President Lee: "Will Work to Ensure Sabuk Incident Is Remembered as a History of Restored Justice"

Commemorative Address at Ceremony Marking 46th Anniversary of Sabuk Democratic Uprising
"Deepest Condolences to Everyone Who Lost Their Life or Was Injured"

President Lee Jae Myung said on the 21st, "The government will work harder to ensure that Sabuk's history is remembered not as one of pain and silence, but as one that restored dignity and justice."

President Lee made the remarks in a written commemorative address read by Song Sanggyo, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, at a ceremony marking the 46th anniversary of the Sabuk Democracy Uprising.

Yonhap News Agency

The Sabuk Incident was a labor uprising in 1980 at a coal mine in Sabuk-eup, Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province, sparked by miners' protests against a company-backed union and a meager wage increase. Dozens of miners and residents were arrested and detained in the process, and torture and other abuses were carried out.

"Forty-six years ago, the miners who took responsibility for supplying energy to the entire country, breathing in coal dust deep underground in pitch darkness, were asking for nothing extravagant," President Lee said. "They were making an urgent plea for the most basic right to live as human beings and for the dignity of their labor."

He continued, "The miners, who had simply been working hard and living honest lives, saw their earnest demands turn into a struggle after a hit-and-run incident involving the police. During the crackdown, police officers were killed or injured. Sensational media reports that followed amid the extreme confrontation also left indelible scars on the families of the union branch chief."

"But rather than resolving the situation, state power responded with violence and even unfairly branded the miners," President Lee said. "Harsh arrests and torture, along with decades of discrimination, ultimately destroyed a village community and left the lives of miners and residents trapped in deep, dark suffering."

He offered his condolences, saying, "Although the truth about the state violence committed during the Sabuk Democracy Uprising is now being brought to light, belatedly, through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's investigation, I know all too well that this is still not enough to heal the resentment and wounds that have lingered in your hearts over the years."

President Lee added, "I believe that uncovering even one more truth buried in the shadows and restoring the victims' honor is the only way to move beyond pain toward genuine healing and reconciliation. I offer my deepest condolences to the miners of Sabuk and their families, and to everyone who lost their lives or was injured in Sabuk."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.