hankyoreh

which is located in the May 18th National Cemetery in Gwangju

A diversity of events will be held May 17-18 to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju democratization uprising of 1980. The uprising was a turning point for democracy in South Korea and eventually led to the end of military rule and the dictatorships of the past.

The festival, organized by a committee in charge of the memorial events, begins on the evening on May 17 in Gwangju in front of the building that once housed the South Jeolla Provincial Office at Geumnamno in Gwangju. There will be several events honoring the victims and embodying the spirit of the uprising, including street marches that recreate the civil uprising against the military dictatorship, torchlight demonstrations and candlelight parades. After the festival, the estimated 2,500 citizens and students who are expected to be in attendance will spend the night in the old South Jeolla Provincial Office building to experience the last moments of the people who led the democratization movement and died in the building after having been killed by soldiers sent to quell the uprising.

In the morning of May 18, a ceremony will be held at the May 18 Memorial Cemetery in Gwangju, with more than 3,000 family members of the victims and social representatives expected to attend.

It is also expected that unions, students and farmers will hold a series of rallies against the resumption of U.S. beef imports, the cross-country waterway and mistreatment of irregular workers. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the country’s two major umbrella labor groups, and Hanchongyeon, a umbrella organization for university student unions, will participate in a national convention designed to recapture the spirit of the Gwangju Uprising to be held in front of the former provincial office building on May 18 following rallies at Gwangju Station and Chosun University on the previous day. The two groups will issue a “May statement” to protest the importation of U.S. beef and the ROK-U.S. free trade agreement.

Lee Jae-hyeong, an official with the May 18 Memorial Cemetery’s management office said, “About 60,000 people, including Japanese teachers and Korean students, visited the cemetery this month. An estimated 100,000 people are expected to come to the cemetery on May 17 and 18.”

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