|
President Roh Moo-hyun said Thursday the bloody suppression of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising was ¡°a miserable part of our past history that should never have happened¡± and must never be repeated. Roh was speaking at a ceremony at Gwangju¡¯s May 18 National Cemetery in Mangwol-dong marking the 26th anniversary of the protests in which more than 100 people were killed by forces commanded by former president Chun Doo-hwan.
Roh drew a parallel with the March 1 Independence Movement that rose up against the Japanese occupation in 1919. But for the mistakes of Korean leaders in the final years of the Chosun Kingdom, ¡°who were foolish and irresponsible, we would not have suffered the sorrow of homelessness and would not have had to launch the March 1 Independence Movement,¡± he said. By the same token, ¡°if the spirit of the April 19 students¡¯ uprising for democracy in 1960 had not been quashed by the military coup led by president Park Chung-hee on May 16, 1961, and if we had not allowed that to happen, we would not have had to suffer the tragedy of the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.¡±
However, Roh said it was time to abandon the mindset and behavior of the struggle against authoritarian governments. ¡°We need to make progress in this respect,¡± he said. ¡°The challenge we face today is to put into practice the values of dialogue and compromise in our daily lives.¡±
The president called for ¡°a culture of tolerance, where we can reach consensus by respecting each other and if necessary, make concessions.¡± He reiterated that to achieve this goal, Korea needs to ¡°overcome regionalism and collective selfishness.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
