SEOUL - South Korea's veterans minister honored independence fighter Hong Beom-do for his contributions, despite an ongoing ideological debate about his affiliations with Soviet communist forces.
According to a news release by Yonhap News Agency, he praised Hong during a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of Hong's death at Daejeon National Cemetery, where Hong is buried. The minister emphasized Hong's role in significant battles at Fengwudong and Qingshanli in 1920, prior to moving to the Soviet Union for refuge from Japanese forces. Hong later died in 1943, and his remains were returned to South Korea in 2021.
The Democratic Party and advocates for independence fighters have opposed the recent attempts to relocate Hong's busts from defense ministry buildings. During the ceremony, Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Won-shik called the relocation efforts "an abrupt coup of history."