Gov’t Commemorates Victims of April 3 Jeju Uprising

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said that it is the nation’s basic responsibility to honor the victims killed in the April 3 Jeju Uprising in 1948 and bring consolation to their bereaved families.

The prime minister made the remarks on Wednesday in a remembrance ceremony marking the 76th anniversary of the April 3 Jeju Uprising, saying that the government is doing its best to heal past wounds and move toward a future of reconciliation and unity. 

Han said that early this year, the Jeju April 3 Special Act was revised to ensure that family members who were denied their rights due to a lack of family relationship records could have their “honor” restored and receive compensation.

The prime minister also vowed to complete the investigation into the events surrounding the uprising by 2025 and work to establish a trauma treatment center for the surviving victims and bereaved families. 

Han also promised the government would try to establish an international peace and culture center and to have the uprising recognized on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

The prime minister expressed hope that the spirit of reconciliation and coexistence of the people of Jeju can serve as a valuable lesson to citizens around the world who are suffering from disputes and conflicts.

The Jeju Uprising took place amid a time of splintering ideologies on the Korean Peninsula ahead of the Korean War and is estimated to have claimed the lives of as many as 30-thousand people, many of them civilians.