E55: Gwangju uprising, part 3

Working Class History

Society & Culture, Education, History

5.0 • 813 Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2021

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Part 3 of our four-part 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
This week, we speak with our guests about Gwangju commune, when the city was run by as residents, and about the subsequent retaking of the city and repression by the military.
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	Welcome back to part three of our podcast mini-series on the Kwangchru Uprising in South Korea in 1980.
0:05.6	If you haven't heard them already, I'd go back and listen to parts one and two first.
0:14.4	So, Sarmandau mehonged,
0:20.1	name no, name no, name no, Before we get tired, just a quick reminder that this podcast is only made possible because of support from you, our listeners, on Patreon.
0:40.4	So if you can, please consider supporting us today.
0:43.3	In return, you get access to exclusive benefits, including access to an exclusive bonus episode about the uprising,
0:49.8	where we include some additional information from our interviewees which we couldn't fit into these main episodes. Learn more and sign up at patreon.com slash working class history, link in the show notes.
1:01.8	As a content note, there is a brief mention of sexual violence towards the end of this episode.
1:08.1	By the end of part two, the 22nd of May, the workers and residents of Kwangchu had risen up
1:13.3	and liberated the city from the murderous paratroopers of US-backed dictator Chundu Wan.
1:18.9	The uprising also spread to several nearby towns, including Naju, Mokpo, Wasun, Hampong,
1:24.9	Yongk, Yuan, Hainam, and Geng Jin.
1:28.9	Guangzhou was free, but there was a big shadow hanging over it, as Jun Yongho explains.
1:39.0	Well, technically, there was a kind of freedom, but it was like a type of freedom you feel before death.
1:46.1	It's a nervous sense of peace before the impending doom, like the calm before the storm.
1:52.0	It was more of a nervousness than freedom.
1:56.2	Kim Yongho, meanwhile, had been taken into a house by local residents,
1:59.5	who helped him recover from getting shot by the soldiers.
2:02.6	I was treated for gunshot wounds and with my mind full of anger I went back to provincial office.
2:13.6	After a visit to the hospital, Kim then decided to try to join the citizens' militia
2:19.4	which had been established to fight the paratroopers and was headquartered in the
2:23.0	provincial office.
	...

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