Striking in South Korea in 1980

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.5 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2021

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

There were strikes and student protests across South Korea in May 1980. The military government responded with a brutal crackdown in the city of Gwangju and elsewhere striking workers faced arrest and even torture. Heongjun Park has been hearing from one of those strikers, Bae Ok Byoung, who worked in a factory making wigs in Seoul. She, and the other female employees had gone on strike demanding better working conditions, but after the industrial action ended she was jailed, tortured and then blacklisted for decades. This is a 2 Degrees West production.

Photo: Labour activist Bae Ok Byoung talking to some of the workers at the wig factory in Seoul where she worked in 1980.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. You are listening to the BBC World Service and now witness history. I am Pac-Kung Jun.
0:48.0	On the 18th May 1980, one of the most divisive moments in South Korea's history took place in the city of Guangzhou.
0:58.0	The riots in South Korea are reported to have spread.
1:01.0	The demonstrators are calling for democratic elections and an end to martial law.
1:06.7	30,000 students were on the streets battling with police.
1:11.3	In May 1980, South Korea's military government was facing strikes and demonstrations across the country.
1:19.0	Students and workers protested for their rights to democratic freedom culminating in Guangzhou Massacre.
1:26.0	These demonstrations would have wide-reaching consequences for the whole country.
1:31.0	The fighting raged for hours into the night and similar disturbances were reported from two
1:37.2	provincial towns.
1:39.0	Peooke Pyongyang was a 22 year old worker at one of South Korea's largest producers of Wiggs at the Kuro Industrial Complex in Seoul, who was imprisoned for her role in the fight for workers' rights.
1:53.0	Beh told me about her experience.
1:55.0	When I first joined the company, there were about 1,200 female workers.
2:02.0	99% of them lived in the company dormitory. There were about 1,200 female workers.
2:02.7	99% of them lived in the company dormitory.
2:05.7	We were not allowed to go out except for Wednesday and Saturday.
2:09.1	Other than that, we spent 24 hours in the dormitory.
	...

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