(Unofficial Translation)

Fellow Koreans, April 19 Revolution national merit honorees and bereaved relatives,

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the April 19 Revolution. It was the day when passionate aspirations – more fervent than life itself – implanted democracy deep in our hearts.

Fierce resistance against a dictatorship made us recognize that justice could be revived if we united. We became democrats advancing toward a greater democracy.

Since that fervent day, each year in April when azaleas are in full bloom and their falling petals flutter, we have remembered those souls who perished for democracy. An indomitable courage that never succumbs to dictatorship and an unstoppable hope have grown in our hearts.

The April 19 Revolution was not a revolution that suddenly erupted one day. On February 28, 1960, high school students in Daegu were the first in that movement to hold aloft torches for justice while shouting “Down with the dictatorship.” On March 8, students in Daejeon responded in kind by waving “flags of democracy and liberty.” After the rigged March 15 presidential election, high school students and other residents of Masan took to the streets and staged righteous protests.

As the horribly disfigured body of the martyr Kim Ju-yeol, a high school student, floated in the waters off Masan, the flames of the March 15 Pro-Democracy Uprising spread across the country. At last on April 19, students and citizens in Seoul rose up to end the dictatorship. The great values of the Republic of Korea – liberty, democracy, equality, justice and peace – surged forth again through the loud chants shouted by ordinary citizens.

The April 19 Revolution resulted from the accumulation of all the people’s empathy and spirit of resistance for democracy. In 2018, the Government finally designated the February 28 Daegu Pro-Democracy Movement and the March 8 Daejeon Pro-Democracy Uprising as national days of commemoration. They came to be listed, along with the March 15 Masan Pro-Democracy Uprising, on the timeline of historic events leading to the April 19 Revolution. 

Today, we are joined by national merit honorees for the February 28 Daegu Pro-Democracy Movement, March 8 Daejeon Pro-Democracy Uprising, March 15 Masan Pro-Democracy Uprising and the April 19 Revolution, as well as bereaved relatives thereof. I extend my deepest respect and gratitude to the leading actors who planted the great history of democracy in this land 60 years ago.


Fellow Koreans,

The April 19 Revolution is the robust root of the Republic of Korea’s democracy. It was a revolution that brought those in power who had impaired popular sovereignty to justice and brought down political and social oppression.

The power of every single citizen coalesced and reestablished the principle of a democratic republic: “The sovereignty of the Republic of Korea shall reside in the people and all state authority shall emanate from the people.”

Students called for the democratization of schools, workers organized labor unions and teachers paved the way for educating democratic citizens. The bereaved families of the 1948 Jeju April 3 Incident and other relatives of civilians massacred across the country were able to break the forced silence and summon the courage to shed light on the truth.

The period of democracy that the April 19 Revolution brought about was fleeting but intense. The period of dictatorship initiated by the May 16 military coup was long and dark, but the ideology of the April 19 Revolution was engraved as the spirit of our Constitution in the end.

The people managed to weather harsh eras by relying on each other and encouraging one another with aspirations for democracy. Finally, they brought the spirit of the April 19 Revolution up to this commemoration today, following the candlelight revolution in 2016, the Busan-Masan Democratic Protests, the May 18 Democratization Movement and the June 10 Democratic Struggle. We must remember the great history of democracy in this land and, with pride in it, continue to march toward a more mature democracy.

The power to cope with the current grave COVID-19 situation also originated from a self-motivating civic consciousness inspired by the spirit of the April 19 Revolution. The people have made concessions in their daily lives by putting “we” before “I” and have jointly overcome these difficulties without any hoarding.

I am very proud of the fact that the democracy we’ve safeguarded amid oppression as well as the solidarity and cooperation we’ve cultivated while sharing sorrow through tears are setting an example for the world as we suffer together.

Currently, leaders from many countries around the world are also speaking about the importance of international cooperation. They agree that only global solidarity – not containment and isolation – can foster new hope.

We know only too well that we can overcome this crisis once we join forces. Many tasks still remain, and we can’t afford to lower our guard until the last infected person is completely cured. Nevertheless, we will overcome COVID-19 without fail through strong solidarity and cooperation based on openness, transparency and democracy, thereby becoming a source of hope for the world.


Fellow Koreans,

The International Monetary Fund has assessed that the world is now facing the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s. Our country is no exception. The IMF predicted that the Republic of Korea will register negative 1.2 percent growth this year. We must overcome not only the virus but also our worst economic crisis since the 1997 foreign exchange crisis.

The key is to protect jobs. In order to maintain employment, we need to help businesses and workers and protect the lives of microbusiness owners and the self-employed. The IMF projected that Korea will top the list of 36 OECD member states this year in terms of economic growth rates. However, if many lose their jobs and people’s lives collapse amid concurrent declines in production, investment, consumption and exports, ranking 1st in terms of growth could never provide comfort.

The Government will put all of its efforts into reviving the economy and safeguarding the lives of the people. However, the Government’s efforts alone cannot suffice amid a grave global economic crisis. Economic revival also necessitates the people’s solidarity and cooperation. In particular, it is absolutely necessary for labor and management to put their heads together and cooperate in order to protect jobs. The Government will provide preferential support to businesses that maintain employment through a labor-management agreement. In addition, the Government will strengthen the employment safety and social safety nets further for those who’ve lost their jobs.

I ask the National Assembly and the people to come together to surmount the economic crisis that has struck us along with this infectious disease. I believe that expanding the political and civil democracy sought by the April 19 Revolution into a substantive democracy that guarantees the lives of all the people is the spirit of that revolution that we must manifest today.

Our people have brought the world hope that the COVID-19 outbreak can be overcome and, simultaneously, have caught the world’s attention with regard to how to respond to socioeconomic difficulties following the outbreak.

If we can use the power of solidarity and cooperation based on openness, transparency and democracy to overcome the post-COVID-19 situation that the entire world will suffer together, we will be able to instill great courage in all of humanity. We will be able to create new global norms and standards for the economy, industry, education, healthcare, safety and many other areas.

The Government will employ the united strength of the people to ready the post-COVID-19 new normal and new world order.

Fellow Koreans, April 19 Revolution national merit honorees and bereaved relatives,

The true lesson the April 19 Revolution teaches in this era is that yesterday’s experiences make us who we are today and in the future. The Government has bestowed national merit decorations upon more of those who have devoted themselves to democratization in order to inherit the spirit of the April 19 Revolution along with the people. A total of 51 meritorious citizens related to the April 19 Revolution were newly recognized from last year to this year. It is very meaningful for me to personally bestow the National Foundation Medal upon five meritorious citizens and their relatives today.

The Government will uncover the achievements of previously unidentified April 19 Revolution participants and engrave the names of each and every one into the chapters of history that chronicle our democracy and pay tribute to them. 

This April 19 National Cemetery is sacred ground for our democracy. We will expand its now-limited burial capacity by 2022 so that we can honorably inter all of the decorated patriots here. Moreover, we will provide full support to ensure that the April 19 Revolution National Cultural Festival, which has been postponed to the second half of this year, can become a festival for all the people, befitting the significance of the Revolution’s 60th anniversary.

The April 19 Revolution is the first democratization movement to have taken place among the countries that achieved independence after World War II, and it is also the beginning of student activism worldwide. In order to pay special tribute to its significance and bequeath the spirit of the April 19 Revolution to people around the world, the Government will seek to have its archives inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. 

After the April 19 Revolution, poet Kim Su-young sang of “Grass”: “It weeps more quickly than the wind. It rises more quickly than the wind.”

Our people practiced democracy by rising more quickly than the wind whenever the country experienced difficulties, and they have – in the course of surmounting the COVID-19 outbreak – reaffirmed once again how the democracy within us can exert its power.      

Every spring, azaleas overcome sorrow and beautifully color mountains and streams. The previous generation who stood together through the April 19 Revolution will be forever remembered as a symbol of democracy.
 
Thank you.