South Korea’s Yoon fights ‘ideology war’ at home as critics slam his treatment of historical figures, war heroes

Historians and opposition leaders have slammed President Yoon’s administration for trying to play down colonial Japanese brutality and anti-Japanese moves

The recent history row began from the government’s decision to relocate the bust of a revered independence fighter from Seoul’s Korea Military Academy

Reading Time:3 minutes

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at a ceremony on September 15 to mark the 73rd anniversary of a historic amphibious landing operation in the Korean War. Photo: EPA-EFE/YONHAP

Published: 2:00pm, 17 Sep 2023

South Korea is embroiled in untimely disputes over how to treat its anti-Japanese independence fighters, as President Yoon Suk-yeol seeks closer ties to Japan to cope with the belligerent North.

Historians and liberal opposition politicians have criticised the Yoon administration’s bid to soften the brutal narrative of its former colonial power Japan and downplay anti-Japanese feats for the sake of improved relations with Tokyo.

In a rare joint statement on Wednesday, a group of 51 historian associations accused the government of belittling the roles of leftist pro-independence fighters to fit Yoon’s new “Cold War-style” foreign policy vision adopted in the wake of Seoul’s new security pact with Washington and Tokyo, amid the US-China rivalry.

South Korea’s national identity was shaped by its independence fighters, the group said. “We won’t tolerate it if we fail to teach the hard facts of our history of fighting Japanese imperialism in order for the government to improve ties with Japan,” the statement said.

“The government must stop tainting history with political purposes,” warned the group, which includes key associations such as the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, and the Korean Historical Association.

The recent history row began from the government’s decision to relocate the bust of revered independence fighter Hong Beom-do from the Korea Military Academy in northern Seoul.

Four other busts of independence fighters who were active in the 1920s and 1930s, which are currently placed together with Hong outside the academy’s education centre, will also be relocated to a less prominent location in the academy.