As his first official schedule since appointmen
Newly tapped Chief of Innovation Ihn Yohan of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) said on October 25 that he will visit the National Cemetery for Victims of Democracy Movement in 1980 in te Gwangju City as his first official schedule in a show of commitment to promote national unity.
Ihn Yohan, a naturalized medical doctor of American descent, was named earlier this week to head the PPP's innovation committee, a surprise decision that reflects the urgency of reforms after the party's crushing defeat in a local by-election earlier this month.
The committee has yet to take off as its members have not been named yet.
"When the members of the committee are decided around next week, I will bring them to the May 18th cemetery. It seems like an appropriate start," Ihn told reporters as he entered the PPP's headquarters.
Ihn's decision to visit the May 18 National Cemetery in Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul, as his first schedule is seen as an effort to promote national unity and change within the PPP so as to regain public trust in the party.
Gwangju and the surrounding Jeolla provinces are the traditional stronghold of the main opposition Democratic Party, and the bloody quelling of the 1980 uprising is a key source of negative sentiment in the region toward the PPP as the party is seen as rooted in the military dictatorship behind the crackdown that left about 200 people dead and thousands injured.
"Don't I have a different appearance? That is why I am here. I symbolize change," he said.
Ihn also vowed to have an "unconstrained" conversation with President Yoon Suk Yeol.
"I will talk in a candid and unconstrained manner not only with the party leader, but if I am given a chance, I will also talk with the president in an unconstrained manner," he said.
Critics have accused PPP leaders of blindly toeing the line of Yoon without saying what they have to say with regard to the way Yoon handles state affairs and other important issues.
Ihn, also known by his English name John A. Linton, has been a well-known doctor due to his unique background as South Korea's first special naturalized citizen, a descendant of an American missionary and his upbringing in South Jeolla Province, a traditional stronghold of the liberal bloc.
Political watchers say Ihn's planned visit to the cemetery resembles a move by Kim Chong-in, a senior member of the United Future Party, the PPP's former name, in 2020.
Back then, Kim offered flowers at the memorial and knelt in silent reflection for about 15 seconds, becoming the first leader of a conservative party to do so at the cemetery.