Memorial Tower for 4.19 sacrifices and 4.19 spiritual grave for the sacrifices.

The 4.19 Revolution Memorial Tower was built with the voluntary donations of Busan citizens. It honors the noble spirit of sacrifice of the victims of the April 19 Revolution, who stood against the unjust power of Syngman Rhee’s dictatorial regime in 1960.
The righteous spirit of the 4.19 victims' democratic struggle continued through the Buma Democratic Protests, the May 18 Democratic Uprising, and the June Democratic Uprising.
In 2007, to mark the 20th anniversary of the June Democratic Uprising, the April Democratic Revolution Memorial Tower and the Memorial Enshrinement Site were established together at the 4.19 Square. This square will enhance the pride of Busan citizens and serve as an experiential and educational site, preserving a proud history for future generations.

4.19 Democratic Struggle (1960)

Passing through the division of the Korean Peninsula and Korean War, President Lee’s government had forced down the democratic and nationalism power using terrorism, with the morality of Anti-communism and unification in the War against North Korea by connecting with pro-Japanese groups. In addition, the contradictions of the domestic economy that depended only on the support of America and the wealth of parasitic groups deepened.

On March 15, 1960, the youth and students rose up against the Liberal Party starting with momentum from the fraudulent election of the president and vice-president.
The students’ nationwide demonstrations, including the Daegu demonstrations on 28, Feb. and Busan and Masan demonstrations from March to 18 April led up to the ‘Bloody Tuesday’ of 4.19. To make matters worse, the corpse of Juyeul Kim, who stroked the phosgene bomb on his eye during the demonstration, floated on the shores of Masan, causing the flame of rage to spread out nationally. The huge scale of demonstrations had peaked and was forced down by police gunfire, resulting in the massive bloodshed that occurred on 19, April, 1960.

In Busan, students of KyungNam High School, Busan High School, Teresa Women’s Middle and High School as well as some university students and citizens joined the struggle on the morning of April, 19. Due to the firing by police, much blood was shed. Enraged citizens occupied and destroyed the Busanjin police station. President Lee’s government tried to cover up the incident of the resistance of the people, but 259 professors of each university nationwide demonstrated peacefully on the street with the slogan of “Reply to the blood of students” so that President Lee announced that he would resign from the presidency and finally end the autocratic era.

4.19 Square construction status

Construction of the Memorial Place and moved the Memorial Tower for the 4.19 Movement Sacrifices.

ㆍMemorial Tower for the 4.19 Movement Sacrifices
○ Purpose : Honor the sacrifices of the 19, April 1960 Movement (19 persons)
○ Location : Constructed in the square of Yongdusan Park in 1962, moved to Democracy Park on February 15, 2007.
○ Size : 11m Height, Stone construction
○ Responsibility : It was constructed with the donations of citizens under the responsibility of Kookje Daily News (Kookje Sinbo at that time)

ㆍMemorial Place for 4.19 Movement Sacrifices
○ Construction of the Memorial Place : Includes pictures of 33 people who died or were injured in the sacrifice in the size of 73㎡
○ Construction duration : From August 18, 2006 to February 15, 2007.

ㆍConstruction Status
- Historical building construction plan was decided on October 12, 2004
- Decided budget (1.5 Billion KRW) on December 18, 2004
- Construction started on August 18, 2006.
- Construction completed on February 15, 2007