Liberal president visits Gwangju to seek reconciliation over thorny issues
President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that military tensions between the two Koreas should give way to peace on the Korean Peninsula without conflict, adding that the days when South Korea relied on military strength for peace are over.
"The era of relying solely on military power to safeguard the country is over," Lee said in a Facebook post Wednesday commemorating the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950. "It is more important to win without a fight than to win through a fight."
Lee stressed that military standoffs on the Korean Peninsula will no longer contribute to peace, which he said is critical for South Korea's economic rebound.
"Making a country that will never experience war again is the right way to reward people for their sacrifices and dedication," Lee said.
Honoring the fallen Korean War heroes, Lee noted that South Korea has become the first country in the world since the launch of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to have transitioned from an aid recipient to a donor.
"We rose again, held onto hope and overcame our wounds to move toward a better tomorrow," Lee said. "South Korea is regarded as a role model for developing countries around the world."
Also, the country is now considered one of the top 10 economic powerhouses, rising from the ashes of the war that ended in 1953, Lee added.
"The South Korea of today would never have been created without the sacrifice and dedication of the soldiers and veterans who defended the nation on the front lines, their bereaved families and all the people who lived through the scars of war," Lee noted.
"I regret that I have been unable to adequately compensate and honor those who made extraordinary sacrifices to safeguard the nation," Lee also said, pledging to provide additional support in recognition of their dedication to the country.
Lee skipped the ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Korean War held in Daejeon on Wednesday morning. Lee's predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, attended the ceremony the previous year — the only time he did so during his presidency — and denounced North Korea's "despicable, irrational provocations" against South Korea, referring to its growing military ties with Russia and its launching of trash balloons toward South Korea.
Instead, Lee went to visit the Sorokdo National Hospital, dedicated to the treatment of patients with Hansen's disease. There, Lee acknowledged the patients' efforts to preserve human dignity and cherish community values, adding that prejudice against the patients must be erased, according to the presidential office. Lee was the first South Korean president to visit the facility.
Later on Wednesday, Lee visited Gwangju in the country's southwest to address controversies related to the relocation of an air base to nearby Muan-gun in South Jeolla Province.
The meeting revolved around the thorny issue of Gwangju's proposed relocation of the base. The long-awaited move has been touted as a chance for Gwangju to unlock opportunities for land development, but it was met with opposition from representatives of Muan-gun.
At a livestreamed debate held at the National Asian Culture Center in Gwangju, Lee proposed creating a pangovernmental body led by the presidential office to narrow the differences between the parties concerned, as his meeting with the citizens was also attended by the governor of the South Jeolla Province, the mayor of Gwangju and the county head of Muan-gun.
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