Today, February 28th, marks the anniversary
of pro-democracy demonstrations that broke
out in the city of Daegu...
58 years ago... against Korea's authoritarian
government of the time.
And this year is the first time the date has
been recognized as an official national memorial
day.
President Moon Jae-in attended a ceremony
today in Daegu, where he spoke to the importance
of the movement and how it's led to the democracy
Korea has today.
Our Blue House correspondent Hwang Hojun reports.
February 28th, 1960 marked a milestone in
Korea's democratic history when about 17-hundred
students from eight high schools in the southeastern
city of Daegu took to the streets to protest
then-President Rhee Syngman's attempt to secure
a fourth term in office through election fraud.
It was the first student-led democracy movement
since Korea was liberated from imperial Japan
in 1945.
And on Wednesday, exactly 58 years later,
a South Korean President took part in the
very first government-recognized ceremony
to commemorate the Daegu Democracy Movement.
Until now, the only presidential observation
of the date was made by President Kim Dae-jung
18 years ago when he went to a ceremony held
by private citizens.
President Moon Jae-in, in his speech to mark
the day, stressed that the Daegu Democracy
Movement was more than just a regional historic
event,... rather it's something the entire
nation must remember.
He said the student protests sparked a series
of rallies across the nation,... ultimately
leading to the April 19th Movement the same
year, and ending the authoritarian rule of
the Rhee administration.
Moving to the present day, he pointed to the
so-called candlelight revolution, the mass
demonstrations that led to former President
Park Geun-hye's impeachment and removal from
office last year, saying the Daegu Democracy
Movement was the start of it all.
"From that point on, we started our lofty
journey to democracy, created a massive wave
with the June Democracy Movement in 1987,
and finally reached a greater democracy with
the candlelight revolution."
The February 28th protests were only recognized
by the government as a legitimate democracy
movement in 2010, fifty years later.
And after a nationwide campaign in which more
than 12 million signatures were gathered,
including those of other Democratic Movement-related
organizations,... it was designated last month
as a national memorial day.
And that designation came with the support
of the people of Gwangju, home to the May
18th Democratic Movement two decades later.
President Moon praised Gwangju and Daegu for
coming together to support making February
28th a national memorial day... despite deep-rooted
regionalism and political differences.
Hwang Hojun, Arirang News.
