Jeju 4·3 Peace Park: New Plaque Installed to Combat Historical Distortion – Discover the Key Details!

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Officials have installed a second information plaque titled \”Truth Set Straight\” to present the facts of the Jeju 4·3 events.

On March 28, Jeju Province, the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation, and the Association of 4·3 Victims’ Families relocated General Ham Byeong-seon’s memorial stone, the military and police honor monuments, and a memorial stele to the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park and erected the new \”Truth Set Straight\” plaque. This is the second such plaque; the first was installed last December beside Colonel Park Jin-gyeong’s memorial.

The Ham Byeong-seon memorial was originally erected in June 1949 under the name of the Namjeju County branch of the Jeju Public Security Measures Committee inside the Odeung-dong Special Warfare Command training ground. According to the government’s 2003 Jeju 4·3 investigation report, after assuming command of the Army’s 2nd Regiment he led the January 1949 massacre of about 400 residents of Bukchon-ri in Jocheon Township and, as the senior commander at two military tribunals, sanctioned punishments of civilians without trial. Jeju Province placed an explanatory plaque beside the memorial to record these findings.

The military and police honor monuments and the memorial stele moved alongside Ham’s memorial had been abandoned on the site of the Jeju Regional Meteorological Office. The military and police honor monument, erected in August 1949, praises the actions of personnel from the Army’s 2nd Regiment, police officers, the Daehan Youth Association, and the Minbo-dan civil defense group. The memorial stele, erected the following year, commemorates roughly 860 victims associated with the military, police, and right‑wing organizations.

Jeju Province said it relocated the monuments to the 4·3 Peace Park after discussions by an advisory panel on historical distortion concerning 4·3 and consultations with relevant agencies, with the stated aim of correcting the historical record.

Governor Oh Young‑hun described the installation as a second, community‑based effort to correct attempts to distort and denigrate the historical facts of Jeju 4·3. \”We will firmly resist efforts to undermine the value of 4·3,\” he said, \”and will proceed, step by step, with installing explanatory plaques and relocating facilities that have become focal points in disputes over historical distortion.\”

The provincial government said it plans to install plaques or relocate other contested markers tied to 4·3 historical distortion, including the marker for the former police station site.