A moving work of exceptional scholarship, Gwangju Uprising: The Rebellion for Democracy in South Korea was commissioned in an era of rising fake news to combat false narratives that had become popular on the internet, not the least of which was the idea that the events of the Gwangju Uprising were sparked by North Korean spies and agents provocateurs. 

This biased perspective, long a bellwether of extreme rightwing beliefs and support for previous the military regime among certain apologist elements of Korean society, looked to erase the sacrifice of the people of Gwangju from the story of Korea’s democratization in which they were undoubtedly central characters. The revisionists also want to remove it from the broader context of citizens rising up against authoritarian systems across Asia from the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan, the EDSA protests in the Philippines, and even the Democracy Wall and later Tiananmen protests in China.

 

The facts are grim, moving, and difficult to comprehend. In May 1980, the people of Gwangju, Korea protested for the freedom and democracy that had been long promised them, yet denied for decades. The death of strongman dictator Park Chung-hee opened a crack in the armor of the strict world of Korea’s military dictatorship, and the people wanted to be free of the restrictions that had marked the decades of Park’s rule and the corruption of the preceding Rhee era.

However, high up in the Korean military, a gang of friends led by General Chun Doo-hwan from the initial graduating class of the Korean Military Academy had other plans. Seizing power in a coup, he quickly returned Korea to the darkest days of the previous Park dictatorship.

In the face of a return to tyranny, the people of Gwangju, a city located in Jeolla, an agrarian southern region long looked down upon by the more cosmopolitan cities and denied development, with infrastructure, jobs and industry going to Seoul and neighboring Gyeongsang thanks to a biased string of Gyeongsang born dictators, stood up. At the start, they protested, but in the face of violence, they took up arms in a patriotic struggle to defend themselves and their nation from aspiring dictators and their cronies.

“These raindrops are the tears of those who died fighting for democracy and cannot move on until their souls have been granted peace.” — Emcee leading a protest meeting at Jeolla Provincial Hall May 24, 1980

The events that transpired—a protest, a massacre, an event that is inscribed in UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural history—are given meticulous treatment in Gwangju Uprising: The Rebellion for Democracy in South Korea, written by Lee Jae-eui and Jeon Yong-ho with the assistance of the Gwangju Democratization Movement Commemoration Committee in 2014 based on the 1985 work Beyond Death, Beyond the Darkness of the Age by celebrated author Hwang Sok-yong.

The original was written by Hwang after he traveled to Gwangju in the immediate aftermath and took witness testimony to ensure a record was made of an event the government tried very hard to convince people to forget. The original book was promptly banned when published with the editor himself serving time in prison.

“And because the rebels saw no value in death without conviction, each person made their own choice and did not enforce their decisions on others.” — Attributed to a phone call between protest leader Lee Yeong-heyon and his wife in the early hours of May 27th 1980

This new book is a compilation of Hwang’s original work with added testimony and information that has come to light as Korea democratized, the perpetrators were tried, and the United States, itself complicit in the events, declassified information from the era. It meticulously details the events of 18-27 May 1980 with a thorough historical view rich in personal accounts from all sides. The voice of protestors and martial law enforcement paratroopers are recounted with precise supplementary details from declassified sources. What is presented is the definitive record of those 9 days, with particular detail given to present the information without sensationalizing or editorializing the facts of the events.

The information on the pages brings the protests to life. Experiences of those fateful days from all corners of the city and all parts of society are recorded to show how the protests cut across society and united an entire city. The book is a haunting narrative detailing a momentary glimmer of hope growing in the face of impossible odds, only to be ruthlessly snuffed by the jackboots of ruthless soldiers.

“You must become witnesses to history and tell the world how we fought and died.” — The Uprising Leadership Team Shortly Before the Military Crackdown May 27th, 1980

Gwangju Uprising sets the record straight with far too much detail to refute, offering a sobering lesson for the people of the future about what sacrifices were made for freedom in the Republic of Korea.

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Patrick McShane is the Editor-in-Chief of the online literary journal Hwæl-Weġ.