South Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterday honored victims of the pro-democracy Gwangju Uprising, speaking at the spot where protesters were killed 40 years ago.
Protesters demonstrating against then-South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan confronted his martial law troops on May 18, 1980.
Official organizations say about 160 were killed over the next 10 days — including some soldiers and police — and more than 70 missing, but activists say up to three times as many might have been killed.
Photo: AFP
Those who died “believed that the survivors would manage to open up a better world. They were convinced that the defeat of that day would become the victory of tomorrow,” Moon said.
The subsequent struggle to establish democracy in South Korea had been in answer to “the call of the dead,” he added.
Moon reiterated his call for the uprising to be included in the country’s constitution.
He urged those responsible for the “state-led violence” to come forward.
“Its purpose is not about punishment but about properly documenting history,” Moon said. “Instead, if those who are accountable show courage and confess the truth even now, the path to forgiveness and reconciliation will open up.”
Gwangju remains one of the most politicized historical events in the nation. Some conservatives still condemn the uprising as a communist-inspired rebellion, while Moon — who participated in other anti-dictatorship protests — has re-opened investigations into the military’s actions, including an alleged helicopter shooting incident.
Chun, who was convicted in 1996 of treason over Gwangju and condemned to death, but released following a presidential pardon, still denies any direct involvement in the suppression of the movement.
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