May 18 Democratic Uprising
Also called: Gwangju Uprising
From 18 to 27 May 1980, in Gwangju, martial-law troops used force against citizens demanding an end to martial law and to the new military group, and many citizens were killed.
LERK · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
Demonstrations for democracy continued through the spring of 1980 (the "Seoul Spring"). On 17 May the new military group extended martial law nationwide, arrested Kim Dae-jung and other politicians and closed the National Assembly.
On 18 May, when Chonnam National University students in Gwangju protested against martial law, paratroopers were sent in and used excessive force, and outraged citizens joined the protests. After troops fired on crowds in front of the provincial office on 21 May, citizens formed a militia and the troops withdrew from the city. A citizens’ committee kept order, but on 27 May troops retook the provincial office.
The uprising became the foundation of the democratization movements of the 1980s. 18 May became a national commemoration day in 1997, and its records were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2011.