Members of a national organization of soldiers once trained to work as secret commandos against North Korea have destroyed gravestones belonging to "unrepentant" North Korean operatives located on the grounds of Bogwang Temple in Paju. Reportedly, temple officials were about to remove a certain stone marker at the request of the former commandos, but just when officials were about to announce they were removing it, the commandos got too excited and resorted to destroying things themselves. It is especially unfortunate that violence broke out when things could have been resolved peacefully.
One can somewhat understand how conservative organizations have very strong feelings against gravestones for North Korean operatives who spent long years in South Korean prisons. Surely it must have been hard for them to tolerate the fact that at a graveyard for "spies" and partisans there was stone marker that said "Cemetery of Indomitable Patriotic Unification Fighters." The wording did go too far, given the sentiments of the whole of South Korean society.
Even though the phrase was unreasonable, that was not reason to go on the offensive regarding the original intentions of Bogwang Temple and the monk's association that established the site. The monks accepted responsibility for the prisoners' remains for religious and humanitarian reasons, and they have long called for the remains to be returned to North Korea. They chose that particular temple because it is close to the border. Furthermore they never insisted that the stoke marker remain as it was. The monks were getting ready to hold a press conference in Seoul right when the commandos attacked the cemetery, showing you how the monks were not given even a minimum amount of time to resolve the situation.
Though they are in different situations the commandos and the prisoners were both groups who suffered from the division of North and South Korea. Just as the commandos need to have their honor restored, the prisoners who still live today need care for their suffering. Both represent issues that cannot be avoided in the journey towards intra-Korean reconciliation, and so even if they cannot approve of each other they at least need enough tolerance to have mutual respect. Otherwise the tragedy that is the division of the Korean nation will remain a deep scar in our hearts that never heals.
The Hankyoreh, 7 December 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] NK Prisoners' Gravestones Defaced |
