Busan Gwangbok Expedition Team Sets Off to Sites of Independence Movement History for 80th Liberation Anniversary

[Financial News] Busan City announced on the 14th that it will operate the 'Busan Gwangbok Expedition Team' to directly explore the sites of the anti-Japanese independence movement in northeastern China, focusing on the descendants of local independence patriots for the 80th anniversary of Liberation.
The Gwangbok Expedition Team is being operated for the second time this year, following last year. 
This year, the target participants have been expanded to include not only the descendants of independence patriots but also Korean history teachers responsible for the field of history education and university students in related fields. 
The city selected 52 descendants of independence patriots aged 18 to 49 recommended by the Busan branch of the Liberation Association, 2 Korean history teachers recommended by the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, and 25 university students recommended by 5 universities with history departments in the Busan area.
Among the participants is Baek Ji-yeon, a great-granddaughter of independence activist Baek Nak-ju, who was active based in Manchuria.
She expressed her feelings about participating, saying, "Just stepping on the stage of my grandfather's activities, which I heard about since childhood, is overwhelming, and I want to vividly feel the passionate patriotism towards the motherland."
The Gwangbok Expedition Team will visit anti-Japanese historical sites in Yanji and Baekdusan in China from the 16th to the 19th for 3 nights and 4 days, following the traces of the armed independence movement. They will visit the old site of Myeongdong School, the birthplace of poet Yun Dong-ju, Baekdusan Cheonji and Biryong Falls, Yanji Prison, the site of the Ganminhoe, and the advance base of the Battle of Bongodong, Obongchon, to feel the breath of the independence movement. 
The city will hold a departure ceremony for the Busan Gwangbok Expedition Team in the main conference room of the Busan City Council on the morning of that day.
Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, "This year's Busan Gwangbok Expedition Team expands to include descendants of independence activists, history teachers, and university students to broadly share and inherit the spirit of the independence movement as a turning point," adding, "The city plans to start construction of the Busan Independence Movement Memorial Hall in Busan Citizens Park by the end of the year, and we will continue to strive to pass on the proud history of the Busan independence movement to future generations."

bsk730@fnnews.com Kwon Byung-seok Reporter