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Still from a newly released interview with Jürgen Hinzpeter, the German journalist who witnessed the events in Gwangju 1980 and shared its story with the world. (courtesy of the Yonsei University Kim Dae-jung Library)

“They were murdered at night, and I reached the conclusion that they had been killed by people with military night vision who fired aimed shots. It was a barbaric act.”

New videos of Jürgen Hinzpeter (1937-2016), the German ARD journalist who informed the world of the brutalities committed in Gwangju in 1980, were released on May 17. Yonsei University’s Kim Dae-jung Library released the videos of Hinzpeter on the 43rd anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement.

The filming took place at Hinzpeter’s home in Germany on Jan. 26, 2006. The videos, available on YouTube, run for 30 or so minutes and cover 11 topics including the brutalities that Hinzpeter witnessed, anecdotes about Kim Sa-bok, and his thoughts on the uprising in Gwangju and former President Kim Dae-jung.

“I can never forget those horrible scenes,” Hinzpeter said as he recalled the horrors. “The hole where the bodies had been placed was engulfed in flames, and family members stood wailing in despair next to coffins.”

Hinzpeter also painted a vivid picture of the atmosphere among the people of Gwangju at the time. “People were happy that a Westerner was reporting on it,” he said. “When I opened the coffins and looked at what was inside through the camera, it was a ghastly sight.”

Hinzpeter remembered taxi driver Kim Sa-bok, whose story was made famous through the film “A Taxi Driver,” as “a warm person who laughed a lot.”

“The taxi business could have fallen on hard times or Kim and his family could have faced danger, so I thought it took great courage for him to decide to go to Gwangju,” Hinzpeter stated. “I was very curious about whether he had died naturally, died of liver cancer as people told me, or died as a result of torture while imprisoned.”

Hinzpeter recalled it was Kim Sa-bok who helped him understand the situation in Korea and make it to Gwangju.

“That’s why my last wish is to be buried in Gwangju,” he added. “When I was very sick, the thought came to me that I want to be buried in the national cemetery alongside the people who fought in Gwangju. I identify with those young people who fought for freedom and everyone who joined the struggle.”

After his death in 2016, bits of Hinzpeter’s hair and fingernails were buried in the old May 18th National Cemetery in the Mangwon neighborhood of Gwangju.

By Kim Ga-yoon, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]