E53: Gwangju uprising, part 1

Working Class History

Society & Culture, Education, History

5.0 • 813 Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2021

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

First part of our podcast miniseries about the May 18 uprising in Gwangju, South Korea, in 1980 against the US-backed military dictatorship of Chun Doo Hwan. We speak with Kim Yong Ho, David Dolinger and Jeon Yong Ho, who took part in the events, as well as researcher and lead translator of the excellent book, Gwangju Diary, Kap Su Seol.
Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. For example patrons can listen to all 4 parts of this miniseries now as well as an exclusive bonus episode. Join us or find out more at https://patreon.com/workingclasshistory
In part 1, we speak with our guests about the background to the uprising, and how it began.
See full information, acknowledgements, sources and a transcript here on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/2021/06/29/e53-the-gwangju-uprising-1980/

Transcript

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0:00.0	In May 1980, workers and students in Guangzhou, South Korea rose up against the brutal U.S.-backed dictatorship.
0:07.1	They drove out murderous special forces troops and ran Kwang-Ju collectively for several days
0:11.9	until eventually government forces retook the city.
0:15.0	This is working class history.
0:20.7	Sarrantomian Hi, and welcome back to working class history podcast. Firstly, just a quick reminder that this podcast is only made possible because of support from you, our listeners, on Patreon.
0:50.0	We've been working on these episodes for a bit over a year. And in addition to the dozens of hours of research, writing, recording and so on,
0:57.0	we've also had to pay for translation, transcription, editing and the like.
1:02.0	So we're extremely grateful for generous support from our listeners, which makes this possible.
1:06.0	If you can, please consider supporting our work where you also get exclusive benefits like early access to episodes, bonus episodes and more.
1:14.6	For example, you can listen to the whole of this miniseries now, as well as a bonus episode.
1:19.4	Learn more and sign up at patreon.com slash working class history.
1:24.1	Link in the show notes.
1:25.6	In this episode, we're beginning a mini-series on the
1:28.0	Kwangzhou uprising, sometimes known as the 518 uprising due to it beginning on May the 18th.
1:35.4	Although unsuccessful in achieving its goals at the time, it was a landmark event in the
1:39.7	restoration of democracy in the establishment of workers' rights in South Korea. And it's a really inspiring story of courageous resistance and self-management of entire city
1:49.0	in the face of absolutely horrific state violence.
1:52.0	It's also a story which is very little known and hardly mentioned in mainstream media or educational establishments,
1:59.0	especially relative to its importance, particularly when
2:02.3	you look at comparable events like the Tiananmen Square protests in China.
2:07.8	Personally, I've been wanting to make a podcast about the Kwangju Uprising for some time,
2:11.8	especially after visiting the city a couple of years ago, going to some of the sites where key
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