A group of independence fighters’ descendants criticized the defense ministry, Thursday, for the Korea Military Academy s attempt to relocate the bust of independence fighter Hong Beom-do due to his past record of collaborating with Soviet communist forces.
The descendants of Korean freedom fighters said they will return the honorary degrees from the Korea Military Academy on Friday, in protest of the KMA's recent decision to relocate the statues of independence fighters. Jeong Cheol-seung, the grandson of freedom fighter Yun Gi-seop, told local media that he and descendants of other independence fighters Yi Sang-ryong and Ji Cheong-cheon would visit the academy on.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the defense ministry and the military are clashing over the name of a 1,800-ton Navy submarine which was named after an independence fighter. The prime minister seeks to rename the ROKS Hong Beom-do citing the freedom fighter s involvement with the Soviet Communist Party.
The Korea Military Academy on Thursday announced it would relocate the statue of Gen. Hong Beom-do, a prominent figure in Korea's independence history, amid the intense ideological debate stirred by the plan. The debate centers on whether Gen. Hong joining the then Vladmir Lenin-led Soviet Communist Party in 1927 is a legitimate enough reason to remove it from the institution in Nowon-gu, Seoul, even in light of.