias throughout his term by praising former Presidents Syngman Rhee and Park Jung-hee, visited the graveyard of Yuk Young-soo, the wife of Park, to mark the 50th anniversary of her death.

Most opposition figures attended a ceremony, which was organized by the Heritage of Korean Independence at the Baekbeom Memorial Hall. “In recent years, distorted views of history have been proliferating, and those who judge history in a wrong way have been appearing in the forefront of the posts dealing with and educating history,” said Lee Jong-chan, the head of the Heritage of Korean Independence, in his speech commemorating Liberation Day. “History written in blood cannot be covered with history discussed with tongues.”

Park Chan-dae, the acting leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, issued a statement condemning the event before attending, saying, “I can't help but wonder whether the second 'Korea and Japan are One' policy is in progress.” Even in the ruling party, former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min said, “Japan disappeared from the president's congratulatory speech today, following last year's Liberation Day. It is indeed strange and bizarre.”

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik did not attend either events hosted by the government or the Heritage of Korean Independence. Instead, he paid tribute at the Seoul National Cemetery in the morning and laid flowers on the statue of forced laborers at Yongsan Station Square in the afternoon.

The opposition's absence from the government-organized Liberation Day ceremony is not only related to the issue of Kim Hyung-seok's appointment but also to the Yoon administration's view of history. The government's ignoring of the past history between Korea and Japan and dividing the country based on liberal ideology are making even Liberation Day a divisive event.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.