May 20, 1980 (Tuesday, light rain from morning)
- 8:00: High schools closed.
- 10:20: About 30 men and women, wearing only their underwear, are beaten in front of the Catholic Center. Paratroopers and citizens continue to battle.
- 18:40: On Geumnam-no, about 200 taxis turn on their headlights and blare their horns in a car demonstration. Demonstration atmosphere grows in intensity.
- 20:10: Citizens face off with police and paratroopers in Geumnam-no, Chungjang-no and near the Labor Ministry Office, heading toward the Provincial Hall.
- 21.05: Near the Labor Ministry Office, a bus full of demonstrators charges police road block, killing four officers.
- 21:50: Gwangju MBC building set ablaze.
- 23:00: Martial law forces shoot dead two citizens at Gwangju Station Square.
3 Comments
There was a reason this uprising happened in Kwangju and not elsewhere in South Korea. Some other posters have mentioned regionalism and it seems pretty clear that that is what it was all about.
Had a political player with a power base in Cholla taken over the government the uprising would have occured in Busan or Taegu, while Kwangju would have been relatively calm (and I’m sure paratroopers from the Cholla region would have been just as willing to put the hurt on those damn Kyoungsang province upstarts).
This is not to say Chun is forgivable for what he did, and it is sickening that he has gotten off without any real punishment. And it is true that what happened in Kwangju turned out to be a rallying cry for true democracy.
But it seems like the motivation for the uprising itself is not as glamorously ideal as some people now try to paint it.
It reminds me somewhat of when I watched the Mel Gibson movie, “The Patriot.” The war for independence from Britain itself was not really the idealistic aim for freedom from tyrannical rule and democracy. It was just some rich men who didn’t want to pay taxes anymore and wanted to be in charge. They wanted “their” group to be in power, not others.
Might not Kwangju come from the same type of motivation?
I had heard an accusation that the US was involved, in light of US operational control over the Korean military. I never understood what the truth of that was. Are there any non-partisan sources discussing that?
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PING:
TITLE: Kwangju, 5.18, and the Marmot
BLOG NAME: Budaechigae ?쨋??흸??째흸?째흹
The Marmot reminds us all that the events of the Kwangju Uprising (May18-27) extended past 5.18 here and here. The timeline is a great way to see the events unfold in this emotionally charged, tragic, and important event. Kudos to