Tag: Paik Sun-yup

It is great to see that this final smear from the Korean left against the late General Paik has finally been removed:

This file photo, taken July 5, 2023, shows a statue of the late Gen. Paik Sun-yup being unveiled at a ceremony in the southern county of Chilgok, 215 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s veterans ministry said Monday it has deleted a state burial record describing Korean War hero Gen. Paik Sun-yup as a pro-Japanese figure, saying that such an expression was written with no legal grounds.

The ministry said it has decided to remove a phrase identifying Paik as a person who engaged in pro-Japanese and anti-national activities in the late general’s online burial record on the Daejeon National Cemetery’s website, a term that strikes a sour note due to Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The description had been in place since his burial in 2020 at the cemetery in Daejeon, 139 kilometers south of Seoul, as a presidential committee put him on a list of pro-Japanese figures in 2009, citing his military service for Manchukuo, a puppet state for Imperial Japan, during Tokyo’s colonial rule.

Paik served in the pro-Japan Gando Special Force under the Manchukuo Imperial Army from 1943 to 1945, which was tasked with suppressing anti-Japanese forces. When he was alive, Paik denied that he actually fought against Korean independence forces.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but General Paik denied ever hunting down Korean guerrillas during his service in the Manchukuo Imperial Army. Additionally this truth-finding committee that made these claims against Paik 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. 

These clowns made it difficult to even find a place for General Paik to be buried after his death. He is arguably the greatest ROK military hero from the Korean War that ensured South Korea remained a free nation. It is almost as if these Korean leftists are disappointed that General Paik helped lead the successful defense of the country.

It great to see that the Joong Ang Ilbo is sponsoring this award in honor of the late ROK General Paik Sun-yup:

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis received the 8th Paik Sun-yup ROK-U.S. Alliance Award in a ceremony Tuesday in Washington for his contributions to bilateral relations and the security of the Korean Peninsula.  
   
Korean Ambassador to the United States Lee Soo-hyuk presented the award and medal to Mattis, a retired Marine Corps four-star general who served as Pentagon chief from January 2017 to January 2019, on behalf of Defense Minister Suh Wook at the U.S. Embassy in Washington.  
   
The JoongAng Ilbo is a sponsor of the award, named after the famed Korean general critical in establishing the early military ties between the allies.  
   
The Korean Defense Ministry said that Mattis was selected for the award in recognition of his stable leadership during a period of crisis on the peninsula in 2017, helping lay the foundations for the pursuit of diplomatic talks. He also helped create a blueprint for how the alliance would operate following the transition of wartime operation control (Opcon) from the United States to Korea.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

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).

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. 

Korea Times

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.