Lee vows to honor Korea’s independence heroes on Liberation Day
President Lee Jae Myung pledged support for independence activists’ descendants and awarded state honors to 283 people at the 81st Liberation Day ceremony.
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at 81st Liberation Day celebrations at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul on Aug. 15.
NEWS1
President Lee Jae Myung pledged on Saturday to "spare no effort in redressing the lingering vestiges of our painful history and safeguarding the honor and well-being of those who devoted themselves to our independence."
Lee made the remarks during an address at a ceremony marking the 81st Liberation Day, held Saturday morning at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno District, central Seoul, which he attended with first lady Kim Hea Kyung.
About 3,000 people attended the ceremony, including decorated independence activists and the relatives of independence movement figures, senior government officials, representatives of political parties and religious groups, members of the diplomatic corps in Korea and representatives from across society, including ordinary citizens and students.
The ceremony included an opening declaration, a national commemoration, remarks, the presentation of state honors to independence merit recipients, the president's address, a celebratory performance, a group singing of the Liberation Day anthem and three cheers of "manse," or "10,000 years" — a traditional exclamation long associated with the independence movement that translates in this case to "Long live Korea!"
A video shown during the ceremony traced, through what organizers called a "relay of dreams," the aspirations of independence-era figures and the history of how modern Korea came to realize them. It featured independence leader Kim Koo along with fellow independence activists Ahn Chang-ho and Lee Hoe-yeong, tracing their visions of a cultural powerhouse, a respected nation and an independently defended country through to present-day Korea.
The celebratory performance, staged in three parts, closed with the singer Choi Yoo-jung and a 40-member choir performing the song "One Dream" as a message of national unity and hope.
The traditional three cheers of "manse" were led jointly by figures representing different generations and fields: The head of the Heritage of Korean Independence, descendants of independence merit recipients, officials involved in the government's three major megaprojects and members of Korea's Paralympic national team.
Separately, Lee presented state honors on Saturday to 283 people recognized for their contributions to Korea's independence movement. Five descendants of independence merit recipients received their awards directly from the president, including a descendant of Choi Jun-rye, the wife of Kim Koo.
Choi taught at Ansin Girls' School in Anak County in what is now North Korea's Hwanghae Province, beginning in 1911, where she was active in efforts to educate and enlighten women, and later supported the work of Korea's provisional government after fleeing to Shanghai in 1920; she was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation in recognition of that work.
Descendants of fellow independence merit recipients An Jong-ik, Yi Myeon-eung, Kang Jeong-sin and Jeong Dae-rim also received their awards directly from the president.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
