[Defense Brief] The People Should Be the Ones to Evaluate History

Different Evaluations of Historical Figures and Events by Each Administration
History Rewritten by Politicians and Government Deepens National Division

In life, close friends sometimes drift apart, and distant friends can quickly become close again. The same applies to countries. Taiwan and China are such an example. We used to refer to Taiwan (臺灣) as the Republic of China (中華民國) and China as the Chinese Communist Party (中華民國共産黨), abbreviated as Junggong (中共). We drew a line between democracy and communism.

Over time, names and evaluations changed. The late President Roh Tae-woo, unlike previous administrations that used 'anti-communism' as a tool to prolong their political life, declared a 'Northern Policy' and began to foster closer ties with communist countries. In June 1990, he met directly with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in the heart of the United States, and in September of the same year, South Korea and the Soviet Union officially established diplomatic relations. In August 1992, South Korea also established diplomatic relations with China, eliminating the use of the term Junggong. Diplomatic ties with other communist countries also increased. In February 1989, Hungary, and in November of the same year, Poland officially established diplomatic relations.

There were side effects. Relations with Taiwan, which had been a 'close friend' of our government, grew distant. It was Taiwan that supported us during Yun Bong-gil's assassination attempt in Shanghai (上海). Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), leader of the Kuomintang government, the predecessor of the Republic of China, praised the act, saying, "A Korean youth accomplished what 400 million Chinese could not." He also supported military training for the Korean Liberation Army, and when Korea gained independence, Chiang provided a dedicated plane for Kim Gu and other provisional government officials returning home. On January 4, 1949, the Republic of China was the second country in the world, after the United States, to recognize the Republic of Korea as a nation and establish official diplomatic relations. During the Korean War, Taiwan also dispatched units for interrogating prisoners of war from the Chinese Communist forces and gathering intelligence.

The decisive turning point in the estrangement from Taiwan was the establishment of diplomatic relations with China. There was an incident where Taiwanese hijackers forced a Chinese civil aviation plane to make an emergency landing at the U.S. Air Force base in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. At that time, Taiwan called the hijackers 'anti-communist doctors' and immediately demanded their repatriation, but our government refused. Taiwanese people protested by tearing the Taegeukgi (South Korean flag) in front of the Korean embassy. Subsequently, on August 24, 1992, our government officially announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. On the same day, Taiwan's Korean embassy lowered its national flag. Although reconciliation occurred later with the resumption of regular flights by national carriers during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, the relationship remains somewhat awkward.

Every time the administration changed, opinions differed on Roh Tae-woo's government abandoning Taiwan and aligning with China. After the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, China retaliated with economic pressure, including visa issuance restrictions, customs delays, and halting exports of urea solution. Since these retaliations were unforeseen at the time of establishing diplomatic relations with China, the Park Geun-hye administration took an anti-China stance, while the Moon Jae-in administration pursued closer ties with China.

Each administration also offered different evaluations of historical figures and facts. In 2008, the Lee Myung-bak administration sparked the 'Founding Day controversy' over the founding year of the Republic of Korea. Under the Park Geun-hye administration, the government pushed for state-issued history textbooks, dividing public opinion. The Moon Jae-in administration was no different, labeling Korean War hero Paik Sun-yup as a 'pro-Japanese anti-national actor' and promoting honors for Kim Won-bong, who participated in the establishment of the North Korean regime.

Reevaluating history has the positive effect of generating diverse social discussions. On the other hand, when politicians and governments intervene to rewrite history, it can foster national division and hinder social integration. Recently, controversies have arisen over relocating the statue of General Hong Beom-do at the Korea Military Academy and establishing a park dedicated to Chinese revolutionary musician Zheng Yuxing. Healthy outcomes from historical reevaluation can be achieved when the public evaluates history from a historical perspective, rather than through the lens of administrations or political parties.

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