Gwanju Human Rights Folk School 2004

The June Uprising and the Democratization in South Korea

Presented by Shichun Yu

(Writer, Former member of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea)

1. Before the May Uprising in 1987

After its liberation from the Imperialist Japan in 1945, South Korea adopted the

American political system and culture without much mediation. In 1948, the new

Republic of Korea organized the Constitutional Assembly and promulgated its

constitution. The constitution is the supreme law of a nation that regulates the

organization and management of the state, and the basic rights and freedom of the

people, which cannot be infringed with any of its subordinate laws and regulations.

As the Cold War system was built in the middle of the 20th century, the Korean

peninsula was divided into two states in the North and the South and witnessed a hostile

and exhausting war between them. During the Korean War, about 1 million citizens

were killed in South Korea.

The pro-American, anti-communist dictatorship of Lee Seungman was brought

down by the student movement in 1960; a year later, however, the legitimate

government was overthrown by the far-right military coup that took an anti-communist

line. The Park Jeonghee military regime, despite its economic achievement, is

evaluated to have solidified the fascist system for his life-long seizure of power. The

democratization movement against Park Jeonghee’s dictatorship was carried out only by

the students and some intellectuals of the time. Any critical thoughts and writings

against the military dictatorship were enough to imprison the students and intellectuals

for a long time. The Park Jeonghee regime, however, collapsed not because of the

exterior attack but because of the interior disruption. Park Jeonghee was shot to death

by one of his inferiors in October, 1979.

In 1980, the South Korean people had what they called “the spring of Seoul”

and expected the democratization of the political system. The people’s wish, however,

was overridden as some of the Park Jeonghee’s inferiors seized the political power again

through a military mutiny. It was in this context that the people’s uprising took place in

Gwangju, Jeollanam-do Province. The city of 700,000 people was totally cut off from

the rest of the country, and carried out its sublime uprising against the martial army.

The uprising, however, was put down in ten days, leaving great number of victims.

At the cost of Gwangju citizens’ life, the military regime succeeded to seize the

Gwanju Human Rights Folk School 2004

political power. It, however, had to put up with the resistance of the students and the

people who required the truth of the Gwangju Uprising. Their struggle against the Jeon

Duhwan regime also cost a great number of life. More than 10,000 students were

imprisoned, but they continued their struggle through extreme actions such as burning

themselves. Students could not organize student unions, and those laborers who tried to

organize labor unions were fired by their companies or imprisoned. The Jeon Duhwan

regime suppressed them with cruel torture and violence. Many became the victims of

suspicious deaths or torture resulting in death. The general public, however, did not

heard of these cases, as most of the media and the press, which cooperated with the

military regime for the enlargement of their companies, kept their silence.

In January, 1987, a university student died while being investigated and

tortured. This case was exposed through the media luckily, and there were proofs to

demonstrate his death resulted from torture. The police tried to cover up the fact and

this made the people even angrier. The religious figures of the society such as Catholic

and Christian priests, ministers and Buddhist monks held prayer meetings and instigated

the public rage. The general public in South Korea finally recognized the violence of

the military regime. Besides, as the military regime professed to transmit the political

power amongst the military figures, the resistance of the public grew even bigger.

The constitution of the Republic of Korea originally adopted the direct

democracy according to which the people elect the president directly. The military

authority, however, changed this system and elected the president by themselves in a

gymnasium. The public and the opposition parties led by figures such as Kim Daejung

and Kim Yeongsam started to carry out the movement to restore the constitution to the

original state. As the opposition parties had won the 13th general election in 1985, they

were assured of the support from the people. The opposition parties, the

democratization movement activists, and the university students around the country

shared the recognition that the military regime could be withdrawn through their

collective struggle.

2. The Birth of the National Movement Headquarters for Democratization, the

Leadership of the June Uprising

All the democratization movement organizations and the opposition parties got

together and established a large-scaled joint organization against the military regime in

May, 1987. Each had slightly different notions and lines, but shared the goal to restore

the constitution to its original state.

Gwanju Human Rights Folk School 2004

It was an unprecedented scene that members of different fields including the

religious society, the working class, the cultural sector, the juridical society, the medical

society, and the women’s movement field, from the senior members of the opposition

parties, such as Kim Daejung, to the student representatives, gathered together to form a

joint organization. This gathering has the historical significance as “the largest

solidarity for the smallest goal.” The constitutional amendment to restore the direct

election system is a rather small goal from the viewpoint of the entire history of the

Korean reformative movements; for this goal, however, gathered the largest group of

people. It is also significant in that the joint organization formed its leadership before

launching on their struggle around the nation, unlike the former movements.

The National Movement Headquarters took the spirit of the March 1 Movement

in 1919 with which the entire nation resisted against the Imperialist Japan. Through the

demonstrations across the country led by the National Movement Headquarters, the

Korean people made their rage over the university student’s death resulted from torture

known to the world. They also clearly delivered their will to have a direct presidential

election.

More than 30 cities with universities and colleges turned into huge

demonstration sites. The people attacked the press companies, the servants of the

power, as well as the local police stations, and burned the police cars. Despite the

severe suppression with tear bombs, the guerilla demonstrations were continued. When

the defense line of the police was brought down, the military regime seriously

considered to proclaim martial law, as they had always done to cope with the

demonstrations against the dictatorship.