hankyoreh

Ex-president Chun Doo-hwan, who is currently under trial for disparaging the testimonial of witnesses who saw the massacre of innocent civilians by martial law forces during the Gwangju Democratization Movement of 1980, set foot in the city of Gwangju for the first time in 32 years. Chun arrived in the city and headed for the Gwangju District Court for his trial. While walking to the court’s entrance, a reporter from the swarm of journalists surrounding him asked whether he’d given the order for the military fire upon civilians. Chun brusquely replied, “The hell you talking about!” and stepped into the court. In his memoir published in Aril 2018, Chun referred to the late Catholic father Cho Cheol-hyeon (also known as Cho Pius) as “Satan wearing a mask.” Cho testified that martial law forces fired upon innocent civilians from a helicopter during the democratization movement. Chun was indicted without detention for libel on May 3, 2018.