To many, the third of April may just be another day, but to the locals of Jeju, the date brings with it many painful memories. The 4.3 incident, otherwise known as the Jeju uprising, was a revolution that happened on Jeju Island between April 1948 and May 1949.
Many locals banded together then to campaign against the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK), in a bid to stop what they believed was the division of their country. However, these series of protests kept getting progressively more violent and culminated in the 4.3 incident earning another name – the Jeju massacre. Many of the rebel leaders were later murdered in the Korean War, leading to the event being censored and repressed for multiple decades before finally coming to light in October of 2003.
Though this incident has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many locals, many artists have turned to art and performance to remember and honour the loss.
This year, the Culture and Arts Foundation of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province has announced specially planned performances in honour of the 77th anniversary of the incident.
Plays like “Reincarnation Exorcism (gut)” where Kim Yoon Hee desperately tries to reincarnate an unwilling Byeon Mi Hwa, and “Talking To You” where the story of the 4.3 incident is retold from the view of a mere child will be showing on the fourth and fifth of April and the eleventh and twelfth of April at the Jeju Cultural Assocition’s mall theatre respectively.
Artist Oh Myeong Sik will also be holding an exhibition titled “Calling Jeju 4.3 With Deep Longing”, presenting more than 20 of his works in memory of the uprising.
Source: Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Blog, March 26, 2025
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