A ceremony has been organized on Jeju Island to officially present the ‘Vietnam Pieta’ statue, a symbol of peace between Vietnam and South Korea.

The statue was unveiled during the formal ceremony in a press conference held at the St. Francis Peace Center on the South Korean island on Wednesday afternoon.

The event was attended by over 200 representatives of news outlets and media agencies in the East Asian country, the Korean-Vietnamese Peace Foundation, local religious groups, and residents on the island.

The ‘Vietnam Pieta’ is not only a symbol of peace and friendship between the two peoples but also an apology to the Vietnamese for the wounds inflicted by South Korean mercenaries during the war in Vietnam.

Speaking at the ceremony, Jung Seon Nye, president of the Korean-Vietnamese Peace Foundation, stated that it was necessary for similar meetings to be organized, creating the opportunity for the young generation to learn about Vietnam.

These gatherings would also help promote peace and heal the scars left by the war in the past, Jung continued.

During the event, Kim Seo Gyeong, one of the two creators of the artwork, shared some insight into the statue’s concept and its meaning with the participants.

The ceremony included several singing and dancing performances by Korean artists as a tribute to the Vietnamese war victims.

The statue takes the form of a mother embracing a little child, whose eyes are closed and whose hands are slightly clenched against his body, as if they were to protect him from the outside world.

Cast in bronze, the 150kg sculpture is 70cm wide and 150cm high, resting on a granite base weighing 450kg.

‘Vietnam Pieta’ is a tribute to the victims, especially young children, who were killed in the Korean troops’ massacre of villages in central Vietnam during the war, and carries a message of apology and repentance from the South Korean people.    

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