Gwangju experiences increase in history tourism after Chun Woo-won's apology

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Mon, October 2, 2023 | 20:39

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Gwangju sees increase in dark tourism

Posted : 2023-04-10 17:02

Updated : 2023-04-11 13:54

Yeungnam University students listen to the May 18 Foundation's education department director Park Jin-woo's explanation of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement at May 18 National Cemetery in Gwangju, Saturday. Newsis

Visitors seek to learn about May 18 uprising after apology of ex-dictator's grandson

By Lee Hae-rin

Korea's southwestern city of Gwangju is seeing a growing number of young visitors seeking to learn about the 1980 pro-democracy movement. This sudden increase in interest in the city and the historical event was triggered by the apology of former authoritarian leader Chun Doo-hwan's grandson Woo-won, educators said on Monday.

According to the May 18 Democratic Uprising Archives, it has been receiving up to 400 visitors per day since the younger Chun visited Gwangju on March 31. The number is far larger than the daily average of 176 in March. In 2011, the archives were listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Program, an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of universal value.

Gwangju's May 18 National Cemetery, which holds the graves of 764 victims of the brutal suppression of the pro-democracy movement, also saw the number of visitors double since Woo-won's visit on March 31.

During the first weekend of April, the cemetery saw 941 visitors, which is more than twice that of the previous weekend's 410. Between April 8 and 9, around 800 people visited to pay respects to the deceased democracy activists, an official of the national cemetery told The Korea Times, Monday.

Professor Kim Moon-joo of Yeungnam University and 40 of his students were among the visitors, Saturday.

During the trip, which was planned long before Chun's apology, the group visited historic locations related to the pro-democracy movement, including the archives and the national cemetery, while meeting activists and students from Gwangju.

According to Kim, who has been teaching history in liberal arts class to overcome regional antagonism, many young people who were born and raised in the country's conservative Gyeongsang provinces have inaccurate and distorted perceptions of Gwangju's recent history and "mistakenly understand the democratic movement as a riot led by the North Korean army."

Such misunderstanding intensifies already-existing regionalism between the conservative Gyeongsang and liberal Jeolla provinces, the professor said. Thus, he developed a curriculum to teach an undistorted history and planned Saturday's field trip to provide in-person experience and exchange to his students, most of whom have never visited Gwangju before.

Park Jin-woo, the director of the May 18 Foundation's education department director who guided Professor Kim's students during their visit to the historic sites, told The Korea Times, Monday that he also feels the growing need for history education.

"Many young students are visiting Gwangju," he said, citing Chun Woo-won's apology to the bereaved families as one of many causes behind the trend. "Since Chun Woo-won is around the age of these young students, they could relate to his words and actions of apology more easily," he explained.

Upon growing requests, the director operates several history guides and education sessions about the May 18 uprising planned in and outside of Gwangju for organizations, including the U.S. Embassy in Korea, the minor opposition Basic Income Party, schools and the Journalists Association of Korea, he said.

"Due to the Chun Woo-won effect, there is a growing interest in the May 18 movement and more people are visiting Gwangju, as the COVID-19's endemic and field trip season for school children approaches," said Hong In-hwa, the director of the May 18 Democratic Uprising Archives.

"We hope this could be another chance for more people to understand the pro-democracy movement and remember the fallen heroes who died protecting democracy."

lhr@koreatimes.co.kr