[종합] Arrested in his 50s for damaging the Chun Doo-Hwan statue

Known as members of the Gyeonggi Area 5.18 Related Organization
The Chun Doo-hwan statue at Cheongnam University is in conflict over whether it will be demolished in May

[아시아경제 임주형 기자] A man in his 50s who damaged the statue of former President Chun Doo-hwan at Cheongnam University, a former presidential village located in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, was captured by the police.

According to police on the 19th, at 10:30 am at Cheongnam University, Mr. A (50) was caught by a patrolling employee while cutting the neck of the former president’s statue with a hacksaw.

After receiving a report from an employee and submitting it, the police are investigating the exact details of the incident after arresting Mr. A. Meanwhile, the statue of the former president is said to have been cut by two-thirds of the neck.

As a result of the police investigation, A is reported to be a member of the group related to May 18 in Gyeonggi province, and after seeing media reports that Chungbuk province has decided to preserve the statue of the former president , he was angry and decided to damage the statue.

Furthermore, Mr. A told the police, “I cut the neck of the Chun Doo-hwan statue and tried to throw it at the house in Yeonhui-dong, Seoul, where he lives.”

Police believe that Mr. A entered Cheongnam University as a tourist and then covered closed circuit television (CC) around the Chun Doo-hwan statue and committed the crime with a prepared hacksaw. It was confirmed that the fence lock was also destroyed when approaching the CCTV.

The police plan to charge Mr. A on charges such as damage to property.

Meanwhile, Cheongnam University is a presidential village created in 1983 under the leadership of the former president. The area is 18,286.47㎥, and previous presidents are reported to have visited 89 times through the early 2000s, staying a total of 366 nights and 472 days.

However, on April 18, 2003, during the days of the late Roh Moo-hyun, the administration of the facility was handed over to Chungbuk province to open to citizens.

Since then, Chungbuk Province has started a business to manufacture and install statues of 10 former presidents at Cheongnam University since 2015.

However, controversy arose when the event committee for the 40th anniversary of the May 18 popular uprising in North Chungcheong Province called for the removal of the former president’s statue. In response to his request at the time, Chungbuk province promised to demolish the statue.

However, it was belatedly discovered that there was no legal basis for the statue’s removal, and in June, he promoted the legislation of the ‘Former President of Chungbuk-do Commemoration Project Ordinance Draft’, which restricts commemorative projects such as statues. and recordings of the former president who was sentenced to a prison term or higher in June. However, the proposed ordinance met with opposition from conservative groups, and the decision was held back three times from July to October and eventually dropped.

In particular, the conflict is known to have escalated as the plan to demolish the statue of the former president has turned to prestige.

Reporter Lim Joo-hyung [email protected]