Gov¡¯t to repay democracy activists

The government plans to make compensation and to restore the reputations of those who suffered in the process of the nation's democratization movement since 1969's fight against the constitutional amendment for three consecutive terms of presidency.

The Committee for Restoring Impaired Reputations and Screening for Compensation (Chairman Lee Oo-Chung), which is under the Prime Minister's Office, said August 20 that it would accept applications August 21 through October 20 at the support team of compensation for the democratization movement, which is established at the autonomous administration department of 16 major autonomous bodies.

Application for compensation by families of those who were killed or went missing during the democratization movement is required to be accompanied by a separate form regarding circumstances, an extract of family register, a letter that specifies the representative of surviving relatives and a document that proves the person's income at the time of death or disappearance.

Those applying for restoration of reputation need to submit a copy of resident registration, relevant documentation or court rulings and a proof of imprisonment.

It is expected that the applicants will be paid in November at the earliest after 90 days of screening process.

Meanwhile, the National Teachers' Union plans to apply for collective compensation and restoration of reputation based on the past activities of 2,000 former teachers. Also, the National Solidarity, which consists of national labor unions and 36 other groups, will submit an application for compensation and restoration of reputation of those who were damaged by survival movements and the National Security Law.

Choi Sung-Jin choi@donga.com