Was the US Government Involved in the May 18th Democratic Uprising?

By Stephen Redeker

The month of May is sacred in Gwangju and the South Jeolla region as a month to remember the May 18th Democratic Uprising which started on that date in 1980. Citizens of Gwangju protested against a government led by Chun Doo-hwan, after he took power through military force. Martial law had been imposed by the government and at that time, universities had been shut down due to pro-democracy discussions and marches. Freedom of the press was all but non-existent. Years of political discontent had come to a boil. The people wanted democracy. On May 18th, students and soldiers began fighting at the gate of Chonnam National University. Protests became violent and hundreds of people (including innocent bystanders) lost their lives in the battles between Chun’s soldiers and Gwangju protestors – controversy still exists because many facts remain unknown.

Tim Shorrock, a Washington D.C.-based investigative journalist who grew up in Japan and South Korea, was recently awarded an honorary citizenship for his research into the United States’ connection to the May 18th Uprising by Gwangju Mayor Yoon Jang Hyun. This was a proud honor recognizing a decades-long quest to publish the truth about the event that has shaped the country we live in today.

Using the Freedom of Information Act, Shorrock collected and studied stacks of documents from the US State Department, Pentagon and CIA. The documents clearly show how President Carter’s administration had given the go-ahead to South Korea’s military leaders to dispatch special forces from the DMZ and quell the peoples’ uprising in Gwangju (as carried out by General John Wickman, commander of the Korea-US Combined Forces Command). This had already been known in the years following the event, thus leading to a strong anti-USA movement among many Koreans during the 1980s. Only recently though, has the extent of US involvement been unearthed.

Secret plans and orders from the US government sent to William Gleysteen, the US envoy to Korea in 1980, were codenamed the “Cherokee Documents”.  The Korean-US joint Command approved measures ten days prior to May 18th to maintain law and order through military force if needed, prompted by massive protests that had already begun at universities nationwide. In one document, containing the detailed minutes of a White House meeting on May 22nd, President Carter agreed that the Gwangju Uprising required military force to stop it. This decision came despite the knowledge that the situation had escalated due to the killing of unarmed protestors. On May 27th, before dawn, South Korea’s army returned to the city and took back Gwangju, which was known as Operation: Fascinating Vacations.

Shorrock also commented on the allegations that North Koreans were behind the Gwangju revolt against the government. He claims the US observed no North Korean activity or troop movement at that time. During those years, heavy surveillance by US intelligence would have noted if there were any North Korean involvement. Also, the possibility that six hundred North Korean troops had secretly infiltrated Gwangju to carry out the uprising was preposterous.

Given this information and proof that the US government sided with the rule of Chun Doo-hwan (and Park Chung-hee before that), it certainly leaves a black mark on history, especially when the people of Gwangju hoped for US intervention as they fought oppression. Instead, the USA sided with authoritarian rule and martial law enforcement. Coming from an ideology claiming to support human rights, the US’ choice was shocking indeed for many Koreans.

Thankfully, democracy in Korea was restored after 1987. The lessons of the May 18th, 1980 Democratic Uprising will never be forgotten. It may have been a short campaign; it may have been crushed by a US-backed Korean government; but it will have always been a righteous and necessary movement. Everyone believed that democracy and freedom were worth the fight.

Today, we honor the memories of those who died and know their sacrifices were not in vain.