'4-Star General' Kim Byung-joo: "The Relocation of Hong Beom-do's Bust Was Pushed Since Late Last Year, Got Caught Exactly"

Democratic Party Lawmaker and Military Academy Graduate, SBS Interview
"Military Academy Seems to Have Followed Pro-Japanese Policy Trends"

Kim Byung-joo, a former four-star general and member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 31st regarding the controversy over relocating the bust of General Hong Beom-do within the Korea Military Academy, "It was clearly caught that a task force (TF) was formed at the academy at the end of last year under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and pushed forward."

In an interview with SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' on the same day, Rep. Kim said, "I raised the issue during the full meeting of the National Defense Committee in the National Assembly, and the Liberation Association also raised concerns."

Rep. Kim claimed, "Currently, the superintendent of the Korea Military Academy served as a two-star general at the Yongsan Presidential Office's National Security Office during the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. He was promoted to a three-star general and appointed as the superintendent in November last year, and immediately after that, a TF was formed to push this forward."

He continued, "It seems that consensus was reached after several briefings with Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop. So this was promoted internally. Since the superintendent was part of the Yoon administration's presidential office, he must be very familiar with President Yoon's pro-Japanese policies. Therefore, they pushed this forward by riding the current trend," criticizing the move.

Assemblyman Kim Byung-joo of the Democratic Party of Korea. [Photo by Yonhap News]

He added, "At first, they said they would remove all five busts of independence heroes, including General Kim Jwa-jin and General Lee Beom-seok. Since these were related to Japan and pro-Japanese policies, they might have been bothersome, and because they were installed during the Moon Jae-in administration, this could be part of erasing the Moon administration's legacy," adding, "I see this as the behavior of political soldiers, which is the worst behavior in the military. The military must serve the country and the people with unwavering loyalty and dedication regardless of which government is in power."

Regarding reports that there was opposition to the installation of General Hong Beom-do's bust during the Moon Jae-in administration in 2018, he rebutted, "There are always opposing voices no matter what is done, but the opposition was very small. At that time, there was public opinion about finding the roots of the military, and a national consensus had already been formed."

Rep. Kim explained, "Originally, when the military was established, it was rooted in the independence army, but after the Korean War, the military's roots were narrowed to 1948 and focused on the Communist Party. Now, there is a national consensus that it should be broadened to include the independence army and the liberation army," he explained.

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