Moon vows to probe Gwangju crackdown
May 18 ceremony participants sing symbolic song together
GWANGJU — President Moon Jae-in participated in a ceremony to commemorate the May 18 Democratic Uprising in this southwestern city Thursday and sang a symbolic song with all participants.
This was the first time in nine years that all the people attending have sung the memorial song for the pro-democracy uprising in 1980, which had been prohibited by the two previous conservative administrations.
“Imeul Wihan Haengjingok” (March for the Beloved) resonated over the May 18th National Cemetery, following President Moon’s order. After taking office on May 10, he said that the symbolic pro-democracy song should be sung by all participants at the commemorative event.
Two previous conservative leaders — Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak — were reluctant to support the annual event in the liberals’ traditional stronghold. Park kept silent when others sang the song in 2013, and refused to attend the ceremony afterward.
This year, Moon attended the event along with party leaders, lawmakers, governors and civic activists who led street rallies last winter to unseat the scandal-ridden ex-President Park.
Over 10,000 packed the cemetery to honor those who resisted ex-President Chun Doo-hwan who seized power in a coup. This was the largest-ever number, as entry to the cemetery without advance registration was allowed unlike previous years.
The liberal president’s appearance impressed the city’s residents remembering the trauma of the time. During a brutal suppression from May 18 to 27, around 200 people were killed and over 800 injured.
Later, the atrocities of the military dictatorship triggered many students and activists to dedicate themselves to the pro-democracy movement.
“Thanks to the sacrifice of Gwangju people, the democracy of Korea could persist and survive,” Moon, a former human rights lawyer, said. “I declare the newly launched administration is in line with the spirit of Gwangju.”
Following his emphasis on truth and justice, the participants responded with applause. For decades, the movement and the memorial song have been subjects of defamation by far-right politicians and commentators. Punishment rarely followed the groundless claims that the protesters were controlled by North Korea.
To counter such distortions, Moon clearly defined the meaning of the movement and the song. “The song means the spirit of democracy and the honor of the victims. Through today’s unity, I hope to put an end to unnecessary controversies,” he said.
For decades, bereaved families and people who were injured have called for an investigation into who ordered troops to open fire on citizens, but they still have a long way to go. In January, a National Forensic Service report newly revealed that the military even used helicopters to fire on civilians indiscriminately.
Former President Chun, who was in charge of the suppression according to a Supreme Court judgment, denied his involvement in the incident in his memoir published last month, describing himself as a “victim.”
In front of the victims and bereaved families, Moon vowed thorough fact-finding. “The new government will firmly reveal those who directed the shootings including the ones from helicopters. Thorough fact-finding is not a matter of ideological dispute.”
Since the liberal opposition People’s Party has pushed for a special law to look into the shooting from helicopters, the investigation is likely to gain momentum under the liberal administration.
Moon also renewed his pledge to stipulate the spirit of the movement in the Constitution, if constitutional revision talks take place during his term. “I will politely ask for the agreement of the National Assembly and public support to succeed to the spirit of the Constitution.”
New ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) floor leader Rep. Woo Won-shik is adding fuel to the dispute over whether the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile battery here should require parliamentary approval after he suggested sending it back to the United States.
Woo Won-shik said in a radio interview Wednesday — the day after he was elected — that the party should “consider taking every possible measure if legal procedures were found to be not working properly” concerning the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here.
He also said, “Such measures should include sending the THAAD battery back to the U.S.”
However, the floor leader toned down his rhetoric Thursday, saying, “I meant we should deal with the case prudently and I was talking about it theoretically.”
But his remark still has stirred up strife within the DPK, as the previous floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho was against scrapping the THAAD deployment.
Woo Sang-ho said the plan could not be “sent back to square one” just because there was a change of government, noting that it was initiated by the conservative Park Geun-hye administration in consultation with the U.S.
The intra-party dispute comes following protests by the opposition parties which claim that THAAD, which became operational early this month, should not be subject to National Assembly approval.
“Rep. Woon Won-shik’s remark disappoints the people considering national security is in a grave situation,” said Rep. Kim Myung-yeon of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP).
Minor opposition Bareun Party spokesman Rep. Oh Shin-hwan, voiced a similar view.
“Rep. Woon Won-shik’s words show that he is not interested in keeping the people safe while ignoring the South Korea-U.S. alliance,” Oh said.
“His suggestion will divide the country and create a rift.”
Despite this, mainstreamers in the DPK are expected to push for putting the deployment to a parliamentary vote as pledged by President Moon Jae-in in his campaign, according to analysts.
“It will be tough for Moon to break this promise, because it was one of his key pledges that boosted him to win the election,” said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.
The President initially opposed the installation of the battery, claiming that the decision was made hastily without consulting the National Assembly and the people.
But he stepped back later and offered to put it to a National Assembly vote.
His advocates justified his call for parliamentary endorsement especially following U.S. President Donald Trump’s remark in April on billing South Korea $1 billion for the THAAD deployment.