Lee Joonggeun, President of the Korea Senior Citizens Association, Delivers Petition for "UN Day Holiday Redesignation" to National Assembly

Yang Bunam Proposes Related Legislation

Lee Joonggeun, president of the Korea Senior Citizens Association and chairman of Booyoung Group, has delivered the petition for the "UN Day Holiday Redesignation" to the National Assembly. A total of 400,000 people from across the country participated in this petition.

According to the Korea Senior Citizens Association on September 12, Lee met with Shin Jeonghun, chairman of the National Assembly's Administrative Safety Committee, and Yang Bunam, member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the previous day. He stated, "The Korean War was the first and only war in which UN forces participated since the founding of the United Nations," and emphasized, "We must redesignate UN Day as a national holiday to honor the dedication of UN forces who sacrificed for freedom and peace in a foreign land."

Lee Joonggeun, president of the Korea Senior Citizens Association (second from left), is handing over the 'UN Day Holiday Redesignation Petition' signed by 400,000 people to Shin Jeonghun, chairman of the Administrative Safety Committee (third from left), and Yang Bunam, member of the Democratic Party of Korea (far right), at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 11th. Provided by Korea Senior Citizens Association

UN Day is an anniversary established on October 24, 1945, to commemorate the founding of the United Nations. In South Korea, it was celebrated as an official national holiday until 1975, but was abolished in protest after North Korea joined a UN-affiliated organization in 1976.

Last month, Yang Bunam proposed a partial amendment to the "Act on Public Holidays" to revive UN Day. His office explained, "There have been concerns that our country has not done enough to remember and honor the dedication and sacrifice it received from the world, so we aim to designate the founding day of the United Nations as the public holiday 'UN Day' to commemorate it."

Lee Joonggeun has consistently carried out projects to honor UN veterans. In 2015, he donated the "Korean War UN Participating Countries Symbolic Monument" to the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul, and authored "1129 Days of the Korean War," a record of the entire war by date, donating over 10 million copies to domestic and international organizations and participating countries.