Gwangju Uprising
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Gwangju Democratization Movement, also known in South Korea as May 18 Democratization Movement (), was a series of student-led demonstrations that took place in
Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...
, South Korea, in May 1980, against the coup of
Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Prior to his accession to the presidency, he was the cou ...
. The uprising was violently suppressed by the
South Korean military The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the Military, armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel ...
. Prior to the uprising, at the end of 1979, the coup d'état of May Seventeenth resulted in the installation of
Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Prior to his accession to the presidency, he was the cou ...
as military dictator and the implementation of martial law. Following his ascent to power, Chun arrested opposition leaders, closed all universities, banned political activities, and suppressed the press. The uprising began when Chonnam National University students demonstrating against martial law were fired upon, killed, beaten and tortured by the South Korean military. Some Gwangju citizens took up arms and formed militias, raiding local police stations and armories, and were able to take control of large sections of the city before soldiers re-entered the city and suppressed the uprising. While the South Korean government claimed 165 people were killed in the massacre, scholarship on the massacre today estimates 600 to 2,300 victims. Under the military dictatorship of Chun, the South Korean government labelled the uprising as a "riot" and claimed that it was being instigated by "communist sympathizers and rioters" acting under the behest of the
North Korean government North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...
. In 1997, 18 May was established as a national day of commemoration for the massacre and a national cemetery for the victims was established. Later investigations confirmed the various atrocities that had been committed by the army. In 2011, the documents of Gwangju Uprising were listed on the UNESCO
Memory of the World Register UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction. It ca ...
. In contemporary
South Korean politics The politics of South Korea take place in the framework of a presidential system, presidential representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the President of South Korea, president is the head of state, and of a mult ...
, denial of the Gwangju Massacre is commonly espoused by conservative and far-right groups.


Background

The assassination of President Park Chung Hee on 26 October 1979 triggered a number of democracy movements that had previously been suppressed under Park's tenure. The abrupt end of Park's 18-year authoritarian rule left a power vacuum that created political and social instability. Park's successor,
Choi Kyu-hah Choi Kyu-hah (, ; July 16, 1919 – October 22, 2006) was a South Korean politician who served as the fourth president of South Korea from 1979 to 1980. An independent politician, he served as the prime minister under President Park Chung He ...
, had no real control over the government and
Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Prior to his accession to the presidency, he was the cou ...
, chief of the
Defense Security Command The Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC; ) is an intelligence organization of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. It was founded as the ''Army Counter Intelligence Corps'' (commonly known as CIC or KACIC; meaning: Special Operation Forces) ...
(DSC), was able to seize control of the military in the coup d'état of December Twelfth. At the time, both the military and Chun denied any political motivations behind the coup and Chun had no clear influence over domestic politics. In March 1980, the beginning of a new school year, professors and students who had been expelled for pro-democracy activity returned to university and formed student unions. These unions led nationwide demonstrations against
martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
and in support of democratization, free elections,
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
, labor rights, and
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...
. These protests culminated in the 15 May 1980 demonstration against martial law at
Seoul Station Seoul Station () is a major railway station in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The station is served by the Korail Intercity Lines and the commuter trains of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. Services KTX Seoul Station is the terminus of m ...
which involved 100,000 protesters. When the prime minister appealed for time to consider their demands, students returned to their campuses. On 16 May, opposition leaders
Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...
and
Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (, ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015), often referred to by his initials YS, was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, Kim spent almost 30 ye ...
held a joint press conference, echoing the students' demands. Beginning in February 1980, the army issued orders to a number of units to undergo severe riot control training, called "Loyalty Training" (). The training included harsh and unconscionable tactics, and was criticized as a factor behind the paratroopers' indiscriminate use of violence against the subsequent uprising. On 17 May 1980, Chun forced the Cabinet to extend martial law to the whole country and in the process closed universities, banned political activities, and further curtailed the press. To enforce martial law, troops were dispatched to the country's main cities, including
Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...
, the provincial capital of
South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (), formerly South Chŏlla Province, also known as Jeonnam (), is a province in the Honam, Honam region, South Korea, and the Provinces of Korea, southernmost province in mainland Korea. South Jeolla borders the provinces of ...
. The same day, the DSC raided a national conference of student union leaders who had gathered to discuss their plans following the 15 May demonstration. Twenty-six politicians, including opposition leader and future president
Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...
were also arrested on charges of instigating protests. Chun sought to minimize the scale of protests by cutting off all communication to and from
Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...
and used disinformation to depict the protests as the result of communist instigators. Gwangju was at the center of anti-government and pro-democracy demonstrations, as
Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...
was born in
South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (), formerly South Chŏlla Province, also known as Jeonnam (), is a province in the Honam, Honam region, South Korea, and the Provinces of Korea, southernmost province in mainland Korea. South Jeolla borders the provinces of ...
and over the years, build his political base there. Jeolla had historically been the target of exploitation because of its abundant natural resources and the region was associated with political dissent and liberal activism. Historically, the region was the site of the anti colonial
Donghak Peasant Revolution The Donghak Peasant Revolution () was a peasant revolt that took place between 11 January 1894 and 25 December 1895 in Korea. The peasants were primarily followers of Donghak, a Neo-Confucian movement that rejected Western technology and i ...
(1894–1895), the Gwangju Student Independence Movement (1929), and the
Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion The Yeosu-Suncheon rebellion, also known as the Yeo-Sun incident (Yeo-Sun an abbreviation of ''Yeosu'' and ''Suncheon''), was a rebellion that began in October 1948 and mostly ended by November of the same year. However, pockets of resistance l ...
(1948). Under the military dictatorship of Park Chung Hee from 1961 to 1979, the government favored the development of Park's native
Gyeongsang Province Gyeongsang Province (; ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Joseon Korea. Gyeongsang was located in southeastern Korea. The provincial capital of Gyeongsang was Daegu. The region was the birthplace of the kingdom of Silla, which unified Korea i ...
, while Jeolla Province was neglected. Among the protests against Chun's imposition of martial law, the protests in Gwangju were the most intense.


Uprising


18–21 May

On the morning of 18 May, students gathered at the gate of Chonnam National University to protest its closing. By 9:30 a.m., approximately 200 students had gathered in front of the school, opposed by 30 paratroopers. Sometime around 10 a.m., the soldiers charged against the students, moving the protest to downtown Gwangju, in front of the South Jeolla Province Provincial Office. Over the course of the day, the conflict broadened to around 2000 participants. Although local police had initially handled the protests, by 4 pm, paratroopers from the Republic of Korea Special Warfare Command (ROK-SWC) took over. The arrival of 686 soldiers from the 33rd and 35th battalions of the 7th Airborne Brigade marked the beginning of a brutal and infamous phase of suppression of the uprising.''History of the 5.18 Democratic Uprising'', Volume 1. The May 18 Memorial Foundation. Gwangju, 2008. pp. 236–239. . During this phase, South Korean soldiers indiscriminately clubbed demonstrators and bystanders. Soldiers used bayonets to attack, torture, and kill residents indiscriminately. Soldiers raided buildings unrelated to the demonstration, including hotels, cafés, and barbershops. The first known fatality was a 29-year-old deaf man named Kim Gyeong-cheol, who was clubbed to death despite being a bystander. The violent suppression of the protests by the ROK-SWC led the number of protesters to rapidly increase, exceeding 10,000 by 20 May. As the conflict escalated, the army opened fire on the citizens, killing an unknown number of protesters near Gwangju Station on 20 May. The same day, protesters burned down the local MBC television station, which had spread misinformation on the situation that had unfolded in Gwangju. Four policemen were killed at a police barricade near the Provincial Government Building after a car drove into them. On the night of 20 May, hundreds of taxis led a parade of buses, trucks, and cars to the Provincial Office in protest. These "drivers of democracy" showed up to support the demonstrators because of the brutality of the South Korean government. In response, soldiers fired tear gas on them, pulled them out of their vehicles, and beat them. This only led more drivers to join the protest. Many taxi drivers were assaulted while trying to transport the injured to the hospital. Some taxi drivers were shot after the drivers attempted to use the taxicabs as weapons or as barricades. The violence climaxed on 21 May. Some time around 1 p.m., the army fired on a crowd that had gathered in front of the South Jeolla Provincial Office building, causing numerous casualties. In response, some protesters raided the Reserve Force armories and police stations in nearby towns, arming themselves with M1 rifles and M1/M2 carbines. The militias also started to exercise caution against perceived North Korean provocateurs and raised placards reading "Don't misjudge, Northerners" (). Later that afternoon, gunfights between civilian militias and the army broke out in the Provincial Office Square. By 5:30 p.m., the militias had acquired two light machine guns and used them against the army, forcing them to retreat from the downtown area.


22–25 May


Blockade of Gwangju

By 22 May, all troops retreated to the rural outskirts outside of the city to wait for reinforcements. These reinforcements consisted of troops from the 3rd Airborne Brigade, the 11th Airborne Brigade, the 20th Mechanized Infantry Division, the 31st Infantry Division, and the Combat Arms Training Command (CATC; ). Reinforcements from the CATC primarily consisted of three subordinate units based in the unit's headquarters in Sangmudae: the Army Infantry School (), the Army Artillery School (), and the Army Armor School (). The army blocked all routes and communications from the city and fighting between militias and the army temporarily died down. On 23 May, soldiers fired at a bus that attempted to break out of the city in Jiwon-dong, killing 15 of the 18 passengers, and summarily executing two wounded passengers. On 24 May, two teenage boys, Jeon Jae-su and Bang Gwang-beom, attempted to swim across the Wonje reservoir, but the 11th Airborne Brigade Troopers opened fire and killed them. At 1:55 p.m., the South Korean military suffered the greatest number of casualties when troops from the 11th Airborne Brigade 63rd Special Operations Battalion and the CATC Army Infantry School Training Battalion mistakenly fired at each other in Songam-dong, resulting in the deaths of 13 soldiers. Troops from the 11th Airborne Brigade indiscriminately murdered unarmed civilians and residents near the village in Songam-dong and plundered nearby stores. Martial Law Command misinterpreted friendly fire at Songam-dong as the work of insurgents within the army, as the Airborne Brigade Troopers were using a different communications channel.


Settlement Committees

Meanwhile, in the liberated city of Gwangju, the Citizens' Settlement Committee and the Students' Settlement Committee were formed. The former was composed of about 20 preachers, lawyers, and professors and negotiated with the army, demanding the release of arrested citizens, compensation for victims, and the prohibition of retaliation in exchange for the disarmament of militias. The latter committee was formed by university students and took charge of funerals, public campaigns, traffic control, withdrawal of weapons, and medical aid. * Kim Jong-bae () - Chief Executive * Heo Kyu-jeong () - Secretary of Home Affairs * Jeong Sang-yong () - Secretary of External Affairs * Yoon Sang-won () - Spokesperson for Militia * Park Nam-sun () - Director of Militia Operations ** Yoon Seok-ru () - Militia QRF (
Quick Reaction Force A rapid reaction force / rapid response force (RRF), quick reaction force / quick response force (QRF), immediate reaction force (IRF), rapid deployment force (RDF), or quick maneuver force (QMF) is a military or Law enforcement agency, law enf ...
) Commander ** Lee Jae-ho () - Militia QRF Deputy Commander * Kim Jun-bong () - Director of Investigations * Gu Seong-ju () - Director of Provisions Supply Order in the city was well maintained, but negotiations came to a deadlock as the army urged the militias to immediately and unconditionally disarm themselves. This created division within the Settlement Committees between those who wanted immediate surrender and those who called for continued resistance until their demands were met. After heated debates, those calling for continued resistance eventually took control.


Protests in other regions

As the news of the bloody crackdown spread, protests against the government broke out in nearby regions, including in
Hwasun County Hwasun County () is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Anthem: Song of Citizens of Hwasun County Symbol * County Flower : Wild Chrysanthemum * County Tree : Zelkova Tree * County Bird : Dove History Before Hwasun became an admini ...
, Naju, Haenam County,
Mokpo Mokpo (; ) is the List of cities in South Korea, third largest and most densely populated city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, located at the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula, close to Yudal mountain. Mokpo has frequent high-speed ...
,
Yeongam County Yeongam () is a city and county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Bordered with Mokpo and Naju to the north, Jangheung County to the east, and Haenam and Gangjin to the south, Yeongam County comprises two '' eups'' and nine '' myeons'', po ...
,
Gangjin County Gangjin County () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Gangjin county proper was established in 1895. The county office is located in Gangjin-eup. The Gangjin Kiln Sites are a noted area f ...
, and
Muan County Muan County () is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. In 2005, Muan County became the capital of South Jeolla following the transfer of the provincial office from its previous location in Gwangju to the village of Namak in Muan. M ...
, all in South Jeolla. While protests ended peacefully in most regions, protests in Haenam ended in gunfights between armed protesters and troops. Most of these protests died down by 24 May, although protests in Mokpo continued until 28 May.


26 May

By 26 May, the army was ready to reenter Gwangju. Members of the Citizens' Settlement Committee unsuccessfully tried to block the army's advance by lying down in the streets. Following news of the imminent attack, civil militias gathered in the Provincial Office and made preparations to make a last stand.


27 May

On 27 May, at 4:00 a.m., the Martial Law Command executed Operation Sangmu-Chungjeong () to quell the protests. The operation mobilized members of the 3rd Airborne Brigade, the 7th Airborne Brigade, and the 11th Airborne Brigade Troopers, armed with M16A1 rifles and
stun grenade A stun grenade, also known as a flash grenade, flashbang, thunderflash, or sound bomb, is a Non-lethal weapon, non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient an enemy's senses. Upon detonation, a stun grenade produces Flash blindness, ...
s. The soldiers disguised themselves with flak vests, leaf camouflage helmets with white bands, and ordinary army infantryman combat uniforms that were missing insignias and patches. Three Airborne Brigades were the vanguard of the operation, while the 20th Mechanised Infantry Division and the 31st Infantry Division joined the operation as backup reinforcements. Troops from three subordinate units of the CATC, the Army Infantry School, the Army Artillery School, and the Army Armor School, maintained their positions in the blockade during the operation. The soldiers moved into the downtown and defeated the civil militias within 90 minutes.


Role of the police

The National Security Headquarters initially dealt with the protests, but were soon supplemented by paratroopers from the 7th Airborne Brigade, before being fully taken over and ordered to evacuate to allow the army. The police suffered some of the first casualties of the massacre when four policemen were killed during a car-ramming attack. However, the martial law forces were also not friendly to the local police of Gwangju. The Commissioner General of the Jeonnam Provincial Police, Ahn Byung-ha, refused to order the police to open fire on civilians as instructed by Chun Doo-hwan. As a result, he was replaced as police chief and was tortured by the Army Counterintelligence Corps, which caused his death eight years later. In addition, some paratroopers assaulted the police and some residents testified witnessing police officers being chased down by the military.


Casualties

There is no universally accepted death toll for the Gwangju Massacre. Records of death for the city in May 1980 were an estimated 2,300 above the historical averages and the death toll has been estimated to be anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000 people. Estimates for the number of civilians wounded also vary heavily, including figures anywhere from 1,800 to 3,500 people. Shortly after the massacre, the government's Martial Law Command released an official death toll at 144 civilians, 22 soldiers, and four police killed and 127 civilians, 109 troops and 144 police wounded. Individuals who attempted to dispute these figures were liable for arrest for "spreading false rumors". According to the May 18 Family Association, at least 165 people died between 18 and 27 May, while another 76 are still missing and presumed dead. Twenty-two soldiers and four policemen were killed during the massacre, including 13 soldiers who were killed by friendly fire at Songam-dong. The number of police casualties is likely to be higher, due to reports of police officers being killed by soldiers for releasing captured protesters.


Aftermath

The government denounced the uprising as a rebellion instigated by
Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...
and his followers. Kim was convicted and sentenced to death, although his sentence was reduced following the intervention of U.S. Presidents
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
and
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
. A total of 1,394 people were arrested for their involvement in the Gwangju Uprising, and 427 were indicted. Seven people received death sentences and twelve received life sentences. Estimates following the massacre suggested that more than 200,000 people participated in the uprising, facing roughly 3,000 paratroopers and 18,000 police officers. Handcarts and garbage trucks carried 137 bodies from the massacre to the Old Mangweol-dong Cemetery on the outskirts of Gwangju. The state established the New Mangweol-dong Cemetery to commemorate Gwangju's history. The Gwangju Uprising has had a profound impact on South Korean politics. Chun Doo-hwan, who was already unpopular because of his military coup, faced threats to his legitimacy following the dispatch of Special Forces paratroopers against demonstrators in Gwangju. The movement preceded other democratic movements during the late 1980s that pressured the regime into democratic reforms and paved the way for the election of President Kim Dae-jung in 1997, the first opposition candidate to win the office. In 1995, in response to public pressure, the National Assembly passed the Special Law on May 18 Democratization Movement, which enabled the prosecution of those responsible for the Coup d'état of December Twelfth and the suppression of the Gwangju Uprising even though the statute of limitations had been exceeded. On 3 December 1995, Chun, his ally and former President
Roh Tae-woo Roh Tae-woo (, ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean army general and politician who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. In 1987, he became the first president to be directly elected under the cur ...
, and 15 others were arrested on charges of conspiracy and insurrection. On 26 August 1996, the Seoul District Court issued a death sentence to both Chun, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and a fine of . Former President Roh Tae-Woo, was sentenced to 22.5 years, which was reduced to 17 years on appeal. On 17 April 1997, the judgment was accepted by the
Supreme Court of Korea The Supreme Court of Korea () is the highest ordinary court in the judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Seocho, Seoul. Established under Chapter 5 of the Constitution of South Korea, the court has ultimate and comprehensive jurisdictio ...
. Chun was officially convicted of leading an insurrection, conspiracy to commit insurrection, taking part in an insurrection, illegal troop movement orders, dereliction of duty during martial law, murder of superior officers, attempted murder of superior officers, murder of subordinate troops, leading a rebellion, conspiracy to commit rebellion, taking part in a rebellion, and murder for the purpose of rebellion, as well as assorted crimes relating to bribery. However, on 22 December 1997, all of the people convicted in the trials were pardoned in the name of national reconciliation by President
Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (, ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015), often referred to by his initials YS, was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, Kim spent almost 30 ye ...
on the advice of President-elect
Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...
. Starting in 2000, the May 18 Memorial Foundation has offered an annual Gwangju Prize for Human Rights to notable defenders of human rights, in memory of the massacre. On 25 May 2011, the documents of the Gwangju Uprising were listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. Following its inclusion, the Gwangju Metropolitan City government established May 18 Archives and passed the Management Act on the Archives of May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. Between 2014 and 2015, the Gwangju Metropolitan City government also re-modeled the former Gwangju Catholic center building to conserve its former state.


Role of North Korea

The military dictatorship then and conservative presidential administrations since have long asserted that the uprising was secretly organized by North Korean military officers and was therefore a communist-backed uprising that deserved to be put down with force. However, subsequent declassified U.S. diplomatic and military intelligence cables repudiated any notion of North Korean involvement. Communications intercepts uncovered that the North Korean leadership intended to intervene should the protests develop into a nationwide popular revolt and South Korea be engulfed in revolution, but would remain neutral otherwise. U.S. officials came to the conclusion that the Gwangju protests were an indigenous uprising orchestrated without any foreign involvement, but needed to be put down for domestic and international stability.


Anti-Americanism

The 1980s marked a surge in
Anti-American sentiment in Korea Anti-American sentiment in Korea began with the earliest contact between the two nations and continued after the division of Korea and Korean War. Despite this, , 74% of South Koreans have a favorable view of the U.S., making it one of the most p ...
, widely traced to the United States' support for Chun's government and its involvement in the suppression of the Gwangju Uprising. According to Bruce Cumings:
Gwangju convinced a new generation of young oreansthat the democratic movement had developed not with the support of Washington, as an older generation of more conservative Koreans thought, but in the face of daily American support for any dictator who could quell the democratic aspirations of the Korean people. The result was an anti-American movement in the 1980s that threatened to bring down the whole structure of American support for the ROK. American cultural centers were burned to the ground (more than once in Gwangju); students immolated themselves in protest of Reagan's support for Chun.
Fundamental to these beliefs are the perception of U.S. complicity in Chun's rise to power and in the Gwangju Massacre. Although William H. Gleysteen, then U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, stated in a letter to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that the United States authorized the Republic of Korea Army's 20th Division to retake Gwangju and restore martial law, the United States government has denied these claims. The United States has consistently denied any foreknowledge of the unit's deployment, and has stated that the U.S. government would regardless have no right to interfere in the actions of the South Korean government.


Re-evaluation

At the Mangwol-dong cemetery in Gwangju, survivors of the demonstrations and bereaved families have held an annual memorial service, called the May Movement, on the anniversary of the massacre. Many pro-democracy demonstrations in the 1980s demanded official recognition of the massacre and punishment for those responsible. The first official re-evaluation of the massacre began after the reinstatement of direct presidential elections in 1987. In 1988, the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
held a public hearing on the uprising, officially renaming the events to the "Gwangju Uprising" or the "Gwangju People's Uprising".


Developments from 1997 to 2013

In 1997, 18 May was declared an official memorial day. In 2002, a law privileging bereaved families took effect, and the Mangwol-dong cemetery was elevated to the status of a national cemetery. On 18 May 2013, President
Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until Impeachment of Park Geun-hye, she was removed from office in 2017. Park was the first and to date only woman ...
attended the 33rd anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising and stated, "I feel the sorrow of family members and the city of Gwangju every time I visit the National May 18 Cemetery", and that "I believe achieving a more mature democracy is a way to repay the sacrifice paid by those illed in the massacre"


2017 investigation

In May 2017, newly elected South Korean President
Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...
announced his plans to re-open investigations into the South Korean government's role in the suppression of the uprising. In February 2018, it was revealed for the first time that the army had used McDonnell Douglas MD 500 Defender and
Bell UH-1 Iroquois The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered hel ...
helicopters to fire on civilians. Defense Minister Song Young-moo delivered an apology. On 7 November 2018, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo issued another apology for the South Korean military's role in suppressing the uprising and acknowledged that soldiers had engaged in acts of sexual violence during the crackdown. In May 2019, Kim Yong-Jang, a former intelligence officer at the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade of the U.S. Army testified that Chun Doo-hwan personally ordered troops to shoot protesters based on the intelligence he saw at the time. According to Kim, Chun secretly came to Gwangju on 21 May 1980, by helicopter to meet four military leaders including commander of special operations Chung Ho-Yong and colonel of the Gwangju 505 security unit Lee Jae-woo. Kim also testified that there were undercover soldiers among the Gwangju citizens acting as
agents provocateurs An is a person who actively entices another person to commit a crime that would not otherwise have been committed and then reports the person to the authorities. They may target individuals or groups. In jurisdictions in which conspiracy is a ...
aiming to discredit the movement. These soldiers were "in their 20s and 30s with short hair, some wearing wigs" and "their faces were burnt and some wore worn-out clothes".


2020 Truth Commission

In May 2020, 40 years after the uprising, the independent May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Commission was launched to investigate the crackdown and the use of military force. Under legislation passed in 2018, it operated for two more years, with a one-year extension allowed if necessary. In an interview marking the massacre's 40th anniversary and following
Democratic Party of Korea Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
's landslide victory in the
2020 South Korean legislative election Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 15 April 2020. All 300 members of the National Assembly were elected, 253 from first-past-the-post constituencies and 47 from proportional party lists. They were the first elections held under ...
, President Moon announced his support for inscribing the historic value and significance of the Gwangju Uprising in a new constitution of South Korea.


May 18 Special Act

With its new three-fifths majority in the National Assembly, the Democratic Party implemented a series of reforms in December 2020, including revisions to the May 18 Special Act to penalize those involved in making false claims about the Gwangju Uprising.


U.S. involvement

Documents available since 1996 describe how, after a White House Meeting on May 22, the U.S. commander in Korea released Korean troops from the U.S.-South Korean joint command to retake the city of Gwangju. The Pentagon also asked for a delay on the final assault in order to dispatch additional support planes to the peninsula. Declassified
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...
documents in July 2021, requested by the South Korean government, revealed that the U.S. ambassador William H. Gleysteen was informed by the Chief Presidential Secretary Choi Kwang-soo of the plans for an army crackdown a day before it took place. The released documents showed that Gleysteen expressed Washington's concerns over growing anti-American sentiment in the Gwangju area, amid broadcasts asserting that the U.S. was involved in the military crackdown. Prior to the declassification, the notion of American foreknowledge and involvement in the Gwangju Massacre had been officially denied by the United States. The massacre was not carried out in collusion between the U.S. and the South Korean military regime. The U.S. was not involved in the massacre. At the time, Chun Doo-hwan's military regime, in an attempt to justify the violent crackdown, falsely labeled the pro-democracy protesters—who had no ties to North Korea—as a pro-communist rebellion and deceived the public by claiming that the military regime had the support of the U.S. government.


In popular culture


Literature

* ''
Dance Dance Revolution (''DDR'') is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, ''Dance Dance Revolution'' is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance ...
'' (2007), a poem by Cathy Park Hong * ''There a Petal Silently Falls: Three Stories'' (2008) by
Choe Yun Choe Hyeon-mu (; born 1953), better known by her pen name Choe Yun (), is a South Korean writer, translator, and professor of French literature. Life Choe was born in Seoul in 1953. She received her Ph.D. from Sogang University, graduating in ...
* ''The Old Garden'' (2009), a novel by
Hwang Sok-yong Hwang Sok-yong (born January 4, 1943) is a South Korean novelist. Biography Hwang was born in Xinjing (today Changchun), Manchukuo, during the period of Japanese rule. His family returned to Korea after liberation in 1945. He later obtai ...
* ''The Seed of Joy'' (2015), a novel by William Amos * '' Human Acts'' (2016), a novel by Han Kang


Compositions

* "Exemplum in memoriam Kwangju" for orchestra by
Isang Yun Isang Yun, or Yun I-sang (; 17 September 1917 – 3 November 1995), was a Korean-born composer who made his later career in West Germany. Early life and education Yun was born in Sancheong (Sansei), Korea under Japanese rule, Korea in 1917, ...
* 518-062 by Gloss and Naksyeon of D-Town (2010)


Television

* '' Sandglass'' (1995) * '' 5th Republic'' (2005) * '' Youth of May'' (2021)


Film

* (1991) * '' A Petal'' (1996), adapted from the short story "There a Petal Silently Falls" by Choe Yun * ''Peppermint Candy'' (1999) * ''The Old Garden'' (2006), adapted from the novel "The Old Garden" by Hwang Sok-yong * ''May 18'' (2007) * ''Sunny'' (2011) * '' 26 Years'' (2012), based on the 2006
manhwa Manhwa () is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to Korean comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. These comics have branched outside of Korea by acce ...
by Kang Full * ''National Security'' (2012) * ''
The Attorney ''The Attorney'' () is a 2013 South Korean legal drama film directed and co-written by Yang Woo-suk in his directorial debut. With 11,375,954 tickets sold and a revenue of , ''The Attorney'' became the 15th-best-selling Korean film of all time a ...
'' (2013) * '' 1987: When the Day Comes'' (2017) * ''Excavator'' (2017) * '' A Taxi Driver'' (2017) * '' The Man Standing Next'' (2020) * ''Hunt'' (2022) * ''Swallow'' (2022) by Lee Song-hee-il


Music videos

* "That's My Fault" and "It's Over" by
Speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...
, featuring Kang Min-kyung and Park Bo-young, respectively * "May" by Wings of the ISANG


See also

* Busan–Masan Uprising *
Busan American Cultural Service building arson The 1982 Pusan arson attack or Pusan American Council Fire Accidents () was an Anti-American sentiment in Korea, anti-American attack against the United States Information Agency, United States Information Service building in Busan, Pusan on 18 ...
* Gukpung 81 * * June Democratic Struggle * Jürgen Hinzpeter * May 18 Memorial Foundation


Footnotes


Citations


References

* *


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


The May 18 Memorial Foundation
(in Korean and English)
1980: The Kwangju uprising
nbsp;– article with comments on the self-administration people developed.
Kwangju: Citizen's response to state violence
(AHRC HRCS Educational Module)
Kwangju: People's perseverance in seeking justice
(AHRC HRCS Educational Module) * (by Sanjeewa Liyanage)


"Lingering legacy of Korean massacre"
BBC News, 18 May 2005.
"May 18 Documents - U.S. Embassy & Consulate in the Republic of Korea"

"United States Government Statement on the Events in Kwangju, Republic of Korea, in May 1980"
, 19 June 1989
Hwaryeohan Hyuga (A Magnificent Holiday)
nbsp;– official website for the 2007 movie about the Gwangju Uprising
"Ex-Leaders Go On Trial In Seoul"
nbsp;– A 27 February 1996 review of the Cherokee Files (contemporaneous with ex-presidents Chun and Roh's trials)


Facebook memorial page
(in Korean) {{Authority control 1980 in South Korea 1980 murders in South Korea Conflicts in 1980 Mass murder in 1980 May 1980 in Asia 20th-century rebellions Protests in South Korea Massacres committed by South Korea Chun Doo-hwan Fourth Republic of Korea Right-wing terrorism Far-right politics in South Korea Filmed killings History of Gwangju Human rights abuses in South Korea Political repression in South Korea Massacres of protesters in Asia Social movements in South Korea South Korean democracy movements Student protests in South Korea Urban warfare Fifth Republic of Korea United States military scandals in South Korea