About 30 on each side gather at campus rear gate; Kim Moon-soo backs restoration; no physical clashes

Supporters (left) and opponents of restoring a statue of former President Syngman Rhee hold separate rallies at the rear gate of Inha University in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, on Saturday. [Yonhap]
Supporters (left) and opponents of restoring a statue of former President Syngman Rhee hold separate rallies at the rear gate of Inha University in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, on Saturday. [Yonhap]

Rival rallies over a proposal to restore a statue of former President Syngman Rhee were held at Inha University on Saturday, with supporters and opponents facing off at the campus rear gate without any physical confrontation.

A student group called Inha Jeongsin launched a restoration committee at the rear gate Saturday morning, kicking off a campaign to bring back the statue.

About 30 participants, according to a police estimate, chanted slogans and held signs reading "Restore the Syngman Rhee statue" and "Inha University's roots lie with its founder Syngman Rhee."

Jeong Dae-gyo, a current Inha University student, said the campaign aims "to properly learn about and honor founder Syngman Rhee," adding that the committee would be composed entirely of enrolled students.

Former Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo attended the launch and threw his support behind the effort, saying it was "only natural to restore the statue of Syngman Rhee, who founded Inha University." A petition drive that began Wednesday had collected more than 13,000 signatures by Saturday afternoon.

At the same time, a group calling itself "Inha University People Against the Far Right" held a counter-rally at the same gate. About 30 participants, by police count, held signs reading "Far right, get out of Inha" and "No to the Syngman Rhee statue," opposing the restoration.

The Incheon chapter of the Progressive Party's youth committee had earlier criticized the restoration effort in a campus poster, writing that "Inha University stood with the April 19 Revolution, and our sunbae tore down the Syngman Rhee statue with their own hands in 1984." The Inha University Alumni Association of the Student Council also rebuffed the characterization of Rhee as the university's founder, calling it a distortion.

Inha University had refused to allow either event on campus, citing concerns about clashes between the two sides. Participants held their rallies about 5 meters apart at the rear gate. Some shouting was exchanged, but police erected barriers to separate the groups and no physical altercation occurred.

Rhee ordered the establishment of an engineering college in Incheon in 1952. Korean residents in Hawaii later contributed funds for the school's opening, and the university's name was formed by combining the first syllables of Incheon and Hawaii.

The statue, erected on campus in 1979, was torn down by students during pro-democracy demonstrations in 1984. Proposals to install a bust or other sculpture in its place were reviewed on several occasions afterward but were each time abandoned in the face of opposition.


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