'Jeong Yul-seong History Park Development' Moves Beyond Hot Issue to Political Conflict Between Ruling and Opposition Parties

Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Min-sik Sparks Controversy Over Post Opposing Park Development

Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung Responds, "Stop Color Politics, Let History Judge Merits"

Criticism from Ruling Party Figures Including

The 'Jeong Yul-seong Historical Park Development' promoted by Gwangju Metropolitan City has become a hot topic, with heated debates continuing daily across various sectors. It appears to be expanding beyond a simple issue into a political conflict between ruling and opposition parties.

Park Min-sik, Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, along with ruling party figures, civic groups, and some local students, are openly criticizing Gwangju City. Meanwhile, Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung and Democratic Party members counter that this is an outdated ideological controversy and argue that the debate should stop, leaving the merits and demerits to history.

Photo by Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung SNS capture.

The controversy began when Minister Park Min-sik posted on his SNS, "Who are you dedicating 4.8 billion won to?" Park criticized, "Gwangju Metropolitan City plans to build the 'Jeong Yul-seong Memorial Park' by the end of this year, but Gwangju already has Jeong Yul-seong Road and his preserved birthplace. A lot of taxes have been spent on music festivals and restoring his hometown, but did he achieve such great accomplishments that he deserves luxuries that even An Jung-geun and Yun Bong-gil did not enjoy?"

Gwangju City announced plans in 2020 to develop the 'Jeong Yul-seong Historical Park' in the Bullo-dong area of Dong-gu, with a budget of 4.8 billion won, aiming to complete the park by the end of this year.

Minister Park stated, "I am ashamed thinking about how much the independence activists and patriotic and democratization martyrs watching from heaven would lament," and questioned, "Is Jeong Yul-seong an independence activist? He did not fight the Japanese for Korea." He added, "He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1939 and composed the 'March of the People's Liberation Army,' which is currently the Chinese People's Liberation Army's march. After liberation, he returned to North Korea, served as the head of the Korean People's Army club, and founded and led the People's Army Orchestra."

He continued, "The Korean People's Army March he composed boosted the morale of the North Korean army throughout the Korean War. When the tragic Korean War broke out, he organized a war entertainment troupe to comfort the Chinese Communist troops," and emphasized, "He contributed to the establishment of the North Korean government, composed the Korean People's Army March, which sounded the trumpet for the 6.25 War invasion, and was a cheerleader for the communist army that aimed guns at the mountains and rivers of the homeland and the hearts of parents and siblings."

He also said, "A memorial park for a hero of China and North Korea? Are you trying to build a patriotic martyr's cemetery for North Korea? Is there no one else worthy of commemoration?" and criticized, "It's no different from building a memorial park for Kim Il-sung because he also participated in the anti-Japanese movement. Commemorating him with our people's taxes, who led the destruction of the free democratic Republic of Korea, is an insult to the democracy fighters resting in the 5.18 cemetery."

In response, Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung posted on SNS, "Gwangju invests in the Jeong Yul-seong Historical Park." In his post, Mayor Kang said, "If you look at the world through ideological colored glasses, the world appears in two colors: 'enemy and me.' Gwangju neither glorifies nor disparages Jeong Yul-seong. He was an outstanding musician, and his life reflects the pains of the era."

He added, "Thanks to his excellent music, many Chinese tourists visit Gwangju. Gwangju will discover and invest in Jeong Yul-seong as a historical and cultural resource," explaining, "In the heart of Berlin, Germany, there are still statues of Marx and Engels and a Marx Street. This is how we remember history today."

He continued, "Jeong Yul-seong's life, who was active as an anti-Japanese activist and musician and ended his life as a Chinese citizen, is the pain of the era. Embracing and overcoming that pain will allow Gwangju and the Republic of Korea to mature to the next level," and concluded, "Let's stop hostile politics and start 'politics of friendship' that welcomes different, diverse, and new things."

As the SNS exchange between Minister Park and Mayor Kang continued, support and criticism from various sectors also persisted.

The Gwangju branch of the National Student Protection Alliance (HakSuYeon) announced it would hold a press conference at 4 p.m. on the 27th at Jeong Yul-seong Road in Gwangju to oppose the memorial park development and condemn Mayor Kang Ki-jung.

They stated, "Withdraw the Jeong Yul-seong Memorial Park development, who was a war criminal collaborator and massacre accomplice. Mayor Kang Ki-jung, who supports massacre collaborators, must apologize," emphasizing, "Jeong Yul-seong composed the Chinese Communist People's Liberation Army March and served as the head of the North Korean army orchestra, also composing the Korean People's Army March. He is truly the mastermind behind the 6.25 national tragedy."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also posted on his SNS, "Jeong Yul-seong clearly lived as an enemy of the Republic of Korea. Let's properly examine historical issues," describing the Jeong Yul-seong Historical Park development as 'Sangpungpaesok' (a term meaning corrupt and immoral customs).

Mayor Oh argued, "For decades, forces claiming to be progressive have identified, condemned, and excluded pro-Japanese collaborators. Then isn't it only natural to also punish those who obstructed the survival of the Republic of Korea and joined communism? If the former is anti-national, the latter is anti-state," he claimed.

He added, "Saying pro-Japanese is unacceptable but communism is acceptable is just a double standard," emphasizing, "'Sangpungpaesok' is a perfect term for those who glorify Jeong Yul-seong, an 'enemy of the Republic of Korea.'"

In addition, ruling party figures have also poured out criticism regarding the Jeong Yul-seong Historical Park development.

On the opposition side, voices supporting the park development have emerged. The Gwangju Five District Mayors' Council issued a joint statement saying, "We hope the Jeong Yul-seong Historical Park proceeds smoothly according to its purpose and becomes a valuable asset to the region."

They pointed out, "Jeong Yul-seong and most of his family devoted themselves to the anti-Japanese independence movement and are known as a representative independence activist family of Honam, having been posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation and the Order of Independence," and noted, "It is not desirable to define his identity by highlighting only one aspect of his life based on current values."

They added, "Since 2004, Gwangju has held the Jeong Yul-seong International Academic Conference, and from 2005, the Jeong Yul-seong International Music Festival, as well as various projects such as establishing Jeong Yul-seong Road. Other regions where traces of Jeong Yul-seong remain are also conducting various activities to utilize him as a historical and cultural resource."

While Mayor Kang Ki-jung's usual SNS posts receive 70 to 90 comments, posts related to the Jeong Yul-seong Historical Park have attracted up to 700 comments, showing explosive interest.

The comments on the post sharply contrast between supportive remarks such as "Cheering for you" and "Please work hard for Gwangju's development," and opposing remarks like "Don't waste my hard-earned money and taxes," and "Is there really no one else worthy of commemoration in Honam?"

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