People from the hometown of Chun Doo-hwan (1931-2021), who was in charge of the massacre of the 5·18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, put the words “slayer” and “demolition” on the sign for “Ilhae Park,” named after his pseudonym 안전놀이터(Ilhae).
On the evening of the 18th, Hapcheon-gun People’s Movement Headquarters to Regain the Forest of Life held ‘The 43rd Anniversary of the 5.18 Democratization Movement Ceremony, Calling for Ilhae Park Name Change’ at the old New Millennium Life Forest (Ilhae Park).
Residents wrote in chalk on the marker stone, “My grandfather was a slayer,” as Chun Doo-hwan’s grandson, Jeon Woo-won, as well as “Hapcheon is ashamed”, wrote with chalk. They also attached a tag with the word ‘demolition’ engraved on it.
The meeting was held in the rain. At the ceremony, survivors of the shooting by soldiers during the May 18th, Ogicheol Oh (South Jeolla Provincial Office) and Geumsuk Hong (Junam Village) attended and spoke.
The Hapcheon-gun People’s Movement Headquarters urged Hapcheon-gun to change the name of the park. They pointed out that “Hapcheon-gun’s nomination committee has not deliberated for more than 1 year and 4 months for the reason of collecting public opinion.” did.
At the same time, they said, “We have no choice but to conclude that Kim Yun-cheol, the mayor of Hapcheon, is not the head of the administration with impartiality, but admits that he is a descendant of Chun Doo-hwan.”
The Hapcheon-gun People’s Movement Headquarters announced that if the nomination committee is not held within one month, it will initiate actions by residents, such as requesting an administrative audit.
The old New Millennium Life Forest was created in 2000, and the name was changed to Ilhae Park after Chun Doo-hwan’s pseudonym during the former county governor Sim Ui-jo. The Hapcheon-gun People’s Movement Headquarters held a resident initiative to change the name last year.