The memory of the Gwangju massacre at the heart of the mobilization against martial law in South Korea

Memorial Hall at the May 18 National Cemetery in Gwangju where the bodies of the victims were buried. WIKIPEDIA White plaster walls lacerated by bullets fired from army helicopters: the Jeonil building – held for several days by insurgents from the “citizen army” – in the center of Gwangju still bears traces of the massacre. On May 18, 1980, this city in Cholla Province, in southwestern South Korea, rose up against the declaration of martial law by dictator Chun Doo-hwan (1931-2021). Bloodily repressed, this movement, which officially left 200 dead, remains engraved in memories. Proof of the trauma still present, the immediate mobilization on December 3, when Yoon Suk Yeol, president of a South Korea that had become democratic, attempted to impose martial law. “The first thing I thought was that I was going to go back to prison because of what I did in the 1980s. I told my friends to shut up because the soldiers were coming “, remembers Park Gang-bae, a witness to the 1980 repression who became executive director of the May 18 Foundation. Immediately, reflexes resurfaced: “The mayor, Lee Yong-seop, brought together all the association leaders. We decided to do everything to protect democracy and prevent the troops from entering Gwangju. » And the fifty-year-old with a massive physique and sharp speech castigated President Yoon and his “madness”: “He showed that he had not grasped the strength of democratic sentiment. » You have 80.71% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.



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