'General of the Nation Hong Beom-do' Author: "How Can a National Hero Be Treated Like This?"

Poet Lee Dong-sun MBC Radio Interview
"The General's Lifelong Wish Is to Regain the Sovereignty of the Homeland"

As controversy intensifies over the relocation of General Hong Beom-do's bust installed on the grounds of the Korea Military Academy, poet Lee Dong-soon, author of "General Hong Beom-do of the Nation," expressed his lament, saying, "If we insult, discard, and damage an elder who lived in solitude in Kazakhstan and returned to the country with great difficulty, this is something that cannot be allowed by our descendants."

Having conducted research on General Hong for 42 years, the poet appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" on the 30th and said, "There are appropriate things to touch, but why are they butchering and slandering General Hong Beom-do, who devoted his entire body to the national salvation movement?"

On the last day of the Liberation Day holiday, the 16th, a memorial banner for General Hong Beom-do is hung on the outer wall of the Government Seoul Office Building. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs posted the banner with the slogan "The General's Return" to remember and honor General Hong Beom-do's remains together with the public. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

Earlier, on the afternoon of the 28th, the Ministry of National Defense released a statement titled "Position on General Hong Beom-do's Bust at the Korea Military Academy," mentioning General Hong's membership and activities in the Soviet Communist Party and suspicions related to the Free City Incident, stating, "Installing General Hong Beom-do's bust at the Korea Military Academy is not appropriate considering the identity of the academy."

Regarding General Hong's membership in the Soviet Communist Party, the poet explained, "General Hong Beom-do's lifelong wish was the independence movement for Korea and the restoration of the sovereignty of the lost homeland. His joining the Communist Party was a plan to utilize the Soviet military power at that time to fight against Japanese invasion."

He continued, "The term 'partisan' at that time in the 1920s Russia referred to all guerrilla units affiliated with the Bolsheviks, and calling General Hong a partisan was used in the sense of an anti-Japanese guerrilla who tried to rescue the suffering people under imperialism," adding, "Interpreting it on the same level as the Jirisan partisans is absolutely forbidden."

Regarding claims linking General Hong to the Free City Incident, he said, "(General Hong) was not present at the scene at that time," and "When he hurriedly came after hearing the news, he found bodies scattered along the road and a tremendous fratricidal conflict unfolding in a foreign country. He mourned, buried the bodies, hurriedly organized the scene, and later even became a judge."

He stated, "About 640 people died and around 600 were captured during the Free City Incident," and "(General Hong) voluntarily participated as a judge to determine the severity of the crimes of the captured independence fighters because he wanted to make every effort to release them. Ultimately, about 30 were imprisoned, and the rest were released."

Regarding the claim that "General Hong wrote about the Free City Incident in a resume he submitted to receive a pension from the Soviet government," he said, "I have seen that document, but there is no such content anywhere," adding, "General Hong could write short sentences like 'Korean Independence Volunteer Army 38 years, 28 years,' but he did not have the ability to write long sentences with detailed content. This is completely groundless."

Furthermore, the poet said, "(General Hong) was not a communist," explaining, "Although he joined the Communist Party, General Hong was a former marksman who did not read Marxist-Leninist books and was completely different from communists like Park Heon-young or Lee Dong-hwi, who studied in Moscow and returned."

He added, "(General Hong) lived in Russia and simply adapted to the circumstances there, such as submitting a party membership application to receive a pension and other formalities while living there," and challenged, "Show me any record of General Hong Beom-do actively participating as a communist."

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