Oct. 1 Armed Forces Day designated as temporary holiday

Armed Forces Day, which is celebrated annually on Oct. 1 to honor the country’s military, has been designated by the government as a temporary holiday this year to boost awareness of the new security challenges on the Korean Peninsula, officials said Tuesday.

In the afternoon, President Yoon Suk Yeol approved the Cabinet's decision in the morning to pass the motion to designate Oct. 1 as a temporary holiday, according to the presidential office.

"Oct. 1 is when (UN troops) crossed the 38th Parallel and advanced (into North Korea in 1950) during the 1950-53 Korean War," it said in a statement.

"As the security issues (surrounding the Korean Peninsula) have become serious, we have decided to designate (Armed Forces Day) as a temporary holiday to highlight the importance of military defense and the value of our troops' existence to boost troop morale. We also aim to increase the public's awareness of our security issues and invigorate the economy through domestic consumption on holiday," it added.

The presidential office echoed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's concerns tied to security challenges and hopes that the latest temporary holiday designation would serve as a reminder to the public of the hardships of our troops, expressed earlier in the day when the Cabinet passed the motion.

“Due to North Korea’s ongoing provocations and the conflict in the Middle East, (South Korea) has been dealing with serious security issues both on a national and a global level,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during a Cabinet meeting at the government complex in Seoul.

“By designating Armed Forces Day as a temporary holiday (this year), we plan to increase awareness of the importance of national security among the public, while reminding (everyone) of the role of our military and efforts and hardships of our troops,” he added.

The Cabinet’s move came at the request of the ruling People Power Party during a meeting between ranking government officials and party leadership held Aug. 25.

The ruling party lauded the Cabinet’s decision in a statement released in the afternoon.

“We welcome the Cabinet’s decision to designate Armed Forces Day as a temporary holiday. It will serve as a meaningful day for our citizens to understand the commitment of our troops in depth and thank them,” the statement read.

Armed Forces Day was first celebrated in 1956 and later designated as a national holiday in 1976. However, it was scrapped from the list of public holidays in 1991 to boost economic growth.

The government decision also came as South Korea has resumed full-scale anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts near the inter-Korean border since mid-July in response to the North's repeated launches of trash-carrying balloons. The broadcasts had been halted in 2018 amid a detente on the peninsula.

The North has sent more than 3,600 trash-laden balloons to the South since May 28 in response to balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets flown by North Korean defectors and nongovernmental organizations in South Korea.

Meanwhile, Yoon on Tuesday approved three of 28 bipartisan bills, aimed at improving the people’s livelihoods, passed by the opposition-led National Assembly last week. The Assembly’s recent flurry of legislation marked the first time that the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea showed such bipartisan support in advancing bills since the 22nd Assembly started its four-year session in late May.

The three bills passed by Yoon included special legislation aimed at supporting victims of a series of housing rental scams that abuse the country's lump-sum deposit-based rental system called "jeonse." The bill allows the victims to lease public housing provided by the state-run Korea Land & Housing Corp. for up to 20 years.