Lee: “State power unjustly branded Sabuk miners” ... vows to restore their honor

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung promised further efforts to uncover the truth and restore the victims’ honor over the Sabuk Democratic Uprising on the 21st, saying, “State power responded with violence instead of containing the situation and even unjustly branded the miners.”
In a written commemorative address for the 46th anniversary of the Sabuk Democratic Uprising, read aloud that day by Truth and Reconciliation Commission Chair Song Sang-gyo, President Lee said, “On behalf of the government, I offer my deepest words of consolation to all those who have endured harsh years, carrying the wounds of state violence in their hearts for 46 long years.”
President Lee described the miners’ demands at the time as “a desperate outcry for the utterly basic right to live as human beings and for the dignity of labor.”
He added, “Harsh arrests and torture, along with discrimination that continued for decades, ultimately destroyed an entire village community and confined the lives of miners and residents to deep, dark suffering.”
He also spoke of other harms suffered during the uprising. President Lee explained that the struggle continued after a hit-and-run by the police, and that police officers died or were injured during the crackdown. He also said that sensational media reports amid the extreme confrontation left indelible wounds on the family members of a union branch head.
President Lee said, “Although the truth about the state violence committed during the Sabuk Democratic Uprising is now, belatedly, coming to light through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s investigations and other efforts, I know well that this is still not enough to heal the grief and wounds that have built up in your hearts over the years.”
He said, “I will work harder to ensure that Sabuk’s history is remembered not for pain and silence, but as a history that upheld dignity and justice.” He added, “I believe that uncovering even one more truth buried in the shadows and restoring the victims’ honor is the only path beyond pain toward genuine healing and reconciliation.”
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