The Gwangju
People's Uprising took place in the city of that name in the southwest
of the Republic of Korea (ROK) May 18-28, 1980. It was a glorious
revolutionary initiative undertaken by the students, workers, women and
youth to affirm their right to govern their own country. They were
rising up against the U.S. domination of Korea
and the Chun Doo-hwan military dictatorship that represented it. From
the time it forcefully divided Korea at the 38th parallel following the
surrender of Japan in 1945, the U.S imperialists
strove to maintain this division by force, including launching the
Korean War on June 25, 1950 in which close to four million Korean men,
women and children perished.
Thus, the
Korean
people, whose contribution to the victory of the Allies
in the Second World War was second to none, were criminally deprived of
their right to
self-determination. Instead, a U.S.-style
anti-communist government serving U.S. monopolies and Korean landlords
and capitalists was imposed in the south in 1948, in the name of
democracy, freedom and human rights. This is
the same self-serving drivel the Biden administration is peddling now
to maintain a military grip on Korea and to justify further
militarizing and integrating the ROK into the U.S. war
machine.
The
Gwangju
People's Uprising was a collective response to martial law imposed by
the Chun dictatorship in May 1980. Chun had come to power in a coup
engineered by the U.S. Carter administration after the assassination of
President Park Chung-hee, the
pro-U.S. anti-communist military dictator who ruled the ROK with an
iron fist from 1963 until his death in 1979.
Chun imposed martial law in an attempt to subdue popular actions by
the south Korean people demanding democracy and a civilian government.
According to various news and eyewitness reports, the Gwangju
People's Uprising was triggered by student demonstrations on the
morning of May 18 when some 600 students gathered
at Chonnam National University to defy the new military edict shutting
down the universities and stifling any political dissent. The police
were unable to hold the organized resistance of
people so a Special Forces unit trained for assault missions was
dispatched to quell the uprising. The Special Forces used tear gas,
batons and rubber bullets which served to widen the
resistance as workers, shopkeepers, and parents took to the streets
to defend the youth. The soldiers then opened fire, killing some 200
people and wounding hundreds more.
On May 20, some
10,000 people demonstrated against this terror and violence. Due to the
widespread militarization of the society, most major workplaces in
south Korea held caches of
weapons. Protestors seized these and commandeered buses, taxis and even
armoured personnel carriers, forming armed militias to fight the army.
A student-produced daily newspaper called Militants' Bulletin
kept everyone informed against
the disinformation of the mass media aimed at criminalizing the
rebellion and splitting their ranks. In the face of determined
armed opposition of the people, the Special Forces were forced to
withdraw.
The next five days were unprecedented in
ROK history. The people organized a Citizen's Settlement
Committee and a Students' Settlement Committee which worked to
organize the people and ensure the well-being of everyone. Food,
medical and transportation systems were organized and lively political
discussions took place where the people gathered to
discuss and plan their opposition and continued resistance.
On May 24,
15,000 people attended a memorial service in honour of those who died
at the beginning of the uprising at the hands of the Special Forces. On
May 25, about 50,000
people gathered for a rally in Gwangju and adopted a resolution calling
for the abolition of martial law and the release of political prisoner
Kim Dae-jung, who would eventually be elected
the eighth President of the ROK.[1]
As the people in Gwangju continued to assert their political
demands, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who had campaigned on a platform
for a "human rights foreign policy," intervened
directly to crush what was perceived as a threat to U.S. strategic
interests in the region. The U.S. National Security Council met at the
White House on May 24 to plan a response.
Subsequently, U.S. General John A. Wickham Jr., Commander of the
U.S.-ROK Combined Forces Command, ordered General Chun Doo-hwan to
redeploy the ROK army's 20th Division
from the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) separating the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the ROK, to Gwangju to crush the
uprising. This plan was delayed three days
while a U.S. navy flotilla led by the aircraft carrier USS
Midway was deployed to Korean waters just in case
reinforcements were necessary.[2]
On May 27, at
3:30 am, the ROK army attacked Gwangju in Operation Fascinating
Vacations. The people of Gwangju resisted courageously
against the
U.S.-directed military assault
against them. In the ensuing battle, thousands of civilians were killed
and close to 15,000 people were injured. More than 1,500 people were
taken into custody and countless others were
tortured and summarily executed. Dozens of other activists were
arrested, tried and executed and others were thrown in prison. Within a
year General Chun had proclaimed himself President of
the ROK, and began a campaign of terror against the communists,
socialists, leftists and any other progressive forces that would
challenge his U.S.-sanctioned military rule. However the
workers and people of the ROK continued their organized opposition to
U.S. imperialism and their local puppets, and eventually ended the
military dictatorships in the ROK by the end of
1990.
On the 41st anniversary of the Gwangju
People's Uprising, TML calls on everyone to
intensify their support for the heroic Korean people in their just
struggle to end the U.S.
military occupation of south Korea, to resolutely oppose the U.S.
nuclear blackmail and military provocations against the DPRK and to
vigorously support
their more than 70-year struggle to realize the independent and
peaceful reunification of their divided nation and affirm their right
to be.
Hail
the
Historic Legacy of the Gwangju Uprising!
U.S. Troops Out of
Korea!
Korea Is One!
Memorial wall to those
killed during the Gwangju People's Uprising
Notes
1.As
President of the
ROK from 1998 to 2003, Kim Dae-jung was instrumental in co-operating
with the leader of the DPRK Kim
Jong Il, to strengthen inter-Korean relations which led to the signing
of the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration in Pyongyang in
2000 which opened up a bold new chapter in the
struggle of the Korean people for peace and reunification. Kim was also
responsible for ensuring that the victims of U.S.-sponsored state
violence and terror in Gwangju were honoured. He
inaugurated annual memorial events for the victims beginning in 1997
and established the graveyard in Gwangju where hundreds of the victims
are buried as the National Cemetery for
the May 18th Democratic Uprising.
2. Online
database of the 4,000 declassified U.S. government documents on the
U.S. role in the Gwangju Uprising of 1980
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 15 - June 15, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/MS51155.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
