Veterans ministry cooperates with Kazakhstan local gov't over memorial park for Korean independence fighter

SEOUL, May 2 (Yonhap) -- The Veterans ministry said Friday it discussed with a municipality in Kazakhstan over cooperation to manage a memorial park dedicated to Hong Beom-do, a revered Korean independence fighter against Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.

Veterans ministry officials visited Kazakhstan from April 23 to 26 and met with municipal officials of Kyzylorda in southern Kazakhstan, where the park is located, to discuss efforts on the park's management, according to the ministry.

The ministry requested the city's support in managing the park, while the municipal officials pledged to make efforts to better utilize the site as a gathering space for the city's residents, including ethnic Koreans, it said.

The park, which opened in November 2023 with funding from the South Korean government, is located at Hong's former burial site. The independence fighter's remains returned to Korea in August 2021 for burial at the Daejeon National Cemetery.

Hong is known for leading Korean independence forces in major battles in Manchuria in 1920, including the victory at the Battle of Fengwudong. In 1921, he moved to the Soviet Union to seek refuge from Japanese forces.

He was forced to relocate to current-day Kazakhstan in 1937 under then Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's policy, along with many other ethnic Koreans. He died in 1943 at 75, two years before Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial rule.

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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