KO Hee-bum was born in Jeju City and served as the CEO of Hankyoreh Newspaper, served as the chairman of the Jeju4·3 Research Institute, and co-representative of the Jeju4·3 Truth and Honor Restoration Promotion Committee, and devoted himself to the truth and honor recovery of Jeju4·3. After serving as secretary-general of the Korea Energy Foundation, he served as mayor of Jeju City and contributed greatly to the development of Jeju City. He is currently the chairman of the Jeju4·3 Peace Foundation. Many books, including 『The Road and the Road』 (2009), and 『This is Jeju』 (2013) have been published.