A man told the people around the place to run away because the military troops were shooting them. The man yelled while rushing home. Bullets rained from everywhere. The Gwangju citizens did not know what to do. Nobody expected that the new military government would allow their troops to shoot their people. Every citizen who attended the protest, from young children to old men, was covered with their blood. When the gunshots stopped, there were no citizens left. Only a serene wind carrying the cries of people who lost their beloved families blew away.

▲ victims of the Gwangju Uprising

People said that injustice must not be tolerated and that it was time for them to grab weapons. A great number of people cried for hope. Although it was clear that the citizens could not win against the elite troops, they still fought again and again until the end. On May 18th, 1980, the Gwangju Uprising was started by the citizens who hoped to fight for democracy. The beginning of the uprising occurred on December 12th, 1979 by Chun Doo-hwan. He staged a coup and successfully dominated all Korean intelligence agencies. After that, he suppressed the press and began to eliminate his political enemies. Noticing the injustice of the new government, the Korean students rose up to make Chun resign.

▲ Gwangju citizens marching for democracy

However, the consequence of the protest was terrible. Chun Doo-hwan declared martial law and sent airborne troops to suppress the uprising. The sent troops indiscriminately assaulted the citizens. Many people died in the process. Furthermore, perceiving that the resistance was fierce, they shot the Gwangju citizens in a group at the Jeollanamdo Provincial Government and Jeollanamdo University. As a result, citizens started to grab a weapon to resist the crackdown and lots of casualties were reported.

▲ airborne troops assaulting Gwangju citizens

Despite the numerous wrongful deaths, Chun was not punished properly. There are still some ongoing trials about his crime. Those who forget the history are doomed to repeat it. We must not forget this tragedy to prevent the same thing from happening again.

By Jang Bo-min