S2023-217h

The Faces of Gwangju: Activists 》 The Seven Deulbul Martyrs and the May 18 Democratic Uprising

Story

• The Seven Deulbul Martyrs include Kim Yeong-cheol (1948-1998), Yun Sang-won (1950-1980), Bak Gwan-hyeon (1953-1982), Bak Hyo-seon (1954-1998), Bak Yong-jun (1956-1980), Bak Gi-soon (1957-1978), and Sin Yeong-il (1958-1988).
• The martyrs were members of the Deulbul (Wildfire) Night School, a pro-democratization social activist youth group. The group lead the struggle during the May 18 Democratic Uprising and published the Fighter Newsletter (Tusa hoebo) to inform the public of the truth of the events.
• Among the members, Bak Gi-soon died prior to uprising in an accident, but is considered a martyr as she was one of the founding leaders of the night school and fervent advocate for laborers.
• Those who were killed in the uprising itself include Yun Sang-won, who was defending the Jeollanam-do Provincial Office, and Bak Yong-jun, who was defending the YWCA.
• The remaining four died after the uprising: Bak Gwan-hyeon in 1982, Sin Yeong-il in 1988, and and Bak Hyo-seon and Kim Yeong-cheol in 1998. Bak Gwan-hyeon was arrested in 1982 and died from a hunger strike demanding the truth of May 18 while in prison. Sin Yeong-il continued fighting for democracy, eventually dying of overworking in 1988. Bak Hyo-seon, who went on to make plays about his experience, died of liver cancer in 1998. Kim Yeong-cheol, traumatized by the events of the uprising, spent his years in psychiatric hospitals, where he died in 1998.

Semantic Data

Node Description

id	class	groupName	partName	label	hangeul	hanja	english	infoUrl	iconUrl
S2023-217h	Story	Episode		The Seven Deulbul Martyrs and the May 18 Democratic Uprising			The Seven Deulbul Martyrs and the May 18 Democratic Uprising	http://dh.aks.ac.kr/~gwangju/wiki/index.php/S2023-217h	http://dh.aks.ac.kr/~gwangju/icon/episode.png