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President Yoon Suk-yeol gives his Liberation Day speech at an event held on Aug. 15, 2023, at Ewha Womans University. (pool photo)

While the entire nation should be coming together to celebrate South Korea’s 79th Liberation Day, it has instead become the epicenter of a national schism.

The Heritage of Korean Independence is using strong language to call for change in the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s policies, claiming that “Korean traitors are scheming with the Japanese right.”

The Democratic Party of Korea, along with other parties from the opposition, have made it clear that they will boycott the government-organized official Liberation Day ceremony on Thursday.

As the person responsible for flinging the nation into chaos, President Yoon Suk-yeol should bring the divided country back together by devising policies that the public can wholeheartedly agree on concerning the nation’s relationship with Japan and history.

Lee Jong-chan, the head of the Heritage of Korean Independence, described the situation as one in which he felt a “sense of crisis” as “South Korean traitors are scheming with the Japanese right, meaning that they are holding hands with those who uphold values of prewar Japan.”

During previous Liberation Day speeches, Yoon has described Japan as a “partner” to face “common threats” with and “who share[s] universal values and pursue[s] common interests.” While it is imperative for us to remain on good terms with Japan, our closest neighbor, two conditions must be met if South Korea and Japan are to become true friends who can be frank with one another.

Firstly, Japan must always bear in mind a sense of remorse and apology for its history of colonialism. Secondly, Japan should stay true to its promise that it will never engage in warfare again by adhering to its pacifist constitution.

However, as Japan veers farther to the right, it has declared that it would no longer apologize for its past — as demonstrated in former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s statement made in 2015 — and greatly expanded its military budget, enabling the country to buy missiles capable of attacking the “enemy,” namely, China and North Korea.

The diplomatic train wreck involving the Sado mine complex and its recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage site shows how the South Korean government is further bolstering Japan’s ahistorical views, which ignore the forced mobilization of Korean workers, for the sake of strengthening ties between South Korea, the US and Japan.

In the midst of this chaos, the appointment of Kim Hyoung-suk, who has been accused of being part of the “new right” movement, as the head of the Independence Hall of Korea and the debate over the establishment of a “state foundation day” has only added fuel to the fire.

Such incidents have caused distrust toward the Yoon administration, which has already acted a traitor to the nation on several occasions, to deepen.

Yoon has aggravated the people by appointing the wrong people to positions of power, and as such, he must publicly apologize for causing immense social uproar. Kang Jung-ai, as the patriots and veterans affairs minister, bears responsibility for this situation and should resign. Kim, the star of this disastrous state of affairs, should also step down.

Ahead of Liberation Day, Yoon’s policies on North Korea are also creating more concerns. 

Yoon has not been subtle in hiding his longing for reunification by absorption, as is witnessed by how he emphasized “freedom” during his Liberation Day speeches in 2022 and 2023. This year, he is set to declare a new reunification policy that elaborates on his past declarations.

We don’t have to hear the policy to know that it will never, ever be brought to fruition, but we do know that it will cause unnecessary commotion. Any plans to voice that proposal should be instantly scrapped.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]