On 41st anniversary of Gwangju Uprising, democracy, unity are key values

The family members of the victims, students and politicians came together to remember Gwangju's fallen martyrs

People Power Party lawmakers Sung Il-jong (left) and Chung Woon-chun (middle) console a woman who lost a family member in the Gwangju Uprising in 1980 at a commemorative service held for the victims at the May 18 National Cemetery, on Monday. (Yonhap News)

The May 18 Bereaved Family Association held a commemorative ceremony to mark the 41st anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising.

Chung Woon-chun and Sung Il-jong, two lawmakers from the conservative People Power Party, attended the ceremony, the first time members of one of the country’s conservative parties were invited by the May 18 Bereaved Family Association to participate in the ceremony.

Kim Young-hun, the head of the family association, noted during a speech at the ceremony that “Despite the passage of 41 years, the truth of May 18 has still not completely been uncovered. Both ruling and opposition party members, along with the entire Korean people, need to come together to help uncover the truth of that day.”

The ceremony, which is conducted one day before the official commemoration of the Gwangju Democratization Movement on May 18, is held each year to console the spirits of Gwangju Uprising victims who are buried in the cemetery.

Chung was invited to the ceremony after supporting the passage of law regarding the “respectful treatment” of victims of the May 18 uprising and the establishment of May 18-related groups as civic organizations.

“Thank you for inviting me to this commemoration ceremony. I hope that this ceremony moves us one step forward to integrating our country,” he said.

Sung, for his part, said that “Without the sacrifices of [the people of] Gwangju, we would not have been able to live freely” and that “The People Power Party will work hard to embrace the people of Gwangju and Jeolla Province in the future.”

On Monday, a ceremony celebrating the eve of the May 18 commemoration day was held. The ceremony expressed support for current democracy struggles in Asia, including those in Myanmar and Hong Kong, and plays and other performances were held to recreate and honor the Gwangju Uprising. A group of performers also traveled to Gwangju to perform the musical “Les Misérables,” set during the French Revolution.

Ceremonies commemorating the 41st anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising were also held in various parts of South Jeolla Province, including Mokpo, Naju, Hwasun, and Yeongam. One such ceremony was held Monday on the square in front of the South Jeolla Provincial Office in Muan County.

“People from areas around South Jeolla Province, such as Mokpo, Naju, Hwasun, and Yeongam, picked up their weapons and joined the protests to show solidarity and support the people of Gwangju as they resisted the military junta behind the coup,” said Moon Gyeong-sik, head of the planning committee.

“Let’s carry on the Jeolla tradition of courageously rising up at every crisis in our modern history,” Moon said.

Fifteen members of the student council at Uiduk University, in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, visited Gwangju on Monday to apologize on behalf of a professor at their university who’d made offensive remarks about the Gwangju Uprising having been a “crime perpetrated by the North Korean military.” The students visited May 18 Freedom Park, the former site of the stockade at the Sangmudae military base, and paid their respects at the May 18 National Cemetery.

The city of Daegu will be commemorating the Gwangju Uprising by displaying posters on the front of buses in its No. 518 line, a nod to May 18, when the uprising began. Some of the messages are “Daegu and Gwangju seek synergy through their ‘Moonlight Alliance,’” “The Gwangju Democratization Movement brought unity through peace,” and “Their two democracy movements unify Daegu and Gwangju.”

The final message refers to the Daegu Democracy Movement, which consisted of student protests that began on Feb. 28, 1960.

Turn Right, a conservative group, holds a protest Monday demanding the South Korean government disclose a list of persons of merit from the May 18 Democratization Movement [in 1980], with a banner containing images of current and former lawmakers with the Democratic Party. (Kim Yong-hee/The Hankyoreh)

Korea’s political parties also conveyed various messages on the anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising.

“We recall the sacrifices of all those who died while fighting to the last to defend democracy at the provincial office. The Gwangju Uprising represents the strength that preserves democracy in Korea,” Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil said during a meeting of the party’s supreme council.

“When we amend the constitution, the spirit of the Gwangju Uprising needs to appear in the preamble. I hope that that amendment, when it happens, will enshrine the Gwangju Uprising as a historical legacy to be proudly upheld alongside the April Revolution,” said Kim Eun-hye, a lawmaker with the People Power party.

The April Revolution was a popular uprising in 1960 that ended with the resignation of Syngman Rhee.

Yoo Seong-min, a presidential hopeful for the opposition, took the occasion to criticize the ruling party. “The spirit of the Gwangju Uprising represents the spirit of democracy and republicanism that appear in Article 1 of our constitution. That spirit has been damaged over the past four years by President Moon Jae-in and his Democratic Party.”

By Kim Yong-hee, Gwangju correspondent

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