Relocation of General Hong Beom-do's Bust Outside the Korea Military Academy (Comprehensive)

General Hong's Bust to Be Relocated to Another Spot on Campus

The Korea Military Academy has decided to relocate the bust of General Hong Beom-do outside the campus.

On the 31st, the Army stated, "Regarding the controversy over relocating the busts of independence and liberation army soldiers installed in front of Chungmugwan, the comprehensive lecture hall at the Korea Military Academy, the bust of General Hong Beom-do will be moved outside the campus, and the remaining busts will be relocated to other places within the campus."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Korea Military Academy, the bust of General Hong Beom-do will be relocated to an appropriate place outside the academy that can well highlight his achievements in the independence movement, considering both the academy's identity and the respect due to him as an independence fighter. The busts of the other four individuals will be moved to suitable locations within the academy campus.

The academy said, "Specific details will be implemented once the 'Comprehensive Monument Plan' within the academy is completed," adding, "The reorganization of monuments will be promoted under the responsibility of the Superintendent of the Korea Military Academy, in accordance with the academy's founding purpose and educational goals, after gathering opinions from academy alumni and faculty members."

The busts of independence army generals Kim Jwa-jin, Hong Beom-do, Ji Cheong-cheon, Lee Beom-seok, and the bust of Lee Hoe-young were made by melting down rifle cartridges used by military personnel to commemorate the 99th anniversary of the March 1st Movement in March 2018 during the Moon Jae-in administration. Since then, as part of the comprehensive development plan initiated in the first year of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration last year, the relocation of the statues has been pursued.

Since the installation of General Hong Beom-do's statue on the Korea Military Academy campus during the previous administration, controversies have been continuously raised regarding his history of joining the Soviet Communist Party. Earlier, the Ministry of National Defense issued a statement regarding the relocation of the busts at the Korea Military Academy, mentioning suspicions related to General Hong Beom-do's involvement in the Free City Incident and his 1927 membership and activities in the Soviet Communist Party, stating, "Installing and commemorating General Hong Beom-do's bust at the academy is not appropriate considering the academy's identity." Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop also clarified that the decision to remove the bust was due to concerns about his communist background, saying, "There were issues raised about his communist career."

If General Hong's statue is removed, it will be just over five years since the bust was installed in March 2018, and only two years since his remains, which had been in Kazakhstan, returned to his homeland in 2021 under the escort of the Air Force after 78 years.

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