Today marks the 45th anniversary of the beginning of the Gwangju Uprising. I've written about this event on this blog many times (an index is here), an RAS Transactions article ("'Tell the World what is Happening': The Americans who Witnessed the Kwangju Uprising," which can be read here), and co-authored the memoir of David Dolinger, a former Peace Corps Volunteer who was a witness to and participant in the uprising This week he was granted Gwangju honorary citizenship for his role, along with missionary Arnold Peterson (posthumously) and Jennifer Huntley.
The Hankyoreh also covered the fascinating stories of the military officers / police officials who refused orders to fire on protesters during the uprising. I'd known the story of Police Chief Ahn Byeong-ha, but not the others. At least one of the stories shared adds evidence to the assertion that the chain of command was being violated and orders were being sent to officers on the ground directly from martial law command in Seoul.
And, of course, it wouldn't be this time of year without some conservative politician making questionable choices, in this case when the People's Power Party appointed Chung Ho-yong - who commanded Special Forces during 5.18 and was, along with Roh Tae-woo, one of Chun Doo-hwan's main co-conspirators - as a senior advisor to Kim Moon-soo’s presidential campaign, only to quickly reverse this decision amid public backlash. What were they thinking? Needless to say, he wasn't invited to any memorial ceremonies.
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