Gwangju Massacre Overview
![Picture](/uploads/2/9/0/5/2905287/6291382.jpg)
by Nicholas Lee
The period that was depicted in the drama Sandglass was one of great unrest and anger. At this time General Chun Do-Hwan took control of the government through the Coup d’etat of December 12th. This came to be because the previous president, Park Chung-Hee, had been assassinated and thus General Chun Do-Hwan pointed fingers at the current Army Chief of Staff’s involvement of the incident. Without authorization of the current acting president, Chun Do-Hwan arrested the Army Chief of Staff and took control of the Korean Army.
From here, with the assassination of the president, many students and citizens of Korea started to protest and demonstrate for a Democratic government, with the beginning of a new semester under way, there was a full out on movement happening. In response, Chun Do-Hwan began to take suppressive measures by first forcing the acting President and the cabinet to extend Marshall law to the whole country.
On May 18th, many students gathered at the gate of Chonnam National University in Gwangju. By 9:30 AM 200 students had shown up and were met by 30 soldiers. They began to clash and fight and as the battle went on, more students joined in and the military started to send more and more soldiers. The protest turned violent as soldiers began to club students and the first fatality happened by May 20th. The violence climaxed on May 21st when the military started to fire on the crowds of protestors, with an unknown number being killed. In response, civilians had taken up arms and began to fight back. With the use of firearms, the whole city became a battlefield and the beginnings of the massacre had begun.
The fighting continued and with the rallying of civilian troops, the whole city was blockaded in by the army while they waited for reinforcements. The fighting continued until on May 26th, the army began its reentrance to the city with reinforcements. The civil militias that had formed during the blockade began to rally together for the last stand. By 4:00 AM the next morning on May 27th, the army with its reinforcements defeated the civil militia and took the city back from the protestors. This was the end of the massacre and to this day there is no agreed death toll from the event. Official numbers estimate about 300 people were killed but many foreign presses and critics of Chun Do-Hwans administration argue the numbers are actually up into the 1000-2000 range.
The period that was depicted in the drama Sandglass was one of great unrest and anger. At this time General Chun Do-Hwan took control of the government through the Coup d’etat of December 12th. This came to be because the previous president, Park Chung-Hee, had been assassinated and thus General Chun Do-Hwan pointed fingers at the current Army Chief of Staff’s involvement of the incident. Without authorization of the current acting president, Chun Do-Hwan arrested the Army Chief of Staff and took control of the Korean Army.
From here, with the assassination of the president, many students and citizens of Korea started to protest and demonstrate for a Democratic government, with the beginning of a new semester under way, there was a full out on movement happening. In response, Chun Do-Hwan began to take suppressive measures by first forcing the acting President and the cabinet to extend Marshall law to the whole country.
On May 18th, many students gathered at the gate of Chonnam National University in Gwangju. By 9:30 AM 200 students had shown up and were met by 30 soldiers. They began to clash and fight and as the battle went on, more students joined in and the military started to send more and more soldiers. The protest turned violent as soldiers began to club students and the first fatality happened by May 20th. The violence climaxed on May 21st when the military started to fire on the crowds of protestors, with an unknown number being killed. In response, civilians had taken up arms and began to fight back. With the use of firearms, the whole city became a battlefield and the beginnings of the massacre had begun.
The fighting continued and with the rallying of civilian troops, the whole city was blockaded in by the army while they waited for reinforcements. The fighting continued until on May 26th, the army began its reentrance to the city with reinforcements. The civil militias that had formed during the blockade began to rally together for the last stand. By 4:00 AM the next morning on May 27th, the army with its reinforcements defeated the civil militia and took the city back from the protestors. This was the end of the massacre and to this day there is no agreed death toll from the event. Official numbers estimate about 300 people were killed but many foreign presses and critics of Chun Do-Hwans administration argue the numbers are actually up into the 1000-2000 range.