[앵커]
As a result of YTN coverage, it was confirmed that the new Truth and Reconciliation Chairman Kim Kwang-dong, who caused controversy in relation to the 5/18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, made remarks that disparaged the 4/19 Revolution this time.
The logic was that citizens had never demanded democracy in the April 19 Revolution and that the dictatorship of the Syngman Rhee government was inevitable.
This is reporter Kim Chul-hee’s exclusive report.
[기자]
This is the preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, with the purpose of creating the Constitution and the ideology contained in it.
In the first sentence, it is written that the Republic of Korea ‘success to the democratic ideology of 4.19 that resisted injustice’.
For this reason, the democratic spirit of the April 19 Revolution has been an object of commemoration for both conservative and progressive governments.
President Yoon Seok-yeol also attended the April 19 commemoration ceremony as elected and raised the meaning of the revolution.
[윤석열 / 대통령 (지난 4월) : 권력의 부정과 불의에 맞서 위대한 학생과 시민의 힘으로 자유를 지키고, ‘민주주의’의 초석을 놓았습니다.]
The 2nd Truth and Reconciliation Committee also made a decision to find out the truth about state violence committed during the March 15 Uprising, which sparked the April 19 Revolution a few months ago.
However, it was confirmed as a result of coverage that Kim Gwang-dong, the new chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, made remarks that undermined the value of 4/19.
There was no demand for democracy within 4·19, and it was dismissed as ‘the story of the people crying for food’.
[김광동 / 진실화해위원장 (지난 2017년) : 대한민국에 민주주의에 대한 요구가 없었습니다. ‘밥 달라 우는 백성’이라고 얘기하는 겁니다. 4.19도. 만약에 4.19가 민주혁명이라면 4·19 이후에 민주주의 제도적으로 바뀐 게 있어야 합니다.]
On the other hand, he defended the dictatorship of the Syngman Rhee regime by saying that it was an unavoidable choice.
[김광동 / 진실화해위원장 (지난 2010년) : 전쟁을 겪은 작은 나라인 대한민국이 독재가 아닌 체제가 된다면 과연 당시 우리 조건 속에서 어떤 체제가 될 수 있겠느냐….]
4·19 was not an anti-dictatorship democracy struggle, but a demand for economic development and industrialization to ‘let’s live well’.
Chairman Kim’s logic is that the Park Chung-hee regime, born of the May 16 military coup, inherited that spirit.
Chairman Kim, who highly praised the 5.16, also caused controversy by defending the October Restoration, saying that it was an ‘unavoidable choice for survival’.
In other words, he consistently defended the dictatorship that led to the Rhee Syngman and Park Chunghee regimes.
Regarding this, Chairman Kim stated that there was no change in the view that both 4.19 and 5.16 had continuity toward a modern prosperity system.
This is YTN Kim Chul-hee.
YTN Cheolhee Kim ([email protected])
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