Naju City Builds 'Apology Monument' to Commemorate Donghak Peasant Army Victims

A monument commemorating the Donghak Peasant Army who sacrificed their lives during the Donghak Peasant Revolution, which broke out in 1894 under the banner of protecting the nation and securing the people’s safety, is set to be erected in Naju City, Jeollanam-do.

According to Naju City on the 9th, the Committee for the Establishment of the Apology Monument to Honor the Donghak Peasant Army Victims (Chairman Na Cheon-su) will hold a residents’ briefing session at 2 p.m. on the 10th at the Naju Citizens’ Hall.

Naju was the region where the Donghak Peasant Army suffered the greatest number of casualties nationwide, due to the Japanese army entering Naju Fortress during the Donghak Peasant Revolution.

Hundreds of peasant army leaders who were transported to Naju from various places lost their lives at the Naju Chotoyeong (currently Naju Elementary School).

The Apology Monument Establishment Committee will reveal the historical background and circumstances of the monument’s construction, the site for the monument, and other specific plans during the briefing session.

Park Maeng-su, former president of Wonkwang University, a Korean representative of the Korea-Japan Donghak Pilgrimage and a Donghak researcher, will deliver a keynote speech titled “Regarding the Japanese Army’s Massacre of the Anti-Japanese Uprising Donghak Peasant Army in Jeolla Province and the Naju Area.”

Following this, Na Cheon-su, co-chairman of the committee, will report on the background of the monument’s establishment, the inscription content, the planned site, and hold a Q&A session with the attending residents.

The committee is composed mainly of Professor Akira Nakatsuka (中塚明), emeritus professor at Nara Women’s University, and Professor Katsuo Inoue (井上勝生), emeritus professor at Hokkaido University, along with members of the Naju Society and participants of the Korea-Japan Donghak Pilgrimage.

Since 2006, the Korea-Japan Donghak Pilgrimage group has continued mutual visits and exchanges related to the Donghak Peasant Revolution a total of 17 times up to last year, following a proposal by Professor Akira Nakatsuka.

From 2019 to 2021, Naju City, Wonkwang University’s Won-Buddhism Thought Research Institute, and the Korea-Japan Donghak Pilgrimage group also held Korea-Japan academic conferences on the Naju Donghak Peasant Revolution.

The apology monument will be erected with donations from conscientious Japanese intellectuals studying Donghak, the Korea-Japan Donghak Pilgrimage group, and citizens who share the same will.

Their intention to build the apology monument in Naju holds great historical significance.

Naju was the historical site where the Japanese army’s 19th Infantry Battalion, the unit responsible for suppressing the Donghak Peasant Army, was stationed at Honam Chotoyeong for 35 days from January 5 to February 8, 1895, during which massacres were committed.

This record was detailed in the “War Diary (陣中日誌)” left by Corporal Kusunoki Biyokichi of the Japanese army at the time.

Japanese professors and participants of the Korea-Japan Donghak Pilgrimage intend to clearly express their apology for the Japanese army’s massacre through the establishment of the apology monument. Through this, they aim to heal the painful history of the past and continue a relationship of coexistence and peace centered in Naju.

A representative of the Apology Monument Establishment Committee said, “We hope that the apology monument, which conscientious Japanese scholars and participants of the Korea-Japan Donghak Pilgrimage are trying to erect in Naju, will serve as an opportunity to seek a progressive future for Naju based on reconciliation and coexistence.”

Naju = Kim Yuk-bong, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr

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