The Facenda Family - South Korea
BEYOND THE SLIDES
The Gwang-Ju Massacre
10 days of darkness that changed a nation
10 days of darkness that changed a nation
Introduction
From 1910 to 1945 Japan occupied and brutalized Korea. With the end of WWII Korea was liberated. In 1945 the United States and Russia divided the Korean peninsula just as they had done with Germany. From that point on North Korea was communist and South Korea was a free democracy, in theory.
The reality is that from 1945 to the early 90's South Korea was largly a military dictator ship under the watchful eye of the United States. During the 50's, 60's and 70's a wave of pro-democracy feelings bean to grow among many South Koreans.
Build Up
During the presidency of Park Chung-Hee the pro-democracy movement had been strongly suppressed in many ways, including the expulsion of pro-democratic professors and students from many national universities.
On October 26, 1979 Park Chung-Hee was assassinated and martial law was enacted shortly thereafter. The new president, Choi Kyu-Hah and his cabinet were overthrown in a military coup that December lead by ROK army general Chun Doo-Hwan.
In March of 1980 the pro-democracy movement caught new life when many of the expelled studnts and teachers returned for the beginngin of the new school year. This lead to many demonstrations all across the country.
On May 15 there was a large demonstration in Seoul that involved about 10,000 people. "In response, the government took several suppressive measures. On May 17, the Cabinet expanded martial law to the whole nation, which had previously not applied to Jeju-do. The expanded martial law closed universities, banned political activities and further curtailed the press" (Wikipidia.com)
The pro-democracy advocates were not going to take this sitting down.
The Stand Off
On May 18 about 200 students gathered in front of Chonnam National University (in Gwang-Ju). The police opposed them and clashes began around 10 am. During the following hours the protest spread and grew to about 2,000 people. At 4 pm over 600 troops moved in and the clash became exceedingly violent. The troops began beating the protestors and innocent bystanders. They shot and beat taxi drivers who attempted to help the protestors or take the wounded to the hospitals. This angered the citizens of Gwang-Ju and 2 days laters there were 10,000 peopel involved in the conflict.
On May 21 the citizens armed themselves and began to fire on the police and military personnel. The military withdrew to wait for reinforcements. During this time they blockaded the city. No one could come i n or go out and there was no communication.
Negotiations began and there was hope for an end to the conflict with no further violence. The citizens wanted those who had been arrested to be released, compensation for damages, and a promise of no retaliation. The government demanded that the militias disarm unconditionally first.
The negotiation broke down and at 4:00 am on May 27 the Korean Army moved into the city with an overwhelming display of force and ended the uprising in less than 2 hrs.
Somewhere between 150 and 200 people lost their lives during those 10 days and thousands more were wounded. This uprising paved the way for democracy to come to Korea some 10 years later.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Democratization_Movement)
From 1910 to 1945 Japan occupied and brutalized Korea. With the end of WWII Korea was liberated. In 1945 the United States and Russia divided the Korean peninsula just as they had done with Germany. From that point on North Korea was communist and South Korea was a free democracy, in theory.
The reality is that from 1945 to the early 90's South Korea was largly a military dictator ship under the watchful eye of the United States. During the 50's, 60's and 70's a wave of pro-democracy feelings bean to grow among many South Koreans.
Build Up
During the presidency of Park Chung-Hee the pro-democracy movement had been strongly suppressed in many ways, including the expulsion of pro-democratic professors and students from many national universities.
On October 26, 1979 Park Chung-Hee was assassinated and martial law was enacted shortly thereafter. The new president, Choi Kyu-Hah and his cabinet were overthrown in a military coup that December lead by ROK army general Chun Doo-Hwan.
In March of 1980 the pro-democracy movement caught new life when many of the expelled studnts and teachers returned for the beginngin of the new school year. This lead to many demonstrations all across the country.
On May 15 there was a large demonstration in Seoul that involved about 10,000 people. "In response, the government took several suppressive measures. On May 17, the Cabinet expanded martial law to the whole nation, which had previously not applied to Jeju-do. The expanded martial law closed universities, banned political activities and further curtailed the press" (Wikipidia.com)
The pro-democracy advocates were not going to take this sitting down.
The Stand Off
On May 18 about 200 students gathered in front of Chonnam National University (in Gwang-Ju). The police opposed them and clashes began around 10 am. During the following hours the protest spread and grew to about 2,000 people. At 4 pm over 600 troops moved in and the clash became exceedingly violent. The troops began beating the protestors and innocent bystanders. They shot and beat taxi drivers who attempted to help the protestors or take the wounded to the hospitals. This angered the citizens of Gwang-Ju and 2 days laters there were 10,000 peopel involved in the conflict.
On May 21 the citizens armed themselves and began to fire on the police and military personnel. The military withdrew to wait for reinforcements. During this time they blockaded the city. No one could come i n or go out and there was no communication.
Negotiations began and there was hope for an end to the conflict with no further violence. The citizens wanted those who had been arrested to be released, compensation for damages, and a promise of no retaliation. The government demanded that the militias disarm unconditionally first.
The negotiation broke down and at 4:00 am on May 27 the Korean Army moved into the city with an overwhelming display of force and ended the uprising in less than 2 hrs.
Somewhere between 150 and 200 people lost their lives during those 10 days and thousands more were wounded. This uprising paved the way for democracy to come to Korea some 10 years later.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Democratization_Movement)
