The May 18 Democratic Uprising: Witness and Remembrance 》Chonnam National University: Where the Call for Democracy Began

Story

On the morning of May 18, 1980, several hundred students gathered at the front gate of Cheonnam National University (CNU) to protest the forced closure of universities announced as part of Chun Doo-hwan's declaration of martial law the day prior. The students called not only for the end of martial law, but also for democracy and labor rights. Blocked by the army and police who attempted to disperse the gatherers, the protest was pushed to the Jeollanam-do Provincial Office, some 3 km to the southeast.
Along the way, more people joined the protest, raising the total number of protesters. In the late afternoon, paratroopers and riot police were sent in to quell the protests, leading to the start of the brutal violence inflicted on demonstrators and ordinary citizens.
Among the notable CNU students who participated in the protests is Bak Gwan-hyeon, who served as president of the CNU General Student Council and later died in 1982 in a hunger strike demanding an investigation of the events of the uprising, and Yun Sang-won, who was killed on the last day of the uprising.
In this way, CNU can be considered the physical birthplace of the May 18 Democratic Uprising, where students first called for democracy. Today, CNU is home to the May 18 Memorial Hall, which serves to remember and commemorate the people of CNU who dedicated themselves to the democratization movement. The university is located on various walking paths that showcase the key sites of the May 18 Democratic Uprising.

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S2023-201b	Story	Episode		Chonnam National University: Where the Call for Democracy Began			Chonnam National University: Where the Call for Democracy Began	http://dh.aks.ac.kr/~gwangju/wiki/index.php/S2023-201b	http://dh.aks.ac.kr/~gwangju/icon/episode.png