Historians Also Urge Withdrawal of Independence Hall Director Appointment... "Must Stop Anti-Historical Behavior"

On the 13th, Cho Seung-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, and descendants of independence activists held a press conference at the National Assembly urging the withdrawal of the appointment of Kim Hyung-seok as the director of the Independence Hall. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Historical organizations and academic societies have recently united in urging the withdrawal of the appointment of Kim Hyung-seok as director of the Independence Hall, amid controversy over his historical perspective.

On the 13th, 48 organizations including the Historical Society, the Korean Modern and Contemporary History Society, and the Korean History Research Association issued a statement saying, "The foundation of the Independence Hall, the cradle of national autonomy and the spirit of independence, is being shaken." These groups claimed that Director Kim exhibits a 'biased mindset' that contradicts the spirit of independence.

They stated, "While Director Kim emphasizes the founding of the Republic of Korea in 1948, he has diminished the autonomous significance of Liberation in 1945, defended pro-Japanese collaborators, and made baseless sophistries. He also identified the Kim Young-sam administration's 'correcting history' campaign as the trigger for a 'history war,' and repeatedly denied the historical legitimacy of the April 3 Incident and the May 18 Democratic Uprising."

They added, "An individual who defends Japan's colonial rule and pro-Japanese collaborators has been appointed as director of the Independence Hall," arguing that "this goes against the history and identity of the Independence Hall."

Furthermore, they urged the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, saying, "It has been difficult to find any government efforts to reflect on past history or to firmly uphold the spirit of independence," and called on it to "stop anti-historical behaviors and policies."

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