Marking the 66th anniversary of the April 19 Revolution, President Lee Jae-myung additionally honored 70 meritorious persons and said, "The government will continue to find, honor, record, and show respect to every single person who sacrificed for democracy in this land, including the April 19 Revolution."
At the April 19 Revolution commemoration ceremony held on the morning of the 19th, Lee said, "On the occasion of the 66th anniversary of the April 19 Revolution, our government newly honored a total of seventy people, including five who are here with us today."
Lee said, "We will also further strengthen and carefully provide urgent medical support for elderly April 19 Revolution honorees," adding, "Beyond the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, we will do our part so that the April 19 spirit, now a legacy of the world, takes deeper root in our society and is remembered as hope for future generations."
He also said, "The popular sovereignty government will never forget that the special sacrifice and dedication for the community are firmly embedded in the foundation of the freedom, prosperity, and peace we now enjoy."
Lee said, "Because there was the April 19 spirit, which broke the chains of a razor-edged dictatorship and was born as the root of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, on a winter night in December 2024, the people of Korea were able to repel a night of insurrection," adding, "It must be ceaselessly proven that democracy is the most useful and rational system that can discover the potential and capabilities of each of the 52 million people, nurture happiness through each one's dreams, and make each life dignified."
He continued, "Only then can we prevent anti-democratic forces from ever again taking away our freedom and trampling on the precious daily lives of the people," adding, "It is difficult and arduous, but it is clear that on April 19, 66 years ago, our great people already showed what a better world looks like."
After mentioning poet Shin Dong-yeop's work "Away with the Shell," Lee said, "Even as time passes, vivid memories engraved in our hearts and minds have come together so that whenever politicians mired in selfish interests and partisan gains defy the people's will, the nation has been set upright and the course of history redirected," adding, "As one poet cried out, 'Away with the shell,' today we honor the noble will of the souls of the departed and remember the essence of politics left by the April 19 Revolution."