Once on Death Row under the Yushin Constitution, Yoo In-tae's Surging Tears - 경향신문
A general meeting of Democratic United Party lawmakers was held at 8am on September 11 in room 246 at the National Assembly. Tension filled the air as the lawmakers prepared to discuss reforms in the party.
Just when they were about to close the doors on the meeting, lawmaker Yoo In-tae stepped onto the podium asking to make an unscheduled personal statement.
Yoo began bashfully, "I apologize for throwing cold water on this meeting just when it (discussions on reforms) was getting heated." He continued, "I would like to say a few words as a person directly related to the People's Revolutionary Party (PRP) incident."
"When I was wanted for the Democratic Youth and Students' Association incident, I stayed at Yeo Jeong-nam's boarding house near Gyeongbuk University. Those, who had a career, gave the students some hundreds of thousands of won in today's standards for transportation fees and such, and that's all there was to the PRP incident. At the time of the emergency court martial, we received a fixed sentence. The people standing in the first row received the death penalty, the second row received a life sentence, and the third row twenty years in prison."
At a general meeting at the National Assembly on September 11, lawmaker Yoo In-tae of the Democratic United Party is holding back tears as he criticizes Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the Saenuri Party, for her statements on the People's Revolutionary Party the day before. Seo Seong-il
Yoo's calm voice started trembling as he recalled the day he was sentenced to death.
He continued, "On the morning of April 8, 1975, Kim, who was a physics teacher at Kyunggi Girls' High School said, ‘I think they're going to kill us.' Usually, for those on death row, they put handcuffs, which you can easily unlock even with a chopstick, but that morning they changed the handcuffs to tight ones made in the U.S. The Supreme Court ruling was scheduled for 2pm that afternoon, but they had already decided to kill them. They didn't have a clue as to why they were being taken, and not once did they let them see their family before their execution."
Lawmaker Yoo confessed, "When I look at what Park Geun-hye (presidential candidate of the Saenuri Party) is doing, I think she is worse than the Japanese who argue to cancel the statement by their former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, claiming that there is no evidence that the comfort women were mobilized by force."
He questioned Park Geun-hye, "And you say you want to meet the family of the deceased members involved in the People's Revolutionary Party incident? You want to meet the family, while you go and kill the victims twice? And you dare say…" Yoo could not continue for some time.
Yoo, whose eyes were red, breathed deeply as if trying to keep from shedding tears and continued his statement, "You say you are sorry for the people who suffered while your father was president? Park is saying she is sorry while she is digging up the dead and killing them once again. We cannot overlook this kind of statement from Park Geun-hye."
When lawmaker Yoo barely finished his statement, the solemn meeting room burst into applause.
Yoo was sentenced to death for his involvement in the Democratic Youth and Students' Association incident in 1974; the Park Chung-hee government labeled the organization as an anti-government organization. He was acquitted after 38 years at a retrial in February.
Yeo Jeong-nam was one of eight people, who were executed for their involvement in the People's Revolutionary Party incident. In a retrial in 2007, the court acquitted all eight members.
Members related to the People's Revolutionary Party incident on trial under the Yushin Constitution. The Kyunghyang Shinmun file photo
