Laying Claim to the Memory of May: A Look Back at the 1980 Kwangju Uprising

Democracy in Action: The Days of “Free Kwangju”

25 Democracy in Action The Days of “Free Kwangju” May 22 7:00 a.m. It seems impossible to have such a lovely crisp blue dawn after a night of gun¤re (some of it a little too close). Last night the Korean radio ¤nally made mention of the “situation” here. They (whoever “they” are now— Communists and gangsters, says F[ather]) knocked over a couple of arsenals and got a lot of loot—not just weapons, but trucks and vehicles and explosives . The story (among others, I heard Kim Dae Jung had sought refuge with the American CIA and the Pres. of Chönnam Univ. had killed himself) was that the city was to be ¶ooded with soldiers between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m., and be out at your own peril. Still no phones or transportation in or out of the city. So everyone is really scared. We all bedded down together in the main room—Yun-ok and I, Tong-nip, and Mother and Father. . . . Students whizzing through town on commandeered army trucks, horns blazing—full of courage. I don’t know what to think of it all—especially since at a certain point people just get tired of explaining it to you in simple sentences. Plus so much is rumor. Plus the undercurrents. F is for the status quo. M[other] feels. Yun- ok is scared and thinks of missing school (I sympathize most with this attitude). Poor Tong-nip is the saddest. Anyway, so we all bedded down. In the middle of the night M came over to tuck us in better—but I think she just wanted to hear other voices. The gun¤re—including automatics—went on all night. 26 Kwangju, 1980 Never too close, I don’t think. The sound of guns carries—esp. on a still, clear night. Miller keeps urging me to get a bag packed—but I get stumped like Mrs. Austin [another American, the wife of an exchange professor living at Chönnam University]—am I going someplace else overnight? To Seoul for the weekend? So I settle for keeping passport and money at hand. . . . 9:00 a.m. Well—the question is—who’s got the guns? Miller says far from taking the city last night, the soldiers got routed. Everything is closed—no food. But M had the good sense to stock up on rice. A knot of neighbor women were conferring in the sun. M said we can always eat your [the neighbors’] dogs! We’ll start with your house, then yours. . . . I think I shouldn’t go out today—altho I’d really like to know what the judges are saying, more than anything else. Miller says the French couple, plus some missionaries, are going to try to make it out of town. Miller thinks we’re crazy to have gotten trapped here; I disagree. We could just as easily run to a mess as away from it. 10:00 a.m. A lea¶et ¶uttered down on the roof. It only had the 3 points that the radio gave the other night (says F in disgust), but I might as well translate it. It is mostly in hanja [Chinese characters]—sure to reach those elements they’re appealing to.1 In short: The ill-considered outbreak originating in the Kwangju area on the 18th is making it very hard to maintain the public peace.2 4:30 Lovely weather. If you just looked out, it would seem nothing was going on. I ¤nally went out, but only as far as the corner. And talked to people. On the one hand, it is a great way to get to know your neighbors. Plenty of knots of women standing around. People are worried and tense—looking for information . On the other side—I’m tense enough myself not to want to deal with hostility. Also the atmosphere seems a little paranoid for idle chit chat. . . . People are frightened and concerned about the guns—but I don’t hear opposition to the government lessening. If anything, it is stiffening and the Democracy in Action 27 mood is growing more sullen. Food is harder to come by—no stores open today . . . . The phones and electricity still work. I hear from Austin that the Huntleys report 15 dead and 100 wounded in the Presby hospital last night. Mostly from gun¤re from the helicopter. That...