Gwangju Massacre refers to the atrocities that happened in the city of Gwangju, South Korea from May 18 to May 27, 1980.

After the Coup d'état of December Twelfth (1979) in Seoul, general Chun Doo-hwan declared martial law on May 17, 1980 to suppress student demonstrations around the country. The next day, students in Gwangju protested at the gate of Chonnam National University against the closing of the university, when armed forces blocking the university responded with violent means. After the incident, students moved into downtown and an even larger demonstration was held, which was met by the use of force including gunfire that caused some fatalities. On May 20, enraged protesters burned down the MBC local station which misrepresented the students' reasons for protesting. By May 21, some 300,000 people had joined the protest against the General's power; weapons depots and police stations were looted of their weapons and the civil militias, the Citizen Army, beat back the armed forces. With all routes leading in and out of the city blocked by armed forces, the city effectively became a commune, and a civilian body was formed to maintain order and conduct negotiations with the government. Although order was well maintained, a number of negotiations to resolve the situation made no results. On May 27, airborne and army troops from five divisions were inserted and defeated the civil militias in downtown only in 90 minutes.

During the course of Chun's reign, the incident was regarded as a rebellion inspired by communist sympathizers. But after civil rule was reinstated, the incident received a proper recognition as an effort to restore democracy against military rule. The government made a formal apology for the incident, and a national cemetery was established for the victims.

The death toll of the 1980 Gwangju Massacre has been subject to considerable dispute. The official investigation by the civilian government in the 1990s found that 207 civilians could be confirmed slain. [1] In addition they found 987 "Other Casualties" who suffered substantial injury. However, a BBC report indicates that these numbers may be conservative. [2] Estimates prepared by dissident groups in the period of military government and opposition parties in the late-1980s such as the Peace and Democracy Party claimed one to two thousand were dead. [3] However, detailed information about the identities of the dead has not been provided to back up these claims.

See also

• Gwangju
• Coup d'état of December Twelfth

External links

• US Involvement in the Kwangju Massacre