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.
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 (3rd from L) participates in singing the song “March for the Beloved” symbolizing a 1980 pro-democracy uprising during a memorial ceremony at a national cemetery in the southwestern city of Gwangju on May 18, 2022, to mark the 42nd anniversary of the democracy movement that took place in the city. (Yonhap)
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.
Street march ahead of pro-democracy uprising anniv. Citizens march along the main street in Gwangju, 329 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on May 16, 2020, ahead of the 40th anniversary of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising. They carried huge dolls that were made in commemoration of the sacrifice of victims of the Gwangju uprising in 1980. (Yonhap)
This doesn’t seem to be anything new from this document release that most people didn’t already know:
Citizens stage a massive rally on a street in the southwestern city of Gwangju on May 18, 1980, urging the military junta led by then-Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power through an internal coup after the assassination of President Park Chung-hee, to step down.
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.”
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.
Preparations for anniv. of pro-democracy uprising Preparations are under way in front of the former provincial government building of South Jeolla Province in Gwangju on May 16, 2020, ahead of a ceremony on Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement that unfolded in Gwangju. (Yonhap)
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.
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.
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
Dr. Tara O over at the East Asia Research Center has another very interesting article published about how government compensation payments to “meritorious persons” from the Gwangju Uprising are so much higher than those given to Korean and Vietnam War veterans:
Youth march while holding sign: “Cancel the 5.18 extra points for civil servant employment”
The Gwangju Incident that began on May 18, 1980 is referred to as “5.18” in Korea. Those designated as 5.18 Yugogja (5.18 “Meritorious Persons”) and their families receive extensive benefits from the South Korean government. Unlike Korean War and Vietnam War veterans, whose status is determined by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans, the 5.18 Yugongja is determined in Gwangju. While technically it falls under the Prime Minister’s office, de facto, the process and the decisions are made at the local government level. However, it is the national government that pays the benefits.
Below is an excerpt of a chart that shows the differences in compensation. Click the link to see the full chart:
Besides the extreme difference in compensation here is what makes this issue even more controversial is that the lists keeps growing. Plus politically connected people who were not even at Gwangju are now being selected as “meritorious persons” and getting the free cash and benefits:
For an event that occurred 39 years ago, it seems the number of 5.18 Yugongja should fall over time. However, the number has been increasing, especially in recent years. In 1990, the first year the 5.18 Yugongja designation occurred, the number was 2,224. As of August 2018, the number was 4,403. In 2017, the number was 4,377, so it has increased by 26 in 8 months. How is this possible?
It includes even those who were not present in Gwangju. National Assemblyman Lee Hae-chan, the leader of the Deoburreo Minju Party, publicly admitted, “I became a Gwangju democracy Movement Yugongja, although I hadn’t even gone to Gwangju (then).” (0:30). Lee Hae-chan was the former Prime Minister under Rho Moo-hyun and Education Minister under Kim Dae-jung. At least 30-40 other politicians are thought to be designated as 5.18 Yugongja.
This has caused conservative politicians to demand the release of the names of this growing list, but unlike the list of Korean and Vietnam War veterans this list is being kept secret. I think it is fair to say that certain people do not want the list released because it will show how it has become a way to reward politically connected people, thus why it keeps growing.
I am trying to think of an equivalent of politically connected corruption in the U.S. using a national medal of designation and I can’t think of one. The Presidential Medal of Freedom has long been given to politically connected people, but they are not getting huge payouts like in the ROK. Can anyone think of equivalent in the U.S. where politically connected people are getting huge payouts for an award or designation?
I think no matter what the evidence says this was something that was going to happen regardless because this is more about politics than fact finding:
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo reads out a statement on Feb. 9, 2018, offering an apology for the military’s use of force against pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju in 1980. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s defense minister offered an official apology Friday for the military’s brutal use of force against pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju in 1980.
“As the minister of national defense, I offer a sincere apology and (words of) comfort to Gwangju citizens that our military has left suffering in the process of the May 18 Democratization Movement 38 years ago,” Song Young-moo said in a statement.
It came two days after the ministry’s special fact-finding team announced the results of five months of investigation into suspicions about the military’s role in the suppression of those protesting against the junta of Chun Doo-hwan.
The civilian-government panel said the Army launched helicopter gunship attacks on citizens in the southwestern city, with fighter jets armed with bombs on standby as a backup. The findings were based on the review of documents and interviews on witnesses. [Yonhap]
