Memorial projects for former presidents Park Chung-hee and Roh Moo-hyun are moving along very different routes, mirroring the former leaders’ contrasting terms.

On Wednesday, plans to issue commemorative stamps for Park were scrapped, more than a year after the decision was made. On the same day, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation announced a plan to establish the Roh Moo-hyun Center in central Seoul. 

 

Park and Roh are seen as polar opposites of each other, both in terms of character and political style, as well as what they symbolize to Koreans. To older generations and conservatives, the late Park is a symbol of progress and anti-communism, while to younger generations and liberals, he is a symbol of authoritarianism. The late Roh, on the other hand, is a liberal icon to younger Koreans, while many older conservatives think of him as being pro-North Korea.

On Wednesday, the plans for issuing commemorative stamps marking a century since Park’s birth on Nov. 17, 1917 were canceled, adding fresh fuel to the controversial project. This is the first time a decision to issue commemorative stamps has been overturned. 

The decision to print the stamps was approved last year in a unanimous decision by the committee that reviews such plans. At the time, nine of the 17 committee members attended the meeting. The decision was revoked by the committee, whose members remained the same, on Wednesday, with eight of the 12 members present voting to scrap the plans.

Both of the committees’ decisions have been subject to criticism, though from different spheres of Korean society. 

The initial decision, made during former President Park Geun-hye’s term, was attacked as idolizing the dictator, and Korea Post had flatly ruled out demands for reassessment from opposition lawmakers. Park Geun-hye, currently on trial for corruption, is the eldest daughter of Park Chung-hee, who was assassinated by Kim Jae-gyu in 1979. At the time of the assassination, Kim was serving as the chief of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, which later became the National Intelligence Service.

Wednesday’s decision has come under fire from conservative groups who say the move only exasperates the ideological divide and is an attempt to curry favor with the liberal administration of President Moon Jae-in.

Just as the controversy over the stamps reignited, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation revealed its plans for facilities commemorating the liberal icon who was also Moon’s associate and political mentor.

“The plans are to begin work on the center from President Roh’s memorial service on May 23 next year,” a foundation official told reporters. Roh, who served as president from 2003 to 2008, took his own life on May 23, 2009, after members of his family became embroiled in a corruption probe.

According to the foundation, the center will offer various cultural programs for the public, and will be built near the palace Changgyeonggung.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)