By Lee Joo-hee
Attending a memorial service for victims of what is known as the April 3 uprising, Roh said, "I apologize once again to the citizens of Jeju for state power that was illegally exercised to suppress people and during an armed clash."
- Cheju citizens waiting for execution by the US military - May 1948.
On April 3 1948, more than 12,000 Jeju residents were killed by the government - a coalition regime with the U.S. military - during an armed uprising by leftist activists.
After liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, there were protest movements throughout the country that opposed a decision by the combined forces to put Korea under their rule.
While the Northern part and Southern part of Korea decided on separate governments based on communism and capitalism, Jeju, located off the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, continued to fight for an independent government of its own.
Worried that the movement - inclined politically to the left - would undermine the new government, led by President Syngman Rhee and the U.S. military administration - government forces rampaged across the island killing innocent civilians.
Until recently, the uprising remained a mystery or was often referred to as the government’s suppression of communism. The government began to acknowledge the truth behind the uprising in 1999 during Kim Dae-jung’s administration.
Roh was the first president to admit the massacre was a wrongdoing of the past government and offered a formal apology in October 2003.
This is the first time a Korean president has participated in the memorial service.
"Whether it is a proud history or a shameful history, history should be clarified as it is and accepted as it is," Roh said in his speech before some 10,000 Jeju citizens and descendants of the massacre victims.
Shedding light on contentious parts of the nation’s past has been a key agenda of the Roh presidency.
"There still seems to be some people that believe that redressing the past is hindering steps towards the future," Roh said.
"That is not true. Because the past has not been completely resolved, it is preventing us from overcoming further hurdles of conflict."
Roh’s strong dedication to shedding light on history has often become a source of political squabbles with the main opposition Grand National Party.
The GNP led by Park Geun-hye claims the Roh administration’s investigation of the past is political maneuvering aimed at thwarting Park, who is a daughter of former President and dictator Park Chung-hee.
A special committee formed under the prime minister to dig into the Jeju crisis completed an investigative report in 2003 and has since been arranging various events and projects to redeem the honor of the victims.
(Korea Herald, April 3, 2006)
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