The 66th anniversary of the April 19, 1960 student revolution

 Yesterday was the 66th anniversary of the April 19, 1960 student revolution. I'd never visited the 4.19 Cemetery before, but with a friend staying in the area, we decided to visit.

Outside the entrance were banners reading "Commemoration: The 66th anniversary of the 4.19 revolution. We will forever remember the spirit of 4.19."

Inside the cemetery setting up had begun for a large event the next day (which, I later learned, was attended by President Lee). Saturday also saw a large number of students - certainly some of them Korea University students - who gathered en masse in the mid afternoon.

This graphic posted at the entrance to the space where the commemoration ceremony was to take place lays out the human cost of 4.19:

Overall Figures

Total injured: 6,259 people

Hospitalized (including injured and dead): 1,802 people

Total deaths: 186 people

Injured by Gender

Men: 1,641

Women: 127

Unspecified: 34

Injured by Age Group

Under 10: 9

Teens: 632

20s: 779 

30s: 190

40s: 88

50+: 31

Unknown: 73

Deaths by Region

Seoul: 144

Outside Seoul: 42

Deaths by Social Status / Group

General public: 96

University students: 24

High school students: 39

Middle school students: 21

Elementary students: 6

Deaths by Cause

Shot (gunfire): 165

Traffic accidents: 10

Protest formation accidents: 5

Beaten by police: 3

Other: 3

Tombs here are both for those killed during 4.19 and the injured who have died since.

A closer look at the tombs reveals (on the back) when and how they died and their ages:

Tomb of An Bu-ja 

Chungcheongnam-do 

Born Aug. 3, 1945, in Seosan, Chungnam. 

Shot while protesting in front of City Hall on April 21, 1960 

Died April 24, 1960 at Capital Army Hospital  (14 years old)

Tomb of Im Dong-seong

Jongam Elementary School

Born Sept. 17, 1950, in Seoul. Attended Jongam Elementary School [near Anam Rotary].

Died April 19, 1960 from a gunshot wound while among the protesters.  (9 years old)

Inside the portrait hall.

I decided to go for a walk along Uicheon since it was such a nice day.

Three birds: magpie on the shore at left, Mandarin duck in the middle, and a bulbul on the branch at right. There were lots of waterfowl on certain stretches of the stream, as well as an egret or two.

Mallards and ducklings. 

I reached the street Line 4 runs under near Suyu Station and decided to make my way there, but then discovered a street - which turned out to be the same street in the first photo above that runs to the 4.19 Cemetery - that had been closed to traffic for a 2-day 4.19 Revolution Citizens' Cultural Festival, complete with booths and parades and lots of activities for kids and adults alike.

4.19 seems to me to be rather understudied today. There is a ton of information about the Gwangju Uprising in English and Korean. I'm left wondering if there is a good narrative-history book out there in Korean that could be translated so that the chronology and scope of events could be made clearer. (For example, I know a witness who told me he saw police shooting in front of Seoul Station; I'd had no idea there were protests there.)

For the lead up to the protests and the cultural / social background, on the other hand, Charles Kim's Youth For Nation: Culture and Protest in Cold War South Korea is well worth reading.