"Do Not Let My Death Be in Vain" 50 Years After Jeon Tae-il's 1970 Protest, the President's Response... (Comprehensive)

President Moon Awards the Late Jeon Tae-il the Highest Order of Mugunghwa... "Jeon Tae-il Would Say 'It's Still Far From Over'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] "I wonder what Jeon Tae-il, who told us not to let my death be in vain, would say now."

On the 12th, Lee Su-ho, chairman of the Jeon Tae-il Foundation, asked this question when he met President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House. On this day, the late Jeon Tae-il was posthumously awarded the Mugunghwa Medal, the highest order, as the first labor figure to receive it. President Moon invited Jeon Tae-il’s family and friends to the Blue House to hold the Mugunghwa Medal conferment ceremony.

Jeon Tae-il, a tailor at the Peace Market, was the figure who set himself on fire on November 13, 1970, shouting, "Do not let my death be in vain, comply with the Labor Standards Act, we are not machines." November 13 marks the 50th anniversary of Jeon Tae-il’s sacrifice, raising questions about the value of labor and the importance of human rights in Korean society.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Since the 1970s, Jeon Tae-il has remained a symbolic figure of the Korean labor movement. The biography "Jeon Tae-il" written by the late Cho Young-rae, a respected human rights lawyer admired by President Moon, has been a must-read for those who experienced the Korean labor, human rights, and student movements since the 1980s. It contains the mystery of why Jeon Tae-il sought out university students and wanted to study the Labor Standards Act before his death.

During the authoritarian government era of the 1980s, even mentioning the name Jeon Tae-il was considered a subversive act. However, 50 years after that day in 1970, the world has changed so much that people related to Jeon Tae-il were invited to the Blue House to receive medals.

Chief Presidential Spokesperson Kang Min-seok said, "On that day, 22-year-old Jeon Tae-il left his mother, Lee So-sun, with the words, 'Mother, please accomplish the work I could not finish.' Fifty years have passed. Today, President Moon Jae-in posthumously awarded Jeon Tae-il the highest order, the Mugunghwa Medal," he said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

After the medal conferment ceremony, President Moon had a conversation with Jeon Tae-il’s family members: Jeon Tae-sam (eldest brother), Jeon Soon-ok (second sister), Jeon Tae-ri (third sister), and Jeon Tae-il’s friends and comrades from the ‘Samdong Friendship Association’?Choi Jong-in, Lee Seung-chul, Lim Hyun-jae, Kim Young-moon?as well as Lee Su-ho, chairman of the Jeon Tae-il Foundation.

President Moon said, "The medal awarded to Jeon Tae-il today is a symbolic expression of the government’s will to move toward a ‘labor-respecting society.’ It took 50 years," adding, "Although it is a late posthumous award after 50 years, I feel honored that our government could present medals to Jeon Tae-il and his mother Lee So-sun (who received the Moran Medal at the June 10 ceremony)."

President Moon recalled, "(Jeon Tae-il, who self-studied the Labor Standards Act, lamented the difficult mixed Korean-Chinese characters) said, ‘I wish I had a university student friend who could teach me the Labor Standards Act.’ I have always felt sorry about that," and continued, "In 1970, when Jeon Tae-il self-immolated, I was a senior in high school. It was the first time I opened my eyes and became aware of the labor movement and the difficult situation of workers, and later I became a labor lawyer."

President Moon said, "I feel the resurrection of Jeon Tae-il in reality and history. The labor movement, which was cut off during the military regime, was revived through Jeon Tae-il. The claims Jeon Tae-il made are being realized one by one," and added, "There is still a long way to go to reach a labor-respecting society, and progress is slow, but our will will not change."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Choi Jong-in, a friend from the ‘Samdong Friendship Association,’ said, "Tae-il was the most affectionate person. He was the leader of friends who worked justly. I was beside him when Tae-il became a fireball next to the Peace Market National Bank that day. Tae-il shouted while setting fire to the Labor Standards Act," and added, "We are all over 70 now. Our dream was to have a Jeon Tae-il Memorial Hall, and it was built last year at Cheonggyecheon Arcade. (With today’s medal conferment added) I am deeply moved."

Lee Seung-chul said, "I really miss Tae-il. On the 50th anniversary of his self-immolation protest, (the medal conferment) is overwhelming. If I meet Tae-il now, I want to ask him, ‘How do you accept this?’" Jeon Tae-il’s family also expressed their gratitude to President Moon.

Has Korean society properly responded to Jeon Tae-il’s question 50 years ago? In response to Lee Su-ho’s question, "(Jeon Tae-il) I wonder what he would say now," President Moon replied, "Jeon Tae-il would say, ‘It’s still far away.’"

This means that although Korean society is gradually moving toward improvement, there is still a long way to go. Then President Moon concluded the conversation with these words.

"The will to move toward a labor-respecting society is clear. Earlier, I spoke about the resurrection of Jeon Tae-il. Since his self-immolation, countless Jeon Tae-ils have been born. With the determination to surely reach a labor-respecting society, I will move forward together with countless Jeon Tae-ils."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.