Chonnam National University to host marathon to commemorate May 18 Uprising

Chonnam National University students and faculty members march on a street in Gwangju to commemorate the May 18 Democratic Uprising, May 17, 2025. Courtesy of Chonnam National University

Chonnam National University said it will host a campus marathon to commemorate the May 18 Democratic Uprising, also known as the Gwangju Democratization Movement.

A Chonnam National University official said Friday that it will hold the “5.18 Campus Marathon” on April 5 at 9 a.m. The event is designed as an open race for citizens, students and alumni.

The course connects Historic Site No. 1 of the May 18 Democratic Uprising — Chonnam National University, regarded as the movement’s starting point — and Historic Site No. 2, Gwangju Station.

The race will offer two courses. The 5.18-kilometer course will circle the university campus. The 10-kilometer course will start at Chonnam National University, run to Gwangju Station and return to campus.

The official added the university planned the event out of recognition that the historical significance of the May 18 Democratic Uprising should be shared continuously in the daily lives of citizens and continue for future generations, moving beyond conventional memorial and ceremony-centered approaches toward participation and experience-based programs.

As a major historic site associated with the uprising and a space embodying the spirit of democracy, the university said it aims to extend its historical and spatial significance into a civic participation program that fosters broader democratic values.

Running was chosen because it is an accessible civic activity and symbolizes solidarity through moving together in the same direction, the university said.

The official said the two courses carry the symbolic meanings of “memory” and “succession” of democracy. The 5.18-kilometer route commemorates the events of May 18, 1980, revisiting the campus where the democratization movement began.

The 10-kilometer course offers participants the symbolic experience of passing through key locations of the uprising and connecting past memory with the present.

“Chonnam National University has sought to expand the spirit of the May 18 Democratic Uprising from a historical site into contemporary civic engagement and empathy among future generations,” said Cho Jin-hyung, head of external relations at Chonnam National University.

“We hope the May 18 Campus Marathon will provide a meaningful opportunity for citizens to experience the values of democracy through running together and carry the memory into the present.”

The university said it plans to use the event to further open its campus as a public space where democratic memory and civic participation meet, and to build a sustainable, participatory commemorative culture in cooperation with the local community.