The Truth of Jeju April 3rd. / Captured from National Assembly Broadcasting Video. 

Guest Columnist · Korea Military Academy Class of '84We are witnessing a historical war that distorts history by hacking historical records and language. The Jeju April 3rd incident is defined as "delayed justice," and the suppression of the April 3rd armed uprising is characterized as "state violence." The October 19th Yeosu-Suncheon Rebellion, an act of military mutiny, has been disguised as "righteous defiance." Language is manipulated to intentionally paralyze even clear historical records and distort history, through issues like the March 1st Movement and "National Foundation Day," claims of Kim Won-bong as the root of the Korean military, twisting pre- and post-liberation history, the "North Korean invasion" narrative for the Korean War, the Cheonan sinking conspiracy theory, and the portrayal of emergency martial law as "inciting rebellion." This is a crime disguised as a war of history.

The fundamental truth of history lies in 'factuality.' No matter how sophisticated the rhetoric, how filled with partisan venom the statements, or how high the authority from which they originate, concrete past events, surviving witnesses, battles fought, and documented records remain unchanged. Beans cannot be transformed into peas.

However, generations ignorant of history are controlled by political language. They are easily deceived by attaching the value of "justice" and powerful words to the Yeosu-Suncheon rebels, thereby dismantling legal and ethical standards. Even those with some historical knowledge can fall into confusion if falsehoods are repeated. The distortion of history for political purposes is a crime that paralyzes the sound thinking of citizens, turning them into mental slaves, and is a fraudulent election strategy by politicians seeking to secure votes by selling out history, all to foster partisan unity and seize control.

The War of History Conducted as Part of Southward Unification Efforts

   The war of history is a fierce ideological struggle surrounding past facts and their interpretations. It escalates into psychological terrorism where a specific faction attempts to dominate public memory by forcing interpretations favorable to them through media and education. This goes beyond mere academic debate, harboring political aims to justify the usurpation of power and reconstruct national identity. The left's war of history stems from the arrogance that by manipulating language and narratives and inciting fervor, even recorded facts can be overturned.

Acts of historical distortion are not about correcting the past. Instead, they use counter-historical interpretations and plausible "language viruses" to paralyze people's logical thinking. The aim is to imprison the thinking of future generations within a "prison of memory" favorable to them, using collective memory as a totalitarian tool rather than historical facts.

While politics can be conducted through speech, it cannot alter history that has already been recorded. Nevertheless, left-wing politicians distort and weaponize past history for immediate political gain and partisan unity. To gain dominance in the current "incitement of rebellion" narrative, they evoke the history of past martial law and transform rebels who defied martial law orders into righteous resisters to grant them absolution.

They twist language, mobilize media outlets, and repeatedly engage in historical redesign operations with coercive force. Despite the impossibility of changing historical facts, they continuously attack in a single direction. This is evidence of a control tower for historical distortion or that they are acting under orders.

The War of History Uses the Weapons of 'Value Transfer of Terms' and 'Term Confusion'

   The Jeju April 3rd incident was a tragedy mixed with the armed uprising of the South Korean Workers' Party forces and the civilian casualties that occurred during the process of suppressing it. The official records of the time clearly define its nature as an "armed uprising." Classifying the "suppression of the April 3rd armed riot" as "state violence" or "delayed justice" is historical distortion through linguistic hacking.

By changing an "armed uprising" aimed at overthrowing the system to "state violence," responsibility shifts to the state. The nature of the event completely transforms from an "armed uprising and rebellion" to "coercive violence." Furthermore, the term "delayed justice" elevates the armed uprising itself to a morally just act, inverting the "tragedy of the suppression process" into an "unilateral massacre by the state" and altering the essence of history. They skillfully portray the suppression operations of the Korean military as those of "rebels" and justify the actions of actual rebels and guerrillas. Their technique of slandering the martial law forces as "mass murderers" and "rebels" is identical to what happened 77 years ago.

The Yeosu-Suncheon incident was a tragedy of modern history, occurring on October 19, 1948, when some soldiers of the 14th Regiment of the Ministry of National Defense refused the order to suppress Jeju April 3rd, sparking an armed rebellion, followed by mass casualties of innocent civilians during the government's suppression efforts. In the past, it was defined as a "communist rebellion," but with the enactment of a special law in 2021, investigations are underway to clarify the truth and restore the honor of the victims.

General Choi Seok-shin, a survivor of the Yeosu-Suncheon incident, testified that "the guns were pointed at the people by the South Korean Workers' Party," asserting that the essence of the Yeosu-Suncheon incident was a communist riot. The current president has made statements justifying the defiance of the Yeosu-Suncheon rebels. Defining a "military rebellion" as "righteous defiance" is an organized act of aggression aimed at undermining the military's value of loyalty and the legitimacy of the South Korean system.

Re-evaluating the War of History and Measures to Overcome Historical Distortion

   Attempts to claim the March 1st Movement as "National Foundation Day" and designate Kim Won-bong as the "root of the Korean military" are attempts to deny and weaken the legitimacy of the Republic of Korea, a liberal democratic nation established in 1948. They aim to implant ideologies like "national liberation" and "socialist path" into the minds of future generations regarding the history of the Republic of Korea. This is a "future power design" by those seeking to exploit past history for current usurpation of power and long-term rule. We must discern their tactics of using past history to achieve present-day control and prolonged governance.

Losing the war of history means being dominated by forces that manipulate history. If we lose the current "incitement of rebellion" frame war, their "actual acts of rebellion" will be disguised as righteous deeds, and they will attempt to dismantle the opposition party.

When the foundation of historical facts is shaken, genuine historical understanding based on empathy and ethics, and the wisdom to interpret history correctly, become impossible. Historians must write books and give lectures based on legal records and historical materials, disseminate them through thematic videos, and use cutting-edge techniques, including artificial intelligence, to instill a correct sense of history in the younger generation and motivate them to voluntarily take an interest in history.

The truth of history is written not with words, but with blood and records. Beyond correcting the distorted past, we must empower future generations with the wisdom that combines accurate historical facts, disassociated value judgments, and ethical standards, enabling them to shatter the "prison of memory" constructed by the left for political purposes. Reserve officers who have experienced modernity and contemporary times through blood and sweat must take the lead in the war of history.

By Park Pil-gyu, Guest Columnist