Photo : YONHAP News
President Lee Jae Myung said Sunday that stripping state honors from perpetrators of state violence, including torture, fabricated cases and judicial killings, is long overdue but necessary.
In a social media post, Lee shared a report that police have launched their first comprehensive review to revoke state honors awarded to investigators who were decorated for torture and fabricated espionage cases under past authoritarian regimes.
He also emphasized that the government will work to eliminate statutes of limitations for criminal and civil cases involving state violence.
Lee said he would visit Jeju Island on Sunday to mark the Jeju April 3 Incident, calling it one of the worst cases of state violence.
The president expressed condolences for victims who, he said, were killed without knowing why, stabbed with spears, shot with carbines and buried alive.
The Jeju April 3 Incident refers to a 1948 civilian uprising on the island that led to the massacre of tens of thousands of residents.