Recalling Gwangju uprising, massacre

Hwa Young Lee Photos: Minjok.com

Hwa Young Lee from the Korea Truth Commission, spoke at the 26th anniversary of the heroic Gwangju, South Korea people’s uprising and its bloody suppression. John Parker of the International Action Center gave a solidarity statement and musical performance.

The Korea Truth Commission organized the May 18 event in Los Angeles to commemorate the 1980 national student-led uprising that swept South Korea in response to a right-wing military coup supported by the U.S. government under former President Jimmy Carter. In response, more than 2,000 people, most of them young students, were killed by the South Korean military. Thousands more were injured, tortured and imprisoned.

The U.S., which had the ultimate authority over the South Korean military since the end of World War II, allowed a suc ces sion of military dictatorships to abuse the people while close to 40,000 U.S. troops occupied the country. Later proof revealed that U.S. orders allowed the Gwangju massacre to take place.