A photography exhibition on South Korea’s democratization opened yesterday at the National 228 Memorial Museum in Taipei.
The exhibition, titled 1987 Awakening of the People (1987人民覺醒: 韓國民主見證影像展), showcases dozens of photographs taken in the streets of South Korea during the June Democratic Struggle, a nationwide pro-democracy movement with mass protests in Seoul from June 10 to June 29, 1987, which forced the government at the time to begin making democratic reforms and hold elections.
The photographs were taken by Rick Chu (朱立熙), CEO of the Taiwan-based Korean Studies Academy, who was a photojournalist stationed in Seoul between 1985 and 1988.
Photo: Chen Yu-hsun, Taipei Times
During the opening, Chu gave a guided tour to dozens of visitors, mostly young people, sharing his recollections of being on the front lines of the protests and the stories behind the photographs.
One of the photographs shows a man in a black suit with plastic wrap covering his eyes, standing on the street calling to drivers to honk their horns as part of the protest against the authoritarian regime.
Several photographs showed clashes between students and police.
Also included are photographs of the national funeral of Lee Han-yeol, a Yonsei University student who was seriously injured and died after a tear gas grenade penetrated his skull during the protests. More than a million people attended Lee’s funeral.
Chu said the road to democracy in Taiwan and South Korea occurred at about the same time, starting with the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident that led to demonstrations and the lifting of Martial Law in July 1987, and in South Korea with the 1980 Gwangju Uprising.
The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, refers to a police crackdown, under the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, on a rally held by Formosa Magazine and opposition politicians on Dec. 10, 1979, to mark Human Rights Day.
The two nation achieved democracy from the bottom up, with the people’s demonstrations forcing the authoritarian regimes to give in, Chu said.
“Without the sacrifice and dedication of previous activists, there would be no democracy, freedom and human rights today,” he said.
Quoting South Korean independence activist Sin Chae-ho, Chu said: “A nation that forgets its history does not have a future.”
Chu added that Taiwanese should be conscious of history.
The exhibition runs through Sept. 27.
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