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An honor guard carries the South Korean flag-draped coffin of Hong Beom-do, a heroic independence fighter, at Daejeon National Cemetery, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on Tuesday. (Yonhap) |
The remains of Hong Beom-do, one of the most revered Korean independence fighters, were laid to rest at South Korea's national cemetery Wednesday, three days after being returned from Kazakhstan.
An official ceremony for the reburial of his remains was held at Daejeon National Cemetery in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, following a public mourning period.
President Moon Jae-in attended the ceremony, along with first lady Kim Jung-sook and other dignitaries, including Defense Minister Suh Wook, the ruling Democratic Party chief Song Young-gil and the head of the main opposition People Power Party, Lee Jun-seok.
Moon eulogized Hong, saying, "The general is a hero and pride of all our people."
His return will offer "great hope" to all South Koreans striving together to overcome the COVID-19 crisis "in difficult times," Moon added.
He emphasized the importance of getting Korea's independence-related history straight and honoring independence fighters and their descendants in order to make South Korea stronger, looking back on the predicaments of ancestors.
Moon and Kim dusted the South Korean flag-draped coffin containing Hong's remains with the mixed soils of South Korea and Kazakhstan brought by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on his state visit here earlier this week.
Hong is a historic and highly symbolic figure in Korea's fight against Japan's 1910-45 brutal colonial rule. As top commander of Korea's liberation army, he spearheaded victories in battles against Japanese forces. Especially well known is the Battle of Fengwudong and the Battle of Cheongsan-ri in Manchuria, China, in 1920, which the president described in the eulogy as a "history of victory and hope" made by ordinary people.
The following year, Hong moved to the Soviet Far East, seeking refuge from Japan's hunting operation.
He was forced to relocate to Kazakhstan in 1937 under then Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin's policy, along with many other ethnic Koreans. He died at the age of 75 in the Kazakh region of Kyzylorda in 1943, two years before Korea's liberation.
On Tuesday, the South Korean president posthumously awarded him the top-tier Order of Merit for National Foundation in a ceremony attended by his Kazakh counterpart at Cheong Wa Dae just ahead of their summit talks.
There are around 100,000 ethnic Koreans, called Koryoin, still living in the Central Asian nation.
Moon pledged every support for the preservation of what was Hong's graveyard there so that the pride of Koryoin can go on. (Yonhap)
