Not happy that they have prevented General Paik Sun-yup from being buried at the Seoul National Cemetery, the Korean left now even wants to prevent him from being buried in Daejeon:
The death of Paik Sun-yup, a Korean War hero and South Korea’s first four-star general, has brought an ideological controversy to the political and civic arenas over where he should be buried due to his record of service in the Japanese Army during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea (1910-45).
Korea Times
While he has been highly recognized as a war hero by the South Korean and U.S. militaries, and his contributions during the war entitled him to be buried in a national cemetery, opponents claim he doesn’t deserve the honor due to his alleged pro-Japanese activities.
After Paik passed away, Friday, at the age of 99, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and the South Korean Army said the next day that they decided to have his body buried at a graveyard for former generals at Daejeon National Cemetery, at the request of the bereaved family.
According to the relevant law, the nation’s first four-star general is fully entitled to be buried in the cemetery.
But some liberal politicians and civic groups are claiming he should not be buried there, calling him a pro-Japanese collaborator.
In 1941 during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea, he became an officer of the Manchukuo Imperial Army. Manchukuo was a puppet state set up by Japan in Manchuria. According to the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, the army fought against Korean independence fighters. In 2009, he was included on a list of pro-Japanese collaborators issued by a presidential truth-finding committee.
You can read more at the link, but General Paik has denied ever hunting down Korean guerrillas during his service in the Manchukuo Imperial Army. Additionally this truth-finding committee was operated by the Korean left to go after conservatives and the U.S. military during the Roh Moo-hyun years. ROK Heads may remember this was the same group who attacked the U.S. military for the fraudulent massacre at No Gun Ri that they could find no physical evidence to support. Any findings from this group are bias and should be suspect.
I continue to maintain that if the Korean left prevents General Paik from being buried in the National Cemetery then an offer should be made for him to be interred in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan. There I believe he would be properly recognized for his contributions during the Korean War and to the nation of South Korea.
