▲ This photo, taken Aug. 28, 2023, shows a bust (R) of revered independence fighter Hong Beom-do installed at the headquarters of the defense ministry in Seoul. The government is considering relocating the bust due to his past record of collaborating with Soviet communist forces. (Yonhap)

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Yoon has never shared his thoughts on relocation of independence fighter's bust: official

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol has never shared his thoughts on the issue of relocating the busts of revered independence fighter Hong Beom-do from the Korea Military Academy and the defense ministry, a presidential official said Tuesday.

The relocation issue has become a political football after it became known that the government is considering moving the busts due to Hong's past record of collaborating with Soviet communist forces.

"President Yoon Suk Yeol has never shared his thoughts on this issue until now, including during today's Cabinet meeting," the official told reporters. "If the president were to state a particular stance, it could influence related discussions."

The government's move is seen as being in line with the Yoon administration's push to align closer with the United States and Japan in the face of growing cooperation among North Korea, China and Russia.

In his Liberation Day address on Aug. 15, Yoon blasted "anti-state forces" that he said "blindly follow communist totalitarianism" and urged against succumbing to the forces of communist totalitarianism.

"It's only natural for the presidential office to be aware of what the issues are and how they are developing," the presidential official added. "The president is purposely not stating his position because the discussions could be shifted a little from a direction that is natural or conducive to an agreement."

Gen. Hong is a historic and highly symbolic figure in Korea's fight against Japan's 1910-45 brutal colonial rule. As top commander of Korea's liberation army, he spearheaded victories in battles against Japanese forces. Especially well known is the Battle of Fengwudong in Manchuria, China, in 1920.

The following year, he moved to the Soviet Far East, seeking refuge from Japan's hunting operation.

He was forced to relocate to Kazakhstan in 1937 under then Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's policy, along with many other ethnic Koreans. He died at the age of 75 in the Kazakh region of Kyzylorda in 1943, two years before Korea's liberation.

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