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Korea Herald
28 minutes ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Gwangju Uprising memorial sees spike in visitors: report
May visitors to May 18th National Cemetery reach highest figure since 2018 A total of 242,503 people in May visited the graves of those who participated in the Gwangju Democratic Uprising in 1980, according to local media reports on Tuesday. The monthly visitor count at the May 18th National Cemetery was the highest since 2018 and marked an on-year increase of over 40,000 from to May 2024, the Korean-language news agency News 1 said, citing the operators of the government facility under the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. The number of visitors usually peaks in May around the anniversary of the nationwide protest against Chun Doo-hwan's junta, which took power via a military coup in December 1979. The highest figures for any other month in 2025 and 2024 were 12,287 in April this year, and 11,202 in April last year. The number of May visitors had usually exceeded 300,000 prior to 2019 but hovered in the 200,000 range over the past three years, plummeting to 5,822 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The political turmoil following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law in December is thought to have renewed public interest in the historic citizens' protest against the military regime. Yoon's martial law decree, which led to his impeachment and removal from office, was the first to be imposed in the country since 1981, under Chun's authority. Chun was not yet president when martial law was extended nationwide on May 18, 1980, but he had effectively been leader of the junta since the coup a year before. Yoon's much-disputed martial law declaration led to comparisons with Chun. The results of the June 3 presidential election showed that 84.8 percent of voters in Gwangju voted for Yoon's political rival and eventual successor, Lee Jae-myung, who also garnered over 80 percent of the vote in both North and South Jeolla Provinces. Lee himself drew a comparison between Yoon and Chun at a commemoration of the Gwangju Uprising's 45th anniversary last month, when he attended as a presidential candidate. He said the spirit of the Gwangju citizens that refused to back down in the face of military oppression in 1980 has been inherited by those who opposed the dispatch of troops to the National Assembly under Yoon's martial law decree. Those who have been recognized by the state as having died while participating in the Gwangju Uprising are entitled to be buried at the May 18th National Cemetery, in accordance with the Act on the Honorable Treatment of Persons of Distinguished Service to the May 18 Democratization Movement. Those who have relinquished their Korean nationality or have been convicted of certain crimes can have their burial rights revoked.
Korea Herald
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Will Yoon Suk Yeol meet same bitter end as his predecessors?
With ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol's trial set to run until mid-December, he won't face a verdict until almost seven months after new president is elected on June 3. The Criminal Act stipulates that those convicted of leading an insurrection face either death penalty or life imprisonment. Experts The Korea Herald spoke to said he was likely to be found guilty and face a prison sentence. 'Yoon's martial law declaration did not cause significant injuries or deaths like ex-President Chun Doo-hwan's Gwangju massacre in 1980. I expect the court to sentence him to life imprisonment rather than the death penalty,' a former research judge at the Constitutional Court Noh Hee-bum told The Korea Herald. Lee Yun-ju, a law professor at Myongji University, expected a similar fate for Yoon. 'I think Yoon, who is a former prosecutor, knows that he cannot be acquitted in the criminal trial. He continues to politicize the trial, like how he expressed his support for conservative party's presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo. Yoon plans to wait for a potential special pardon provided by the conservative People Power Party after the conservative party (hypothetically) retains power in the June 3 election,' said Lee. Though the ousted president's future remains uncertain until the Supreme Court of Korea to hand down its final verdict, Yoon is expected to become a part of the troubled history of South Korea's former presidents. Here is a list of presidents who once stood at the pinnacle of power and saw their careers end in disgrace. In 1995, former President Chun Doo-hwan and another former President Roh Tae-woo became the first two former presidents to be arrested. Chun, who not only seized power through a 1979 coup, but also masterminded the massacre that quelled the Gwangju Democratic Uprising in 1980, were indicted on charges of insurrection, treason, bribery and corruption in 1996. Roh, who became president by beating a divided field in the democratic election that followed Chun's ouster, was tried for his role in the 1979 military coup as well. Though Seoul District Court sentenced Chun to death and handed down a prison term of 22 years and six months to Roh with its first trial verdict, the Supreme Court of Korea reduced Chun's punishment to life imprisonment and Roh's sentence by five years. The two former presidents were pardoned by former President Kim Young-sam in 1997, after serving two years in prison. Two other former presidents — Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak — have seen cases go all the way to a trial verdict. Park, the first elected president to be removed from office by the Constitutional Court, was indicted on multiple charges, including bribery, abuse of power and coercion in 2017. In its 2018 ruling, the court found Park guilty of 16 out of the 18 charges and sentenced her to 24 years in prison. Park spent four years and nine months behind bars, as she was pardoned by her successor, President Moon Jae-in. Ex-President Lee was charged in April 2018 on 16 criminal counts including embezzlement and bribery. A district court found him guilty of seven counts and sentenced him to 15 years in prison in its first trial verdict in October 2018. However, Lee only spent two years and six months in prison, as he was pardoned in 2022 by former President Yoon. Former President Roh Moo-hyun died by suicide amid an investigation targeting him and his family over bribery charges in 2009.
Korea Herald
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Lee Jae-myung floats ending single-term limit for presidency
Democratic Party candidate shifts stance on Constitutional reform; avoids questions about seeking reelection Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, pledged Sunday to amend the Constitution to permit presidents to serve two terms, with the length of a single term cut from the current five years to four. Lee also proposed memorializing the 1980 pro-democracy movement in Gwangju in the Constitution, to "remember the people who gave their lives to fight dictatorship and defend democracy." Lee said the Constitution needed to be rewritten to be a "sturdier bastion of democracy," and that "the spirit of Gwangju must be written into (its) text." Lee, who was in Gwangju on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, made these announcements in a post on his Facebook page, as he had with other policy pledges. In response to a reporter's question asking whether Lee would be permitted to run again under his proposed amendment, Lee avoided a straight answer, saying the Constitution, as it is written now, bars a sitting president from seeking another term. "Implementing a four-year presidential term and allowing a second run would let people give a 'halfway evaluation' on the administration's performance," Lee said. Lee offered former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law imposition as his rationale for changing the presidential term to "increase checks and balances on the office of the president." On top of abolishing the single-term limit, Lee said he would place a cap on how many times a president can exercise his veto powers over bills passed by the National Assembly. In particular, presidents should not be able to veto bills related to corruption suspicions surrounding them and their families, Lee added. To "reform" the country's investigative agencies, Lee said he would take away the prosecution service's authority to request arrest warrants from the court. The Democratic party candidate almost had an arrest warrant out after him when he was the party's leader in 2023, and is currently mired in five ongoing criminal trials that would, in principle, continue through his time in office if elected as president. Lee, whose Democratic Party controls the majority in the National Assembly with 170 out of 300 seats, said he would expand parliamentary powers, and let the National Assembly pick the nominees for prime minister. The next general election for the Assembly is in 2028. Sunday's proposal marks a U-turn from his earlier stance on amending the Constitution. Lee had downplayed the need for one during the Democratic Party primary. "I don't think changing the Constitution is something that we should be discussing now," Lee said at an April 28 televised debate with other primary challengers. Lee's call for making a two-term presidency constitutionally permissible fueled speculations that the Democratic Party candidate may try to secure a second term himself, should he win. "Lee has to make it clear before the people that he would rule out pursuing another term by amending the Constitution if he is elected president," Rep. Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party said in a statement Sunday. "Lee suddenly advocating consecutive presidential terms has autocrats like Russia's Vladimir Putin written all over it. This may be a dangerous sign of his ambitions to rule long term," Na said.
Korea Herald
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Gwangju's battle to restore historic landmark nearly over
GWANGJU -- In the heart of Gwangju, a decade-long struggle to preserve a site of immense historical significance is finally nearing its conclusion. The former South Jeolla Provincial Office, a key landmark of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, was partially demolished in 2015 before protests halted its destruction. Now, after years of fierce opposition, discussions and even a fire that threatened to derail restoration efforts, the project is set to be completed in the second half of 2025. Among those who fought tirelessly to protect the building are the mothers of those who lost their lives during the pro-democracy movement. In protest, those opposed to the demolition, including the members of the Mothers of May, the mothers of those who died in the Gwangju Uprising, shaved their heads, held demonstrations and mobilized public pressure to halt the demolition. Their efforts eventually led to a reversal of government plans and the decision to restore the annex instead of removing it. In 2023, the restoration process started in earnest. On Feb. 11, Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon met with the representatives of the Guardians of the Former South Jeolla Provincial Office Restoration, who are family members of the victims who lost their lives during the Gwangju Pro-democracy Movement. 'It's been 10 years. When we first started this, we did not expect to take this long. ... In the meantime, we shaved our heads and went on a hunger strike,' Chu Hye-seong, the leader of Mothers of May, also a member of the Guardians, told Yu, urging him to closely oversee the restoration process. Chu's husband suffered from illnesses caused by torture inflicted on him during the uprising. "Right now, our priority is restoration. Once it's completed later this year, we will focus on transforming the venue into a museum dedicated to democratic movements and history. We will make great efforts to develop meaningful content to fill this space," Yu stated. The demolition was initially intended to help the city move forward from its painful past while creating a new symbol of cultural progress with the establishment of the Asia Culture Center. The ACC, now renamed National Asian Culture Center, opened in 2015. It was envisioned as a major hub for Asian arts, cultural exchange and creative industries, to bring contemporary art exhibitions, performances and research institutes to Gwangju. The demolished part — 24 meters out of the 54-meter-long annex — was supposed to serve as the new gate for the modern culture center. After years of debates, a consensus was reached to restore the original form as a reminder of what it costs to keep the nation's democracy. In October 2023, the government announced a plan to restore the six designated buildings — including the main and annex buildings of the former South Jeolla Provincial Office, the government conference room, the main and civil affairs office of the Provincial Police Headquarters, and Sangmugwan Hall — to their original state in May 1980. The interior and exterior structures, as well as the connecting passageways, were to be restored. When completed, the Main Building will showcase the 10-day struggle from May 18 to May 27, 1980; the Provincial Police Headquarters will focus on the stories of citizens who participated in the uprising. Sangmugwan Hall, which temporarily housed the bodies of victims during the Gwangju Uprising, will serve as a permanent memorial space. This location is also central to Nobel Prize winner Han Kang's novel "Human Acts," which powerfully depicts the trauma, resilience and suffering of those involved in the uprising. The novel's harrowing accounts of victims' bodies being temporarily laid in Sangmugwan have been instrumental in raising global awareness of the historical significance of this site. Mothers of May Meanwhile, as the Mothers of May await the completion of the restoration later this year, they have found a new path to healing in recent years: singing. Since 2022, all 15 members have participated in "Songs of the Mothers of May," a performance that transforms 40 years of grief and longing into music. They have performed at the ACC in Gwangju and across the country. In May and June of last year, the group commemorated both Jeju's 4.3 Incident and Seoul's June 10 Democratic Protest. Jeju's 4.3 Incident refers to the state-led massacre that took place on Jeju Island between April 3, 1948, and 1954, during which tens of thousands of civilians were killed amid the government's suppression of an alleged communist insurgency. Seoul's June 10 Democratic Protest in 1987 was a pivotal moment in South Korea's fight for democracy, as mass demonstrations against the military regime led to direct presidential elections and the country's transition to democratic rule. 'We started the performances to tell our stories through singing. Now that we're getting older and there isn't a sufficient budget, we cannot do as much as we hoped. For this year, we will perform once in Gwangju and once in Japan in June, and we will make some changes,' Chu said.
Korea Herald
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
'President will of course accept' results of impeachment trial: Yoon's lawyer
Yoon Suk Yeol's lawyer said Wednesday that the impeached president will accept the decision of the Constitutional Court of Korea, which is deliberating whether to confirm his impeachment over his botched declaration of martial law on Dec. 3. "The president will of course accept the results from the Constitutional Court. (...) We cannot consider the possibility of him refusing or being unable to accept (the trial's results)," Seok Dong-hyun, who represents Yoon, told reporters in a press conference. He stressed that his comment is not in anticipation of unfavorable results for Yoon in the trial. Rather, it is simply to state that the legal team does not have plans regarding either accepting or refusing the court's decision. Seok said he hopes the verdict will be fair and in accordance with the law. Seok, a long-time confidant of Yoon who attended Seoul National University School of Law with the embattled president, has been denying the charges his client faces -- including leading an insurrection and abuse of power -- and has maintained that there are "severe errors" in the legal process. The suspended president is currently on trial for impeachment and under criminal investigation for his failed imposition of martial law -- the first time a South Korean president has made such an attempt since 1980, which resulted in the violent suppression of the Gwangju Democratic Uprising -- and his subsequent orders to his military commanders and police chiefs, which are suspected to be illegal in nature. Yoon is believed to have ordered the arrest of a list of major political figures and opinion leaders who have been critical of him, along with a blockade of the National Assembly and the cutting off of the electricity and water at several media outlets. Yoon's criminal trial officially kicked off Thursday, with the first preliminary hearing held at 10 a.m. Seok called the deliberation process of the nation's Constitutional Court unconstitutional and illegal, claiming that the former members of a now-defunct judge's society are playing prominent roles in what he claimed is Yoon's unlawful trial. "(Yoon) has many issues with the unacceptable level of illegal and unfair proceedings of his impeachment trial," he said. He said neither the president or the legal team are considering Yoon voluntarily stepping down from the presidency. He said the "important decision" mentioned earlier by Yun Gap-geun -- another member of the president's legal team -- refers to actions within the legal procedure, such as Yoon's attorneys collectively resigning.
