[News Issue] Hong Beom-do Bust, Controversy Ends After 1 Year 2 Months... Remains at Korea Military Academy

After 1 year and 2 months of controversy over whether to relocate it, the bust of General Hong Beom-do has finally been decided to remain within the Korea Military Academy.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The bust of General Hong was installed in front of Chungmugwan, an educational facility for cadets at the Korea Military Academy, in March 2018 during the Moon Jae-in administration, along with busts of four other independence activists.

However, on August 31 last year, the Korea Military Academy announced plans to relocate General Hong’s bust outside the campus as part of a reorganization of campus monuments. The reason given was that since General Hong had joined the Soviet Communist Party during his lifetime, it was deemed inappropriate to have his bust installed at the entrance of the cadet educational facility. Accordingly, the bust was to be moved to the Independence Hall located in Cheonan, Chungnam, and the busts of the other four independence activists were to be relocated within the campus.

The issue of relocating the 'Hong Beom-do bust' escalated into a controversy over erasing independence movement history and historical distortion.

The Ministry of National Defense cited the allegation of General Hong’s involvement in the Free City Incident as grounds for relocating the bust. At the time, the Ministry stated in a press release, "There are suspicions that General Hong is connected to the Free City Incident." The Free City Incident refers to the event on June 28, 1921, when the army of the Far Eastern Republic, a Russian Communist Party entity, massacred independence fighters in Free City. However, there are no Russian records indicating any role played by General Hong during the Free City Incident, and the Ministry’s Military History Research Institute also expressed an opposing view, stating, "General Hong did not directly participate in the incident," intensifying the controversy. Furthermore, organizations of independence patriots such as the Kwangbokhoe and opposition parties strongly opposed and protested, preventing the relocation of the bust.

The Korea Military Academy is reportedly planning to place the busts of these five figures in a commemorative park on campus themed around the independence movement and the Korea-US alliance, according to the monument reorganization plan to be finalized within this year.

On the 17th, at the National Defense Committee’s audit of the Army Headquarters held at Gyeryongdae, Jeong Hyeong-gyun, Superintendent of the Korea Military Academy, said regarding General Hong’s bust, "After gathering internal opinions within the academy, many believe it should be preserved," adding, "As for the location, there is an opinion to adjust it to a place more appropriate for honoring him, but still within the academy."

However, since the Kwangbokhoe and opposition parties have maintained the stance that the bust of General Hong installed in front of Chungmugwan at the Korea Military Academy "should not be moved even 1 mm," there is a high possibility of opposition to any relocation within the academy. In May, the Kwangbokhoe reacted strongly to reports that the bust might be placed at a different location within the academy, saying, "If you are going to move the busts of independence heroes like General Hong at the academy, you might as well blow them up." This showed their intense opposition.

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