Widows of American missionaries lament at May 8 distortion

By Yi Whan-woo

Widows of two late Americans who served as missionaries in Korea have sent a letter of protest to National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang over some lawmakers' latest attempt to distort the truth about the democratic uprising in Gwangju on May 18, 1980.

According to the National Assembly, Friday, Barbara Peterson and Martha Huntley are taking the case very seriously because it goes against what they and their late husbands ― Arnold Peterson and Charles Betts Huntley ― witnessed.

The two missionaries and their families lived in Gwangju from 1969 to 1985. They were on the scene when Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan's military junta suppressed and massacred hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in the streets.

Some far-right politicians still refuse to acknowledge that the massacre took place apparently under Chun's order. They instead argue North Korean agents infiltrated Gwangju and instigated a riot which Chun suppressed.

During a public hearing on Feb. 8, two main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) legislators ― Lee Jong-myeong and Kim Soon-rye ― brought up the conspiracy theory.

Another LKP lawmaker, Kim Jin-tae, was not on the scene but also brought up the issue in his video message.

“It was an illicit assault upon our city of 800,000 people by military force under the control of Chun Doo-hwan,” the widows said in a letter, adding their husbands took the photographs that were used in Chun's trial. They included an image of a helicopter firing upon people, many of whom were brought to Gwangju Christian Hospital. “Believe us, we know what happened in Gwangju ― we were eye-witnesses and we recorded what we saw and experienced.”

Commenting on the three LKP lawmakers' argument, the widows called it “blatantly false” and that democracy must be based upon truth.

They asked the three lawmakers to be rebuked, if not removed, “so that people can trust the National Assembly of Korea.”