Korea Report (2017 No.4)
Investigation Begins on May 18.
3. Investigation begins on May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement
: Revealing the Truth about 'Who ordered the shooting'
□ With rave box office success of the movie “Taxi Driver," the
re-investigation begins on the truth about May 18.
❍ As "Taxi Driver" brings in more than ten million people to the movie theaters,
the people have begun to show great interest in the truth about May 18. 1980.
There have been growing number of 'new facts' that have come to light in the
past few months.
- National Forensic Service conducted investigation on the ‘Jeon-il Building’ in
Gwangju four times, and concluded that the 78% of the bullet holes were likely to
have come from helicopter shooting (April 19, 2017).
- Air force pilot's testimony - "On May 18, warplane with stored explosives were
put on standby for air mission"; a document was found that shows the firing orders
were delivered to 505 Gwangju Security Force Unit (JTBC 8.17).
- ‘Memoir of Chun Doo-hwan,’ in which he denied to have given orders to fire at the
civilians and called the May 18 Democrtization Movement as 'riots,' received
distribution ban(August 15. 2017).
❍ The government is now promoting investigations on the truth about May 18.
- President Moon ordered investigations on △ whether the Martial Law Army fired
at the Jeon-il Bilding from the helicopter, and △ whether the air force was put on
standby for attacks on Gwangju(August 23. 2017)
- Ministry of Defense launched an independent task force to conduct re-investigation
on the May 18 Democratization Movement, including the matters of helicopter shooting
as well as the standby orders for the air force warplanes.
□ Complete and objective investigations on the May 18 will become the
unyielding evidence to prove that justice, universal human rights,
and democracy have set roots in Korean society.
❍ There have been growing evidences that show military's unconstitutional and
unethical behaviors at the time of May 18, and that the shooting by the military against
civilians were premeditated.
- While the former military officials, including Chun Doo-hwan, deny giving orders to fire
or planning to bomb the city, new evidences can denounce these claims.
- At the time of May 18 Democratization Movement, the military fired more than 510,000
bullets and used other weapons including eleven machine guns and grenades;
furthermore, new evidences show that the military mobilized TNT and antitank rockets,
illuminating the level of premeditation by the military as well as the brutality of
suppression.
❍ This investigation must provide answers to unresolved questions, and paint the
true picture of the Uprising--something previous governments failed to do.
- Previous investigations, including Roh Tae-woo government's May 18 Special
Investigation Committee, special prosecutor's investigation under the Kim Yong-sam
government, as well as Ministry of Defense History Committee under Roh Moo-hyun
presidency, all failed to get hold of classified documents, presenting limitations on
the in-depth investigation on the 5.18 Uprising.
- Current investigation carried out by the Ministry of Defense has expressed intention to
disclose those classified documents, and it may be able to reveal
'who ordered the shooting' against civilians at that time.
□ The government and the national assembly must do everything in their
power for the investigation on 'shooting order' as well as for the honor
of the Gwangju citizens to be restored.
❍ Ministry of Defense must review all available sources and must do their best in
revealing the truth about May 18.
- The Moon administration must carry out following measures: enacting a law on the
investigation on May 18; launching the independent investigation committee; providing
compensations on the victims of May 18.
- As President Moon expressed strong determination on investigating the truth about
May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement during the Ministry of Defense staff
meeting on August 28, the MoD should consider this as an opportunity to gain trust
from the people through comprehensive and thorough investigation.
❍ The National Assembly of Korea(NA) must pass “Special Law on the Extensive
Investigation on the May 18”, and allow the ‘comprehensive investigation’ by
the people to be brought forth.
- Currently, the legislation which would allow the launching of special investigation
committee is tied up in NA.
- Four opposition parties, with the exception of Liberty Korea Party, are not largely
against the passing of the legislation. Even Liberty Korea Party has stated that
they have no reason to oppose for the May 18 special investigation to commence;
therefore the NA must pass the special law to designate specific range and authority
of the future investigation in the upcoming ordinary session.