[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] There Are More Follow-up Measures After General Hong's Bust Relocation

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The Korea Military Academy has decided to relocate the bust of General Hong Beom-do, installed on campus, to outside the academy, and follow-up measures are expected to be taken. These include the renaming of the navy submarine named after General Hong Beom-do, the honorary diploma from the Korea Military Academy, and the possible cancellation of his awards.

On the 13th, Yoon Ho-jung, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and other Supreme Council members attended the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly. Before the meeting began, in commemoration of Liberation Day and ahead of the repatriation of General Hong Beom-do's remains, Floor Leader Yoon Ho-jung and the attendees watched a video related to General Hong Beom-do.
Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

According to the military on the 1st, the busts of Generals Kim Jwa-jin, Ji Cheong-cheon, Lee Beom-seok, and activist Lee Hoe-young, which are installed alongside General Hong’s bust, will be relocated to other places within the campus. While there was consideration to remove all busts of these independence activists, only General Hong’s bust, who had a history of activity in the Soviet Communist Party, will be moved outside.

The Korea Military Academy plans to relocate General Hong’s bust to a place outside the academy that can well highlight his achievements as an independence activist, while also considering the academy’s identity and respect for him as an independence fighter. The other busts will be moved to appropriate locations within the campus.

The Independence Hall of Korea is being strongly considered as the new location for General Hong’s bust. The military authorities have proposed the relocation plan to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and the Independence Hall. The other independence activists’ busts are expected to be moved to the Army Museum within the academy. The relocation is planned to be completed within this year.

Subsequently, the Ministry of National Defense is expected to take follow-up actions. The previous Moon Jae-in administration, in 2018, created busts of five independence activists by melting 50,000 live bullet casings used by soldiers. That year, on the occasion of the 98th anniversary of the Battle of Bongodong victory, an honorary diploma from the Korea Military Academy was awarded to General Hong Beom-do. The academy is reportedly considering whether to revoke the honorary diploma.

On the previous day, during the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee’s final review, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was asked by Democratic Party lawmaker Ki Dong-min about changing the name of the ‘Hong Beom-do’ ship, commissioned during the Park Geun-hye administration. Han responded, “It is inappropriate to name a warship, which must fight against our main enemy, after a person who was a communist,” and added, “I think we should consider revising it.”

The navy has expressed discomfort regarding this. The 1,800-ton submarine Hong Beom-do, commissioned in 2016 during the Park Geun-hye administration and currently patrolling the waters, was named to honor General Hong’s patriotism and to promote national security awareness, according to the navy at the time. At a regular briefing on the 28th of last month, a navy official emphasized, “The navy is not reviewing the renaming of the Hong Beom-do submarine.” Although the names of navy vessels have been changed twice before?from ‘Iri’ to ‘Iksan’ and from ‘Geumhwa’ to ‘Gimhwa’?the renaming of the Hong Beom-do submarine is considered a sensitive issue.

The issue of ‘duplicate awards’ for General Hong is also expected to become controversial. Article 4 of the Awards Act stipulates that “a medal shall not be awarded repeatedly for the same merit.” General Hong received the Order of Merit for National Foundation, 2nd Class (currently the Order of Merit for National Foundation, President’s Medal) in 1962. Later, the Moon Jae-in administration awarded him the highest grade, the Order of Merit for the Republic of Korea, in 2021.

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