[Column by No Dong-il] Resist America and Aid Korea Is Not a Frozen Slogan

At Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-dong, Seoul, there is a Memorial Park for the Unknown Soldiers. The park includes the Student Volunteer Soldiers Unknown Soldier Monument and the Memorial Hall for the Unknown Soldiers. A sign at the hall explains that it houses the remains of more than 5,800 unnamed soldiers who died in the Korean War and other conflicts, whose bodies were recovered but whose identities could not be confirmed. It is striking that so many people gave their lives for the country, yet their names remain unknown. The words engraved on the exterior wall of the hall, "Loyalty that gave even its name will live forever with the homeland," are deeply moving. It makes one wonder whether these patriots were left unnamed because our descendants failed to make enough effort to identify them.
The Korean War was a national tragedy triggered by Kim Il Sung’s illegal invasion of the South, and it is also a history of defending the country, in which countless forebears shed their blood to protect the Republic of Korea and liberal democracy. Combined military and civilian casualties on both sides are estimated at about 5.3 million. In particular, the entry of Chinese troops in October 1950 caused the death toll to spiral out of control. According to U.S. Department of Defense statistics, more than 70% of U.S. military deaths occurred after Chinese forces entered the war. During the winter offensives by Chinese troops, including the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, tens of thousands of casualties were concentrated in just a few weeks. North Korea’s invasion and China’s intervention were reckless provocations that left indelible wounds on this land. Even so, North Korea calls the war the "Fatherland Liberation War," while China refers to it as the "War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea."
The slogan "Resist America and Aid Korea" that the Communist Party of China (CPC) used when it entered the Korean War was a thoroughly planned piece of propaganda. Domestically, it was paired with the slogan "Protect the Home and Defend the Nation," portraying U.S. forces as "aggressors" and China as a "righteous savior." The distorted term has continued to be repackaged in China and North Korea as a blood alliance narrative that reinforces regime cohesion. At the base of the China-North Korea Friendship Tower in Pyongyang, a relief showing Chinese and North Korean troops standing shoulder to shoulder is accompanied by laudatory inscriptions praising the achievements of the Resist America and Aid Korea campaign.
During his state visit to North Korea on the 9th, the first in seven years, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid tribute at the China-North Korea Friendship Tower and highlighted the history of Resist America and Aid Korea as well as war heroes. As Han Sang-jun of Ajou University has analyzed, China is actively using the slogan as a diplomatic tool to respond to the current U.S.-China hegemonic rivalry. As North Korea-Russia relations have rapidly drawn closer, China is trying to pull North Korea back into its sphere of influence by reminding it that China fought alongside it in the Korean War and remains its original blood alliance. In this way, the slogan is being used to sharpen the divide between trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan on one side, and the China-Russia-North Korea triangle on the other. It is clear that Resist America and Aid Korea is not merely a frozen term tied to the October 1950 intervention.
At a time like this, the War Memorial Association, a public institution under the Ministry of National Defense, sparked public outrage by introducing the term "Resist America and Aid Korea" in an educational program. Criticism that the frame of an aggressor should not be tolerated under the guise of diversity in a democratic society is entirely justified. Although the association removed the post after public backlash, a thorough investigation is needed into how such an absurd idea came about. It was also revealed that the association had included a visit to the Korean War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea Memorial Hall in China in a planned overseas trip to anti-Japanese historical sites for elementary, middle, and high school teachers in early August, before later canceling it. It is at least reassuring that the Ministry of National Defense said it was conducting an audit under the direction of Minister Ahn Gyu-baek and that, regardless of the reason, merely considering the itinerary was a serious mistake. Uncritically accepting or pairing the term Resist America and Aid Korea only obscures the history of North Korea’s illegal invasion and gives a free pass to the atrocities committed by Chinese troops, who aided the aggressor. In South Korea, the term can never be treated as one of several equally valid historical interpretations.
When a foreign head of state visits another country, laying a wreath at a monument or grave for unknown soldiers is a diplomatic custom that expresses the highest respect for the host country and its people, while also reaffirming the historical ties and alliance between the two nations. This is because places that honor those who sacrificed themselves for their country without even leaving their names are sanctuaries that concentrate a nation’s historical identity.
June is Patriotic Memorial Month, and the 25th, the day after tomorrow, marks the 76th anniversary of the Korean War. From the president onward, many agency heads visit the National Cemetery, but perhaps I have simply not heard enough, because I have rarely heard of visits to the Memorial Hall for the Unknown Soldiers. If we want to teach students and teachers the historical interpretation of the Korean War, we should begin by visiting the sacred Memorial Hall for the Unknown Soldiers at the National Cemetery. I hope the members of the War Memorial Association will set an example first.
dinoh7869@fnnews.com