Gwangju Uprising

The Gwangju Uprising, alternatively called May 18 Democratic Uprising by UNESCO, and also known as Gwangju Democratization Movement (Hangul: 광주 민주화 운동; Hanja: 光州民主化運動; RR: Gwangju Minjuhwa Undong), was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to 27, 1980. Estimates suggest up to 606 people may have died. During this period, Gwangju citizens took up arms (by robbing local armories and police stations) when local Chonnam University students – who were demonstrating against the Chun Doo-hwan government – were fired upon, killed, and beaten in an unprecedented attack by government troops. The uprising eventually ended in defeat on May 27, 1980. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (May 18; Hangul: 오일팔; Hanja: 五一八; RR: Oilpal), in reference to the date the movement began.

June Struggle: Torture and death of Park Jong-chul

In the 1980s, many student activists in universities struggled against Chun Doo-hwan's dictatorship and the aftermath of the 1980 Gwangju Massacre. Park Jong-chul, the president of the student council in the linguistics department of Seoul National University, was one of those students. Detained during an investigation into such activities, Park refused to confess the whereabouts of one of his fellow activists. During the interrogation, authorities used waterboarding techniques to torture him, eventually leading to his death on 14 January. The events surrounding Park Jong-chul's death was suppressed at first.

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