Assemblyman Yong-bin Lee: "Gyeongsul National Humiliation Day Should Be Designated as a National Memorial Day"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Rep. Lee Yong-bin (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Gwangsan-gu Gap) announced on the 29th that the Gyeongsul National Humiliation Day (August 29) should be designated as a national memorial day.

On the 111th anniversary of Gyeongsul National Humiliation Day, Rep. Lee proposed to the Prime Minister's Office, the National Assembly Secretariat, Gwangju Metropolitan City, and Gwangsan-gu to promote the designation of the day as a national memorial day and to encourage the early raising of flags in commemoration of the day.

On August 29, 1910, Japan forcibly signed the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty and took away the sovereignty of the Korean Empire. This day is called "Gyeongsul National Humiliation Day" because it marks the humiliating day when the country was lost in the year of Gyeongsul (1910).

At that time, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea also designated the National Humiliation Day as one of the five major national memorial days (March 1st Movement Day, April 11th Provisional Government Establishment Day, August 29th National Humiliation Day, October 3rd National Foundation Day, November 17th Patriot Martyrs' Day - the day the Eulsa Treaty was signed) and commemorated it, but after 111 years, the National Humiliation Day remains the only day not officially designated as a memorial day.

To improve this, there have been attempts at the National Assembly level to designate the National Humiliation Day as a memorial day, but they have repeatedly failed.

During the 17th National Assembly in 2005, lawmakers Song Young-gil, Woo Won-shik, and Jung Cheong-rae submitted a resolution urging the designation of Gyeongsul National Humiliation Day as a national memorial day, but it was discarded. Similarly, in the 19th National Assembly, about ten lawmakers including Nam In-soon and Park Nam-chun united to push for the resolution and legal amendments, but no significant progress was made.

Starting with Gyeonggi Province in 2013, all 17 metropolitan local governments nationwide enacted ordinances to lower flags on National Humiliation Day. However, since the day has not been designated as a government-led memorial day, neither the government nor local governments have actively commemorated it.

On the 27th, Rep. Lee met with Yoon Kyung-ro, chairman of the Committee for the Compilation of the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators, Lee Min-woo, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Korean Historical Issues, Lee Joon-sik, former director of the Independence Hall, and Bang Hak-jin, planning director of the Institute for Korean Historical Issues, to discuss the designation of National Humiliation Day as a national memorial day.

The Institute for Korean Historical Issues has been making efforts to build social consensus on commemorating National Humiliation Day.

Since 2004, they have held commemorative ceremonies at Jungmyeongjeon, the site where the Eulsa Treaty was signed, erected plaques at Namsan where the treaty was concluded with citizens of both Korea and Japan, restored the "National Humiliation Commemoration Song (國恥追念歌)," and organized exhibitions related to National Humiliation Day.

Rep. Lee said, "During the Japanese colonial period, our nation commemorated Gyeongsul National Humiliation Day to remember the pain and humiliation of losing the country and to reaffirm the will for independence and freedom to regain national sovereignty," adding, "Remembering National Humiliation Day means inheriting the legal legitimacy of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea established through the March 1st Movement and pledging to honor the independence movement."

He continued, "Currently, among the 53 national memorial days, the Donghak Peasant Revolution, an anti-feudal and anti-foreign movement, and the history of democratic and national movements are commemorated, but there are only four days dedicated to honoring the independence movement," and expressed his determination, saying, "I will do my best to ensure the designation of this memorial day, which was pushed but failed in the 17th and 19th National Assemblies, is finally completed."

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