(Unofficial Translation)

Fellow Koreans, all Koreans at home and abroad,

The Provisional Republic of Korea Government, founded on the spirit of the March First Independence Movement, declared that 1920 was the first year of our war of independence. In that year, a man led troops into two important battles: the Battle of Fengwudong – also called “the first round or first victory of the war of independence” – and the Battle of Qingshanli, the greatest triumph in the history of that war. He was General Hong Beom-do, a hero of Korea’s war of independence and the commander of the Greater Korea Independence Army. He will finally be laid to rest in his homeland today.

This year marks the 101st anniversary of the battles of Fengwudong and Qingshanli and 78 years since the General passed away in a faraway foreign land. It has taken truly a long time for him to return. Once again, I am deeply grateful to the Kazakh Government and the ethnic Koreans in Kazakhstan for their active cooperation on the repatriation of his remains.

Here at the Daejeon National Cemetery where General Hong will be laid to rest eternally, many other independence activists have also been interred. In 2019, the remains of independence activist Hwang Woon-jeong and his spouse were returned home from Kazakhstan and laid to rest here. Also buried here are independence fighters Lee Hwa-il and Park Seung-gil, who fought with General Hong in the Battle of Fengwudong, as well as Kim Woon-seo, Lee Gyeong-jae, Lee Jang-nyeong and Hong Chung-hee, who fought alongside the General in the Battle of Qingshanli. Interring the remains of General Hong here, I renew my commitment to an unceasing move in the direction of the Republic of Korea envisioned by our forebears.

In our history, the battles of Fengwudong and Qingshanli are a victorious- and hope-filled chapter compiled by everyday people. The unknown youths who – armed only with righteous mettle – massed to regain the country and the hundreds of thousands of Koreans who migrated to China’s Gando Province were the heroes of those victories. The triumph that all of them achieved together instilled the 30 million Koreans oppressed under Japanese colonial rule with intense pride and hope for self-reliant independence. It enabled them to escape their sense of subservience and sorrow for having lost the country’s sovereignty. 

Fellow Koreans, 

General Hong won victories in many battles during the war of independence, but he and 170,000 other Koreans living in exile in Russia’s Maritime Province were forcibly relocated far away to Central Asia. In September 1937, the first trainload of Koreans arrived at Ushtobe, Kazakhstan, from Russia’s Far East. At that time, the Kazakhs were also in harsh circumstances, having suffered a severe famine. Despite their difficulties, the people were willing to lend the ethnic Koreans a helping hand and warmly embraced them.

The first generation of Korean migrants, who inherited the strong spirit of independence activists, overcame the difficulties and hardships in the early days of their settlement and created a new foundation for their life. For the first time on the barren soil of Central Asia, they made paddies and extended rice cultivation’s geographic limit northward. The General became the spiritual anchor of this Korean enclave in Central Asia, and their diligence greatly moved the local people.

Ethnic Koreans have significantly contributed to the development of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries – all while retaining pride in their homeland and their identity. Their writers and artists have kept our culture and arts alive by preserving our mother tongue. In Kazakhstan alone, numerous talented individuals were nurtured and respected in all areas of society, including politics, the economy, culture, science and technology. They include 460 holders of master’s and doctoral degrees, 68 heroes of labor and about 150 workers credited with outstanding service.

The General’s indomitable armed struggle became the root of our country’s strong defense capabilities. The Hong Beom-do, an 1,800-ton submarine, proudly guards our East Sea coast with unflinching fight-to-win conviction. In 2018, the Korea Military Academy erected busts of General Hong and other independence heroes on its campus to commemorate the March First Independence Movement’s 99th anniversary. They were made out of 300 kilograms of bullet casings collected after cadet exercises. On the foundation of the noble patriotism of independence activist Lee Hoe-yeong, the founder of the Sinheung Military Academy; General Hong Beom-do; General Kim Jwa-jin; General Ji Cheong-cheon; and General Lee Beom-seok, the Republic of Korea – now the 6th strongest military powerhouse in the Global Firepower ranking – maintains its vision of self-reliant national defense.

Fellow Koreans, all Koreans at home and abroad,

General Hong is a hero and source of pride for Koreans everywhere. Every year, a large number of people visit Kyzylorda’s Hongbeomdo Street and park cemetery. The Government will actively support the preservation of General Hong’s former gravesite in Kazakhstan, so the ethnic Korean community there can maintain their pride in him as before. Steeped in the hard lives of the General and the ethnic Koreans who had to leave their homeland and drift from Manchuria to the Maritime Province and then to Central Asia is the entirety of the hardships our people have suffered in modern and contemporary history. We must make determined efforts to ensure such history is never repeated. While looking back on the hardships of our forebears, we must build a country that proudly prospers, a strong country that no one dare challenge and a country respected by the international community. To this end, we have to respect ourselves. This begins with properly shedding light on the history of our independence movement and appropriately honoring decorated independence activists and their descendants. There are still many patriots who have neither returned to their homeland nor been honored as they should be, and many chapters in the history of our independence movement have yet to come to light.

In his ten-volume epic about Hong Beom-do, poet Lee Dong-soon described the General’s feelings upon returning to his homeland after belatedly ending his long journey in this way:

“I, Hong Beom-do, have returned to the land of my home country. It has been 78 years since I was laid to rest on a windswept, far-off empty Central Asian steppe. I kneel on my homeland and bend down to smell the earth. I gently kiss the ground, and hot tears rain down upon the soil of my hometown.”

We have surmounted numerous ordeals and adversities, achieved democracy and economic development and finally taken off as an advanced country. The return of the General will bring great hope to everyone in the Republic of Korea who trust and rely on each other and work together to overcome crises in difficult times. The tears that the General shed on his hometown’s soil will nurture a stronger and more passionate Republic of Korea.

General Hong Beom-do, welcome home. May you rest in peace.

Thank you.