Tag: Gwangju Uprising

Here is the latest virtue signaling over the Gwangju Uprising:

The Army said Tuesday it has revoked 33 commendations that were awarded to soldiers in the name of an Army chief for their roles in a bloody crackdown during the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju.

The move is the latest in a series of military efforts to address past wrongdoing by the troops during the brutal crackdown on civilians who rose up against the military junta, led by then Army Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, in the nine-day revolt.

Chun seized power through a coup on Dec. 12, 1979, and ultimately became president in August 1980.

After a review of the commendations related to the Gwangju crackdown operations, the Army found a total of 33 troops had received commendations, Bae Seok-jin, the Army spokesperson, said in a press briefing. 

“The Army decided to revoke the 33 commendations at a merit review committee on April 28,” Bae said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This year is the 45th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising and an American who played a role in this important event in Korea’s history was recently recognized for it:

On May 14, the city of Gwangju conferred honorary citizenship on David Dolinger (Im Dae-eun), a former U.S. Peace Corps volunteer who played a critical role during the Gwangju Uprising that began on May 18, 1980. The recognition is one of the highest civic honors Gwangju can bestow, and it is an exceedingly rare one for a foreign national who directly participated in the city’s darkest and most defiant chapter, one that led the way to democratic freedom.

“I have been applauded for what I did in May of 1980 and in subsequent years concerning 5.18, Korean human rights and Korean democracy,” Dolinger told the audience at the ceremony. “But I have not done enough and I will never be able to do enough. I wish I had been smarter, braver, more aware and a little more of everything.” (………..)

In 1978, Dolinger, then in his 20s, was stationed in Yeongam County, South Jeolla Province, as a Peace Corps volunteer. “Forty-five years ago, I was working in the health center as a TB control worker,” he reflected in his lecture. “My biggest concern was traveling to a wedding the coming weekend, and I had no idea how within a few days my life was going to change.”

As the situation escalated, he chose to return to Gwangju, not knowing that some 20,000 martial law troops were flooding into the city. Inside the South Jeolla Provincial Hall, he assisted in monitoring martial law radio transmissions in case attack orders were made in English. He also served as an interpreter, mediating between the militia and the foreign press, helping convey the words of movement leaders, such as Yoon Sang-won, to an international audience.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is good politics by President Yoon to try and take the Gwangju issue away from the Korean left:

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a ceremony in the southwestern city of Gwangju on May 18, 2023, to mark the 43rd anniversary of a pro-democracy uprising. The Gwangju May 18 National Cemetery honors hundreds of people who were killed in the city during protests against the military junta of Chun Doo-hwan in May 1980. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Thursday to courageously stand against any challenges to freedom and democracy by upholding the spirit of a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju.

Yoon made the remark during a ceremony marking the 43rd anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement, in Gwangju, some 267 kilometers southeast of Seoul, which was attended by a large number of lawmakers from the rival parties and families of the victims.

“If we do not forget and inherit the May spirit, we must boldly fight against all of the forces and challenges threatening freedom and democracy and have such practical courage,” Yoon said during the ceremony held at the May 18th National Cemetery.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this time of the year is when I recommend people read the book by Linda Lewis, Laying Claim to the Memory of May that discusses her experiences being in Gwangju when the uprising happened.

This is actually smart move by President Yoon to try and de-politicize the Gwangju Uprising issue from the liberals:

President Yoon Suk-yeol and some 100 lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) traveled to the southwestern city of Gwangju on Wednesday and paid their respects to the victims of the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in an unprecedented outreach to the home turf of the main opposition party.

The civil revolt, in which Gwangju citizens rose up against the then military junta led by late former President Chun Doo-hwan, has long been associated with the liberal opposition Democratic Party (DP), and the conservative party has kept a distance from it amid perceptions its roots have ties to Chun.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This doesn’t seem to be anything new from this document release that most people didn’t already know:

The martial law commander at the time of South Korea’s 1980 pro-democracy uprising warned the then-U.S. ambassador that the country could end up a communist nation like Vietnam unless the revolt was quelled, declassified U.S. documents showed Friday.

The commander, Gen. Lee Hui-sung, also tried to justify the martial law’s expansion during the meeting with Ambassador William Gleysteen on the day of the revolt, claiming the growing influence of communist thinking spreading amongst young students was posing threats to South Korea’s security, according to the documents.

It was when Gen. Chun Doo-hwan was effectively in control of South Korea after taking power in a military coup following the assassination of strongman President Park Chung-hee the previous year at the hands of his own spy chief.

On May 18, 1980, citizens in the southwestern city of Gwangju rose up against Chun, and his military junta sent paratroopers and ruthlessly cracked down on the nine-day revolt, leaving more than 200 people killed and 1,800 others wounded. 

“He justified expanded martial law as necessary to deter a danger which had become an unacceptable threat to the survival of the ROK,” Gleysteen said in a telegram to the State Department, referring to South Korea by its official name, Republic of Korea. 

“The rampant growth of communist thinking among students and radical tendencies within the student movement posed the likelihood of massive disorders which the government could not control without undermining the country’s external security,” he said. “If they were not controlled, Lee feared the ROK would be communized in a manner similar to Vietnam.” 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this document release just further validates that the Chun Doo-hwan government was trying to make the case to the U.S. that the uprising was a threat to the external security of the government. Whether the uprising really was an external security threat is still hotly debated to this day.

President Moon has found time to attend an anniversary event for the Gwangju uprising, I wonder if he will find time to attend a memorial event next month for the 13 ROK Sailors killed in the 2002 West Sea Naval Battle by North Korea?:

President Moon Jae-in called for an end to wasteful political strife over the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju, Saturday, saying the country still owes a huge debt to the residents of the city. 

Attending the 39th anniversary of the movement against the then military junta led by Chun Doo-hwan, he offered an apology, as the country’s sitting president, for the many deaths that resulted in the brutal crackdown that followed. 

He lamented continued reckless remarks by some politicians and scholars to distort or play down the truth behind the historic event, officially named the Gwangju Democratization Movement.

“As a Korean, I feel tremendous shame when facing the reality of preposterous remarks denying and insulting the May 18 Democratization Movement still being uttered out loud without any hesitation,” he said in a speech at the ceremony held in the city, 268 kilometers south of Seoul.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if President Moon will say he feels “tremendous shame” about the “preposterous remarks” by those that deny that North Korea sunk the ROK naval ship the Cheonan killing 46 sailors back in 2010. The memorial service was in March and President Moon did not attend.

As far as the Gwangju Uprising, I always recommend people read Linda Lewis’, Laying Claim to the Memory of May: A Look Back at the 1980 Kwangju Uprising for a good analysis of what happened back in 1980.

There's a lot more than the current narrative on 5.18 Gwangju, but there has been consistent, strong & even hostile opposition to discussing it. They even expeled a lawmaker from a party because he said he wants to restore honor to the troops by talking about other perspectives. https://t.co/SbR7Qh3pJ1

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) February 20, 2019