It was confirmed on the 27th that Jeong Yul-seong (1914-1976), a Chinese musician from Gwangju, came down to Seoul with the Chinese Communist Army during the January 4 retreat in 1951 and took artifacts related to the Joseon royal family to China, including Joseon court music scores. He, who composed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army March and the North Korean People’s Army March, stayed in Seoul occupied by North Korea in the early days of the Korean War and fled to China after Seoul was recaptured. Some civic groups and veterans’ families in Honam urged the cancellation of the Jeong Yul-seong Memorial Park project, saying, “To commemorate a person who was not just a collaborator but who stood at the forefront of the reunification by spending huge amounts of tax money is to deny national identity.”
According to the books and papers related to Jeong Yul-seong obtained by this paper, Jeong Yul-seong came to North Korea with the Chinese People’s Volunteer Creation Group from China in December 1950, and came down to Seoul in January of the following year. It was around the time that the Chinese Communist Army intervened in the war to help North Korea, which was being pushed back by the ROK and UN forces, in November 1950 and captured Seoul in a large-scale offensive on January 4, 1951. At the time, Jeong Yul-seong was before naturalization in 1956, but his Chinese wife, Ding Xuesong (丁雪松, Zheng Xue-song), was the adopted daughter of Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai (Zhou Enlai), so he was considered an influential figure in the Chinese Communist Party.
According to ‘Anti-Japanese Music Warrior Jeong Yul-seong (Daedong Culture)’ and others, while staying in Seoul, Jeong Yul-seong searched for major facilities within the four gates and residences of high-ranking officials, and obtained the ‘Joseon Palace Music Score’. According to the materials of the Gwangju Cultural Foundation먹튀검증, the court music he collected during the war amounted to 18 volumes in two parts, including Jongmyo Jeryeak and Yeonjak. He took this court score to China, and after his death, his wife, Ding Xesong, returned it to the Korean government in 1996, after the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and China. An official from the Institute for Military Compilation said, “During the two months that the Chinese military was in Seoul, not only did large-scale casualties occur, but also looting and destroying cultural assets and artifacts.”
Jeong Yul-seong came down with his wife, Ding She-song, when the North Korean army occupied Seoul at the beginning of the war. Ding Xuesong returned to China first in July and August of that year, but Jeong Yul-seong stayed in Seoul until right after the Incheon Landing Operation in September before going to China. An official from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said, “The reason Jeong Yul-seong, whom former President Moon Jae-in publicly mentioned during his visit to China, did not receive the Distinguished Service Medal at the time was because he was a key figure in the North Korean and Chinese forces that invaded us during the war and even looted cultural properties as an occupying force.” .In the midst of this, the Honam Alternative Forum and the Gwangju branch of the National Student Defense Association held a press conference on Jeong Yul-seong-ro in Gwangju on the same day and said, “We strongly oppose the creation of a park commemorating Jeong Yul-seong, the North Korean cheerleader who massacred our people.” It is a mockery of the patriotic spirit to commemorate an invader over a man of national merit from Honam.” He said, “During the 5/18, Gwangju citizens defended liberal democracy by saying, ‘Don’t misjudge the North Korean atrocities. The mother of the late Sergeant Seo Jeong-woo, who was killed in the North Korean shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, and the Association of Korean War Retired Soldiers are planning to hold a rally on the 28th at the Hyeonchung Tower in Gwangju to call for the withdrawal of the Jeong Yul-seong project.
The government is also known to have started a practical review of the law related to this project. A passport official said that the project to create the ‘Jeong Yul-seong Historical Park’ was an “anti-constitutional act that shakes the foundation of the country,” and that “we are comprehensively reviewing measures to prevent this.”