Kwangju Uprising - news cast

[nILLBMSQ]

its not civilians fault. the leader was censoring media, dictating, killing people who were opposed. basically kawnju citizens werent pussies. they stood up against the unfairness

[xxwzaebd]

If somebody claims that the uprising was started by NK infiltrators, they have to show evidence supporting that claim. Then, war crime trials(which have no stature of limitation) can start against NK. But there are only claims and claims, no evidence. In addition,all of Westerners talking too much about this tragic incident are military service objectors(however,I respect their choice) living on welfare or doing useless activities(like leftist parties).

[kim4738]

Why only in that province? Recent information by the North Korean ex-Spec ops claim North Korean Government had sent a group to rally the people. Kwangju people have been known to be pro-North Korean ever since the dividing of Korea, and even current pro-Kim Jong ill followers are from that province. coincidence? I think not. And people from that province wonder why everyone else in south korea look at them with a suspicious eye....lol

[giannivee1]

You can't help but love the Korean people. Enslaved by the Japanese and freed from them thanks to the Atomic bomb, it soon fell in 1962 to a Military Coup that gave them 18 years of repression, and then this. They are tough, intelligent, freedom loving, and quite remarkably, like basic americans, Many are christians, and think on captitalistic and economic turns. They have earned their freedom, they are honorable and decent. God Bless...Gianni

[xxwzaebd]

The college training was reduced to 2 years in the '80s and completely abolished in 1989. Home guard was also abolished in the mid '90s. Arguing 'only NK spies can act in a militarily organised manner' is thus an unsuitable view. Regardless of reeason and background, the people of Gwangju should have been allowed to decide on their own fate, under UN supervision.The background dates back to pre-historical days.

[xxwzaebd]

Sometimes conservatives raised doubts about people capable of handling weapons. Here the problem is-Korea has compulsory military service(3 years in the past, preceded by college military training during 3 school years and many years of reserve service afterwards). And even home guard members were capable of operating certain equipment. The conservatives base their opinions on paleo-confucianist statism but have no support in the international world.

[xxwzaebd]

The reason conservatives still oppose this movement is that they do NOT accept the concept that people have the right to resist;that is, they maintain that raising arms against government is treason no matter the reason. Ironically, they fiercely resisted against the education reforms(abolishment fo school uniforms,late school classes, private tuitions etc) taken by Mr.Jeon. Of course, there should be re-investigation in the future.

[xxwzaebd]

There should be objective reinvestigations if necessary. I don't believe either side.

[ihatekhomeini]

US has always supported dictatorship and terrorism. It's the biggest terrorist state on the planet, muslim terrorism is like a couple of ants in comparison.

[reddemocary]

Loose Change

Loose Change Final Cut

911 mysteries

HAARP

Lait, Mensonges et Propagande

diet for a new America

[m0bi]

Anarchism in action: self-governance,

and of course the military (with outside nations help {U.S.}) want to impede any kind of TRUE independence & autonomy.

[Tablo]

R.I.P. Peter Jennings!!!

[mypseang]

People in Kwangju just tried to defend themselves and kept democracy from Doo-hwan Cheon's military government that people never gave it a vote and didn't admit it as the legitimate administration.

[jacob7207]

The U.S. didn't do anything about this. Because of that, many Koreans blame the US saying they "allowed for this to happen," which is complete bullshit.

[yjc826]

what a biased broadcast. USA had no idea what really was going on, and what government did to cover this up for a decade. Rather than being a "fight," like they say, it was more of a massacre by the government. We must know it was unfair for the people in Kwangju to be killed and suffered by the government. the "Armed Young Man" were there to defend themselves against the military forces of Chun Doo Hwan

[wilfred137]

The USA knew EVERYTHING that was going on and gave it their stamp of approval. Wake up and read a book. "Blowback" by Chalmers Johnson is a good start.

[SCSNSE]

Yes, the Reagan administration did this type of thing all around the world, supporting dictators around the world in order to "save them" from Communism.

[yomamabf]

Koreans are a race of ppl where we will fight for justice its throughout our history its in our genes we cant help it we hate being mistreated and weapons were handed out to citizens cuz every Korean has been in da military and have training its mandatory for every Korean born person to join da military

[BeyondTheTreeline]

It's mandatory for every Korean MAN, not for every Korean person

[yomamabf]

thas wut i meant u dumb ugly fuck

[Impossible71]

In the 90s Chun Doo Wan and Roh Tae Woo were indicted for their executive roles in the massacre, sentenced to death then pardoned. How's that for justice?

[paistekent]

hhhh

[st5tar]

omg.sucks SK amry

[kero7642]

korea has more advanced weapons than china. and in korea military service is compulsary unlike china who wimpers to go to the army and does not know how to shoot

[synergymaster]

Why Jun-Ra Do people are being hated all around the world?

In Korea, Jun-Ra Do are known as slanderers, gangsters, criminals, theives, dirty politicians, back stabbers, etc.

In the U.S, majority of Korean immigrants are Junra-do people. Blacks and Mexicans burn down the town during the LA riot.

In Japan, they do underground criminal works and giving bad name to Korea.

It's not about them being progressive people. They just can't stand others better off than them. It's in their gene.

[esun]

my mistake...-1

[lsny420]

Where did you learn that the majority of Korean immigrants are from Chollado?

[gwajadanji2]

but many of korean japanese are from gyeongsangdoh.

[TIEDefender2nd]

@synergymaster

W T Fuk. DO you even know the real truth???

what you've said are freaking simply false and twisted. Go get urself some decaf you shitty di'kut

[jess9450]

Wow, I'm actually writing about this incident right now for one of my history classes. I didn't know very much about this event, but now I must say that this was really a terrible tragedy... D:

[VegasNvVegas]

Wow, less then 30 years ago. Just shocking what happened. If the incident started as a demonstration by college students who were influenced by the N. Koreans I think the government should have done a better job of protecting the citizens from these imposters. I am sure there are 2 sides to every story but in this case I guess the truth was the military was ordered to shoot on sight. Many of the soldiers that were there are still alive. It would be interesting to hear there testimony. Peace !!!!

[xxmc117]

Korea is indeed a dirty country??? Last i checked its cities are clean and its economy is strong and sound. Clearly your racism driven bigotry has no place in video discussing a Korean political incident. If you despise Korea that much don't post in Korean related matters please.

[killer00630]

AGREE!

[xxmc117]

6:06 - Great restraint... Perhaps that would have been the key to averting the whole incident.

[xxmc117]

Nevertheless the tragedy was brought on by the government's heavy handed approach to the incident you have mentioned. Nowhere did I not dismiss the possiblity of North Korean involvement in my statement: i was specualating about the mentality the soldiers brought with them to supress a "civil disturbance." You can not pin anymore blame on the demonstrators when the South Korean government itself made a formal apology on the debacle and implicated Chun Doo-hwan.

[octoberproj]

The way I see, many people in Korea are still reluctant to accept that Kwangju movement in 1980 was about bringing about democracy, partly because hardcore advocates of the movement tend to depict it like immaculate conception by the demonstrators.

This is a tragedy, because Kwangju was in essence a democratic movement. It just wasn't all that peaceful.

Until its promoters admit there were some ugly scenes on both sides, controversy will continue to exist.

[xxmc117]

What the South Korean Miltary did on during that uprising was appalling. You could not justify the actions of the student leaders and the protestors but for the miltary to use lethal force is despicable and unacceptable. When tax payer dollars are used to murder citizens: then people have to demonstrate this kind of senseless bloodbath is wrong and won't be tolerated.

[soynoise]

Much respect to all the Kwangju Freedom Fighters! Jail Chun Doo-hwan (1980 Evil Korean President who got away with murdering innocent students and civilians).

[gajagu]

@xxmc117 << You could not say that if you were there. This case should have told with regional haterism in S.Korea. And there was one real ***king 2nd Dictator !!! That time.. if the citizen blame the President. We were draged into a prison directly !!!

[wooo1018]

그래 이 씨발놈들아!!!!!!!!

우리 나라는 여태 잘한거 없다 왜!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

우리는 니들같은 폭도들은 아니였다!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

불만있어? 불만있냐고!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

없으면 입닥치고 니네 나라에서 잘 먹고 잘 살아 이 개새끼들아!!!!!!!!!!!!

씨발 61 people이 아니고 2000 people이 죽었다 이 지능낮은 돼지새끼들아!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[didz83]

I love the way the reporters continually reiterate that the US won't tolerate "north korean interference", they were blatantly making their excuses just in case the south korean army couldnt retake the region.

[xchimx]

I think more importantly, it is telling of an American perspective on Korea that is unable to view things like democracy movements outside of a broader stability context. American media wrote favorably of the "Seoul Spring" when democracy demonstrations were peaceful, but the second hell broke loose in Kwangju (initiated by the military even), they became anti-government rioters.

[octoberproj]

Well, IMO, your view changes when you realize your own neck stuck out there.

As long as demonstrations are peaceful, you can be magnanimous and good-willed. But the minute they turn violent, your own people -civilians and soldiers stationed there- become an utmost concern.

What if a country where your peacekeepers are deployed falls into a violent spiral?

Can you honestly say you expect your government and journalists to be completely fair and square on the situation?

[maetdwaeji]

it was the soldiers who were been brutally violent in the beginning.

[octoberproj]

You may be right on some issues. But last time I checked, the most popular foreign cars in Korea are not from Japan, but from Germany. Ouch!

[mrsamshin]

o yea germany is the number 1 importer

[mrsamshin]

the dictator was korean but was raised as japanese officer then becoming a communist then becoming a soldier for the ROK.

[mrsamshin]

you are random you mention about littering and then about cars...obviously everyone buys japanese cars. japanese are #1 car importers. they make cars and sells it to other people but who was giving you those resources as for japan is a island that lack resources. Koreans litter but who doesn't( i don't) If you live in LA there is alot of littering there. So korea has littering in urban areas.

[mrsamshin]

will japanese ever stop making korea rich for we give you the resources and make products for us... Japanese love to buy korean cellphones and movies, will japan ever apologize for its war crimes and end anti immigration.

[123ericyee]

well done, matt.

[xchimx]

The Vanderbilt News Archive archives television news.  You can search their archives and request recordings for about $20 or so.

[azure68]

Yeah...that's kinda why there are so many Koreans studying abroad...And about that littering problem, it's not bad if you're in the better areas of Seoul. Just replying because I have nothing else better to do ;)

[PeginSeki]

wow peter jennings (rip) looks so young

[nzkeesan]

chea man!

we got way more technology!u no cgv right?

[nzkeesan]

just saw the new movie about this!

it was good but better if they put more money in to it to make it grand

[noobwurl4ever]

i saw that movie to its called 화려한 휴가 lol the korean movie theaters are 5x bigger than the americans

[looxgood]

It turned out that it was a massacre of civilians by military officers in order to gain power.

[octoberproj]

More accurately it was bloodbath between military and civil militia. You can see this view describes more accurate picture just by watching the newsreel video. It doesn't seem fair to call it a massacre when the students and activists were armed to the teeth with carbins, machine guns and armored vehicles, huh?

[bmelanie]

It does seem fair when you consider that they only armed themselves 'to the teeth', as you say, after countless unarmed citizens had been killed by soldiers opening fire on a peaceful protestation.

[octoberproj]

You need to hear the accounts from both sides and get your facts checked. The protests prior to the shootings were anything but peaceful. It has been established by historians from both sides that protesters broke into a military affilated factory and got hold of military armored vehicles several days before the shooting.

[didz83]

violent demonstrations against a military dictatorship, how dare they!

[carlosmenciaROX]

We rebeled cuz we thought the new dictators Sucked Balls. We were right to rebel. the whole event wuz a tragedy though.

[octoberproj]

Just before the shooting occurred, a soldier was run over and killed by one of these stolen armored vehicles. Witnesses testified that soldiers, vastly outnumbered by rioters, were retreating and then cornered into a blind alley. You can check these from Korean Parliament Records.

[xchimx]

Yes, but this is only when the actual shooting started a few days after much of the violence had occurred. There are numerous accounts of military brutality, some suggest the military used bayonets on unarmed civilians.

The army had already started killing Kwangju's citizens day's before they started opening fire on them. The reasons the citizens began seizing armored vehicles and weapons was in response to this violence.

Check out the monograph by Kim Jung-eui called "Kwangju Diary".

[octoberproj]

You're right on that. Still, it brings out a question, "is it right to respond to violence with the same kind of violence?"

The way I see, it'd be foolish to pull out a jackknife on gangsters just because they threatened and injured you. Once you resort to violence, even if you're right, you are equally responsible for the consequeces. We all know the purpose of the military was to suppress and control the demonstrators, not to wipe them out.

They don't praise Gandhi for no reason.

[maetdwaeji]

are you saying they kneel on the ground and die?

WHAT? they wanted to wipe them out

strange...

[octoberproj]

Are you suggesting that if the demonstrators had not armed themselves and fought back against the soldiers they all would have been killed?

As witnessed in Tiananmen Square Protests in 1989 and Burmese civil movement in September last year, the fatalties usually remain low as long as the situaton doesn't escalate into mutual violence.

Your attempt to justify the violence seems feeble and even dangerous.

[xxmc117]

Actually you're misinformed, The korean armry divisions were sent in on the impression that this was a uprising spurred by North Korean Spies however we now know that to be false. A product of Cold War paranoia clearly. If anything the whole incident errupted over this single misunderstanding. I'd like to compare this to the Hungarian uprising of 1956 and Czechslovakia in 1968: incidents where miltary force also was used unwantonly.

[octoberproj]

I'm sorry to say this, but if anyone's misinformed here that would be you.

Records show that the troops sent to suppress the civil movements had thought they were going to have some fun in college campuses because the arresting a bunch of college students would be a piece of cake. The operation was supposed to be quick and easy. The soldiers were even bringing volleyballs:you can check these from the archives.

Unfortunately, as we all know now, it didn't turn out as planned.

[xxmc117]

And of course you would gladly be spoon fed whatever was said to you from an OFFICIAl persepective. You're quite misinformed: the whole action was spurred on by the MILTARY using LETHAL force to dispel demonstrators from the provisional city center.

[octoberproj]

You're not being fair about this, not to mention missing the point.

What you suggest is that one should not rely on any OFFICIAL accounts. In this case, that entails a danger that you would accept things only fitting your point of view; it holds true only by assuming whatever you see is infallible.

That's like a trial in which only prosecutors are allowed to speak. Can you call it fair?

How can you be sure there is NOT an ounce of truth in the official perspective?

[octoberproj]

Besides, when I said 'misinformed', it's about your comments implying that the soldiers were ready to kill from the start.

Even the 5-18 Memorial Foundation states that the soldiers were first sent to the Students Union room in Jeon-Nam Univ. to crack down possible students' movement. (Yes, they brutally used clubs and other means in the process.)

What you are saying - about the city center - happened days later, thus having nothing to do with 'misinformed'.

[octoberproj]

For North Koreans involvement, I learned that there are testimonies from defected North Korean military personnel claiming they had seen or heard about the existence of some North Korean special force members' memorials commemorating their service in Kwangju. Though these claims haven't been supported by pictures or other physical evidences, nor have they been recognized by South Korean government, it wouldn't be fair to dismiss its possibility altogether without giving it due consideration.

[torself]

because they were fighting back

[mrsamshin]

The protestors were peaceful without weapons but the armed soldiers fired upon the civilians. Soldiers in Korea are taught with discipline

[maetdwaeji]

are you sure you're a korean?

[NorthKoreaHR]

If you want to look way back, that area was its own kingdom - Paekchae - and the Kyungsangnamdo area the Shilla kingdom. The unification under Shilla came, when was it? - 600s? - before that was constant struggle between the Three Kingdoms. The area that is now North Korea was part of the third kingdom, and people from it, and it was administered as a military district until late in the Chosun Dynasty that came to an end basically in the 1800s (officially 1910).

[smooth1nz]

Can any Korean please explain to me why people from Jeolla-nam-do have always been discriminated against?

[btnikk]

Because all the previous president dictators were from Kyungsangnam-do & Kyungsangbuk-do. They all were antagonistic against Kim Dae-jung, the Jeollanam-do political hero, and tried to develop only those districts and economically isolate Jeollanam-do, the Kim's hometown and main political backing area.

[octoberproj]

The discrimination against people of Jeolla region, which includes Jeolla-nam-do, the southern province of Jeolla, and Jeolla-buk-do, the northern province of Jeolla, has a long historical root. Koryo Dynasty which preceded Chosun Dynasty and from which the name Korea originated, had the 10 Commandments from Wang Gun, its founder, among them states a decree that the legal and systematic blocking of officials from currently Jeolla province entering the central governmental posts.

[octoberproj]

This kind of discrimination had been spread into the minds of ordinary Korean people all throughout Chosun Dynasty and Japanese colonial occupation.

During Japanese rule, students from Jeolla province had hard time finding lodging arrangements in Seoul and other parts of the Korean peninsula because they were mistakenly considered untrustworthy and deceitful by many landlords.

[octoberproj]

After independence from Japan, the prejudice against people of Jeolla still persisted in the mind of many Koreans.

Then came a coup in 1961 that thrusted a general from Kyungsang province, which is the historic archrival of Jeolla province due to rivalry between their respetive ancient kingdoms, to power. And this general named Park, considered by many, Korean or not, as the father of modernization of Korea, doggedly pursued industrialization with what little resource then Korea had.