Bak Jong-cheol (April 1, 1965 – January 14, 1987
) was a
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n democracy movement activist.
Biography
In the 1980s, as president of the student council in the linguistics department of
Seoul National University
Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three " ...
, he was one of activists in universities struggling against
Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah as president of South Korea from 1980 to 198 ...
's dictatorship and the aftermath of the 1980
Gwangju Massacre
The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980, which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (M ...
. Detained during an investigation into such activities, Park refused to confess the whereabouts of one of his fellow activists. During the interrogation, authorities used
waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboard ...
techniques to torture him,
eventually leading to his death on 14 January.
Information surrounding the events of Bak Jong-cheol's death was initially suppressed. His death by torture helped spark the
June Democracy Movement
The June Democratic Struggle (), also known as the June Democracy Movement and June Democratic Uprising, was a nationwide pro-democracy movement in South Korea that generated mass protests from June 10 to June 29, 1987. The demonstrations force ...
of 1987.
His death, including the events of its immediate aftermath, was subject of the movie ''
1987: When the Day Comes''.
See also
*
June Struggle
References
External links
Martyr for Democracy Bak Jongcheol Memorial Association
1964 births
1987 deaths
South Korean democracy activists
Korean torture victims
People from Busan
People executed by torture
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