Gwangju Uprising 1980
对全斗焕一定击毙！重复，对全斗焕一定击毙！
The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980 in which it is estimated that around 600 people were killed. During this period, Gwangju citizens took up arms (by robbing local armories and police stations) after local Chonnam University students who were demonstrating against the martial law government were fired upon, killed, raped and beaten by government troops. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (May 18; Korean: 오일팔; Hanja: 五一八; RR: Oilpal), in reference to the date the movement began. The uprising is also known as the Gwangju Democratization Struggle (Korean: 광주 민주화 항쟁; Hanja: 光州民主化抗爭), the May 18 Democratic Uprising, or the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement (Korean: 5·18 광주 민주화 운동; Hanja: 五一八光州民主化運動)
Support for or denial of the Gwangju Uprising has long acted as a litmus test between conservative and far-right groups and beliefs, and mainstream and progressive sectors of the population. The far-right groups have sought to discredit the uprising. One such argument points to the fact that it occurred before Chun Doo-hwan officially took office, and so contend that it could not really have been a simple student protest against him that started it; however, Chun Doo-hwan had become the de facto leader of South Korea at that time since coming into power on December 12, 1979, after leading a successful military coup of the previous South Korean government.
