President Roh’s Suggestion in his Independence Day Congratulatory Address

President Roh Moo-hyun said on Sunday, “Not only anti-national, pro-Japanese treacheries by individuals in the past but also violations of human rights and malpractices by government power should be probed so that the same thing will not happen again in the future.” He suggested to “form a special truth-finding committee of all the comprehensive issues that have been controversial in the past.”

President Roh also said in a congratulatory speech during the 59th Independence Day celebration ceremony held in the Independence Hall in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province on the same day, “Fragmentations and confrontations we are experiencing now are all originated from distortions made in our history. Such disruptions in our history should be ended.”

The Grand National Party (GNP) immediately expressed its stance against the president’s suggestion, saying that it has “political intentions.” As a result, launching a special fact-finding committee is expected to become a new issue in the National Assembly.

President Roh added, “Government organizations’ cover-ups and uncooperative responses have become controversies whenever various probes were made thus far. However, this time, it would be nice if a government organization shows courage to initiate a probe and confesses if there is anything to confess. Then, there will be no more such controversies.” Since this remark is also considered virtually an order for government offices such as the National Intelligence Agency, army, and police forces to cooperate with the probes to find truths, a controversy is expected regarding this. President Roh explained, “It is now hard, practically speaking, to punish anti-national japanophiles and deprive their vested rights. I don’t mean that we should go back to the past. Yet, we should at least unveil the truths and learn lessons from history.”

Regarding this, Shin Gi-nam, chairman of the Uri Party, and Chun Jung-bae, floor leader, said, “We give our full support to the president’s suggestion.” “Let’s discuss the details in the National Assembly,” they suggested.

However, Park Geun-hye, the GNP leader, literally opposed the installation of the truth-finding committee in the National Assembly, saying, “It is regrettable that President Roh made such an address in the Independence ceremony to disrupt our nation.”

Jung-Hun Kim Myoung-Gun Lee jnghn@donga.com gun43@donga.com