Park proposes family reunions resume in Sept. President Park Geun-hye and descendants of independence fighters chant “Manse!” (Long Live the Nation) to celebrate the 68th anniversary of Korea’s Aug. 15, 1945 liberation from Japan, at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Thursday. / Yonhap By Kim Tae-gyu President Park Geun-hye proposed Thursday a reunion of family members separated by the Korean War (1950-53) next month, and the establishment of a peace park in the heavily-fortified border between the two Koreas. In an address to mark the 68th anniversary of Korea’s independence from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule in 1945, Park also demanded that Japan should face history honestly. “First and foremost, we must ease the pain of these separated families. I hope the North will be able to work with us to make a reunion for these separated families possible around the upcoming Chuseok holidays,” Park said in a ceremony at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. Reunions of separated families began in 2000 when the South was headed by liberal President Kim Dae-jung, who created the “Sunshine Policy” to reach out to the North. The policy continued with the next president, Roh Moo-hyun. During these two presidencies, 15 family reunions took place between 2000 and 2007. But such events happened only twice after conservative President Lee Myung-bak was inaugurated in 2008, with the latest being held in 2010. With the two Koreas having agreed to a speedy normalization of the inter-Korean joint industrial zone in Gaeseong, Thursday, after more than three months of discontinued operations, Park also strove to turn the heavily-armed Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into a symbol of peace. “In addition, I propose to the North the creation of an international peace park at the DMZ, which is currently a legacy of division and confrontation between the two Koreas,” Park said. “By turning the DMZ into a peace zone, I hope that our lingering memories of war and threats of provocation will be removed, and that efforts to make the Korean Peninsula a land of trust, harmony and collaboration will be renewed.” In the speech, which Park worked on until late Wednesday night, she said Japan should reflect on its wartime misdeeds instead of provoking its neighbors with improper remarks and activities. “It is time for the political leaders of Japan to show us a leadership of courage that seeks to heal the wounds of the past,” she said. “I look forward to seeing responsible and earnest action that will seek in particular to heal the pain of those who, even now, carry with them the scars of history.” At a time when Park lamented Japan’s lack of contrition, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, although he did not visit in person. Two of his ministers and lawmakers, however, visited the shrine, which houses not only Japan’s war dead but also 14 Class-A war criminals from World War II. Abe has created fury with neighboring countries by defending Japanese lawmakers or Cabinet members who have paid their respects to the war dead at the Yasukuni Shrine. Abe also generated tension with Japan’s neighbors by negating Japan’s past incursions and aggressions in Korea and China, before and during World War II, claiming they were not invasions
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 13:31:05 +0000
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