Nominee for top university head asked to address family past

Professor should discuss grandfather’s pro-Japanese actitivies: group

Members of a nationalist group have conducted a one-person demonstration for 19 consecutive days at Seoul National University (SNU), in opposition to engineering professor Lee Jang-mu’s inauguration as president of the university, scheduled for July 24.

The group said that "the grandson of an anti-national historian should not become the president of Korea’s flagship university," referring to Prof. Lee’s grandfather Lee Byeong-do’s pro-Japanese activities.

Lee Byeong-do, born in 1896 and died in 1989, worked for an institute studying Korean history under the interim Japanese government at the close of the Joseon Dynasty. The office went on to help distort history during Japan’s colonial occupation of Korea. After the nation’s liberation from Japan following World War II, Lee Byeong-do served as education minister, chairman of the National Academy of Sciences, and the dean of the SNU graduate school, later redeeming his image in the eyes of some to become an authority on modern Korean history.

Park Su-hyeon, chief researcher of Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities, said, "It is true that, as a historian, Lee conducted pro-Japanese activities on an academic level, such as manipulating [the truth of] our history. But the logic that descendents should take responsibility for their ancestors’ pro-Japanese activities is not desirable."

But Park Yong-jun of the nationalist group called disadvantage suffered by pro-Japanese figures a kind of justice. However, Park said, "Lee Byeong-do received a medal from the government [after he] distorted our history. Therefore, his grandson’s [actions] may obstruct our efforts to correct history."

Seeming to pull back somewhat from the group’s prior statement, Park said, "We are not requesting Prof. Lee to take responsibility as a descendent of a pro-Japanese collaborator, but we want him to clarify his views as a scholar and his attitude as SNU president regarding his grandfather, who distorted education and history. The issue is that Prof. Lee is keeping his silence."

Prof. Lee Yun-gab of Kyemyung University in Daegu called the controversy "a comedy, as we cannot, in reality, eliminate the remaining pro-Japanese traces in our nation. As a high-ranking public figure, Prof. Lee should express his opinions about his grandfather’s pro-Japanese activities and ask for people’s understanding."

Prof. Lee was chosen as Seoul National University’s 24th president through a May election, but he is awaiting final confirmation after a Cabinet vote and official appointment by President Roh Moo-hyun.