Korean American Community Commemorates the 41st Anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement

On May 18, KAAGNY hosted a commemoration event to remember the 41st Anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement. The event was attended by Korean American community groups and Consul General Won Sam Chang.

Participants came together to remember the Democratization Movement and the thousands of lives that were lost, and to empathize with other people's struggles for political freedom like the pro-democracy movement taking place in Myanmar.

The Gwangju Democratization Movement of 1980 (also referred to as the Gwangju Massacre or Gwangju Uprising) was a historic event wherein thousands of Gwangju residents protested against the South Korean military regime and its brutal crackdowns of peaceful activists and opposition to authoritarianism. This tragedy was not formally recognized until 1997. There is no universally accepted death toll of the Gwangju Massacre, but some reports argue that the death toll ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 civilians.