Some background history on the event: A politically minded military clique declared martial law to consolidate power after a successful coup d'eat. Martial law was declared in an attempt to suppress the demand for democratization. 전두환 Cheon Doo Hwan took over the nation through a military dicatorship. He sent paratroopers to how his intentions for those who oppose his and the clique's authority. Most of the bloodshed took place in 광주 Gwangju which is the south eastern part of South Korea. Many residents held a protest against the government. Students and professors held demonstrations in front of Chonnam National University. The paratroopers chased and beat the protestors. The students regrouped and was again beaten and chased by the paratroopers. The paratroopers moved in and then again beat the protestors and arrest them. Regular citizens were upset with what happened so they joined in with the protestors. Armies killed the citizens and even children.
After a couple days, hundreds of thousands of protestors filled the streets, took the weapons from the armies and drove them out of the city. 김대중 Kim Dae Joong, who eventually became one of Korea's presidents and won the Nobel Peace Prize Award, participated in the protest. I thought that was pretty interesting and cool. 전두환 Jeon Doo Hwan arrested 김대중 Kim Dae Joong blaming him for the rebellion. They found him guilty (if you consider him guilty because who's judging 김대중 Kim Dae Joong? Obviously supporters of 전두환 Jeon Doo Hwan! Does that make any sense at all??) and was about to be sentenced to death but then ended up being sentenced to prison.
However, this event is more sad and is one of the reasons why Koreans did not like/hate Americans for a long time. Not only did America had NO IDEA of what was happening in Korea, President Reagan gave power to 전두환 Jeon Doo Hwan. You're probably thinking, WHY ON EARTH?? BIG MISTAKE..... America allowed troops from the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to line up along the DMZ and suppressed the protestors and rebellion. America did a couple dumb things in relation to Korea and this is one that is still remembered with lots of bitterness from Koreans. After taking over with a military dictatorship, he eventually gets into office. You're probably thinking, can this get any worse? The 광주 Kwangju uprising revealed the immorality of the 5th Republic regime, an extension of the Yushin regime of 박정희 Park Jung Hee.
Well, since it was the anniversary, we went to 광주 Gwangju to see the memorial. Cool huh? :-) Since 광주 Gwangju is on the other side of 김해 Gimhae, it was a long car ride there. We ate Chinese food at this really nice restaurant on the way there. I can't remember the chicken we had but it was delicious.
Super good Chinese chicken!
짜장면 Chinese dish of wheat noodles with black blean sauce :-)
Finally, we arrived in 광주 Gwangju! The monument was spectacular! The cemetery's main function if an education center which teaches that injustice and dictatorship should never return to Korea. While it focused on the May 18 광주 Gwangju Democratization Movement, they also featured 광주학생항독립운동 The Gwangju Students' Independence Movement of 1929 and 3.1 운동 The March 1st Independence Movement in 1919.
The May 18 Memorial Tower. The folded hands in the middle of the pillars and the egg shape in the center combine to symbolize the resurrection of life, and the reflection of the sunlight from the tower represents the seed of hope.
We then visited this memorial they had for everyone who died in the uprising or those who were injured and eventually died. It was pretty moving and seeing the children who died was very sad. Seriously, what bravery these people had! They had pictures of what happened during the protest, it was horrifying. You think people have a somewhat decent discretion of cruelty, but this proved to be different. It's amazing to see how far people would go to hurt these people. It was disgusting.
Portraits of those who died or were injured during the uprising.
Incredible statue recognizing the uprising
Graves near the monument
After looking at the graves, we looked at some of the monuments they had for 광주학생항독립운동 The Gwangju Students' Independence Movement of 1929 and 3.1 운동 The March 1st Independence Movement in 1919. They were located in History Square. History Square had bas-reliefs depicting the seven great civil resistance movements against injustice and oppression in Korea. The reliefs depict the Patriotic Citizen's Militia during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, the Donghak Farmers' Uprising, 3.1 운동 the March 1 Independence Movement of 1919, 광주학생항독립운동 the Gwangju Students' Independence Movement and others.
This relief depicts what started/peaked 광주학생항독립운동 the Gwangju Students' Independence Movement. Two Japanese soldiers were harassing two Korean girls. Students noticed what happened and they fought the soldiers off.
This relief depicts what happened during the 3.1 운동 the March 1st Independence Movement of 1919. This sculpture mainly represents scenes from the independence declaration at 태화관 Taehwagwan by the 33 national representatives, the first independence rally at 탑골공원 Tapkol Park Japanese forces' killlings of Koreans.
We saw some other graves which weren't much different the other graves but had an interesting feature. Korean believe that you can still protest after your death. There were red banners on graves (probably from family members) protesting the government.
The Monument to the Tree Donors. On November 21, 1996, 광주 Gwangju began a tree donation campaign. All of the donated trees created the Democracy Garden. The movement was meant to follow the spirit of the May 18 Uprising and to help establish the May 18 cemetery as an education center for liberty, democracy and justice. The monument is a tangible sign of appreciation to the spirit of those who donated trees.
At the front of the memorial, they had banners that you could write a message on and it would be displayed in front of the memorial.
The memorial was pretty incredible. People sacrificed their lives for their country. It's great to see other countries beside America fighting to the death for liberty.
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