[Reporter’s Notebook] National Holidays Emptied of Meaning, Leaving Only a Day Off

"The government has changed, but there are actually fewer exhibitions related to Independence Movement Day (March 1st Independence Movement Day)." (Official involved in Independence Movement Day commemorative events)
The public holiday marking the 107th anniversary of Independence Movement Day (March 1st Independence Movement Day) has just passed. It is a great day that honors the achievements of the patriots who raised the banner of national pride to restore our sovereignty. Among public holidays, it has long stood out as the one with the deepest meaning. In other words, Independence Movement Day is inherently sacred, beyond any notion of counting anniversaries.
This year, however, it is also remembered as a day tinged with regret, as there were virtually no exhibitions that allowed people to see and feel the noble spirit of those who gave their lives for the nation.
Every year, museums and art museums have hosted exhibitions related to Independence Movement Day. Strangely, almost none were held this year. In particular, not only the national museum network but even the relevant ministries failed to plan such exhibitions.
Some point out that sidelining Independence Movement Day exhibitions at a time when the debate over the country’s founding day is still raging runs counter to the current administration’s stance, which regards the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (KPG) as the founding moment of the nation.
At present, the progressive camp argues that the founding of the Republic of Korea should be dated to April 13, 1919, when the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai was established shortly after the March First Movement. The conservative camp counters that the founding day should be August 15, 1948, when the First Republic of Korea under President Syngman Rhee was launched.
Progressives claim that this earlier date marks the founding of the Republic of Korea because our Constitution has inherited the legal and historical legitimacy of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai. Conservatives, on the other hand, view the establishment of the government led by Syngman Rhee—when the modern state first possessed all three essential elements of nationhood: people, territory, and sovereignty—as the true founding of the country.
In the midst of this, critics argue that the current administration, which officially leans toward the former position, has undermined its own founding-day narrative through its lackluster approach this year. One government official acknowledged, "It is true that exhibitions and other Independence Movement Day events were weaker this year compared to last year," and added, "Perhaps because we held large-scale events for the 80th Anniversary of Korea's Liberation last year, there seems to be noticeably less energy this time around."
Independence Movement Day is not a holiday to be celebrated more or less grandly depending on the anniversary number. In and of itself, it is a sacred day on which the very foundations of the Republic of Korea were laid. If the current administration intends to designate the establishment of the KPG, born out of the March First Movement, as the nation’s founding day, should it not pursue policies that live up to that stance? This question looms large in a country where such a day is still widely regarded simply as "a day off."
rsunjun@fnnews.com Reporter