Kwangju, 18. Mai 1980

Die Ereignisse vom 17.-27. Mai 1980 in der Stadt Kwangju werden als "uprising", Aufstand bezeichnet. Die Bezeichnungen haben immer wieder gewechselt, je nach der politischen Haltung des Sprechendes. Die Menschen in Kwangju reden eindeutig von "uprising". Der Besucher auf dem alten Friedhof findet gleich am Eingang eine große Tafel mit Namen von 65 Personen, darunter ein Kind von 5 Jahren, die seit den Tagen des Massakers verschunden sind. Auch 33 Jahre nach dem Massaker durch die Elitetruppen des damaligen Generals und späteren Präsidenten CHUN gibt es keine vollständige Aufklärung. Im Frühjahr 2013 wurde ein wichtiges Dokument, ein Augenzeugenbericht, gefunden, das Licht auf die Situation wirft. Wir haben die Erlaubnis zum Abdruck erhalten. (Die Redaktion)

May 23, 1980, PM 18:00

Dear Mr. Foreign Correspondent,

I beg you to read my rough sentences on the present crisis in Kwang-ju City. I am afraid you foreign reporters did miss the key scenes of the tragedy in our city. Are you reporting on us so vividly as on the situation such as in EL Salvador, Uganda, etc?

I am a female citizen of Kwang-ju City. Graduating from the S.N.U several years ago, I have been lecturing English at an institute these years. With this career, I am determined to run the risk that the martial law authorities may identify and arrest me. But please regard my safety.

First of all, I' d like to stress that none of my family have ever been harmed by the late President Park' s regime and his successor' s. Thus, believe in the truth and objectivity of my words , please. I am convinced you cannot help but believe me if it were for the so-called telepathy, the interworking of human hearts, although 1 cannot offer no material evidence here. Please believe in this letter to the letter!

The brutal deeds of the air paratroopers during May 18th, 19th, 20th were far greater than the authorities enumerate only to deny. On the morning of 19th, my father (professor) witnessed some of them to throw the wounded down to death from a two-story roof top in Chung-jang Street. At about same time, near Jo-hung Bank, my mother witnessed that a young demonstrator was battered on the head with the bat, with his cerebral tissue exposed. And these were the rather mild cases among their cruel actions. 1 wonder if any one had the courage to take the picture of the cruel scenes, as the atmosphere was so deathly. As they were so inhumanly brutal during the three days. We know no other way to interpret their deeds except that they had been on purpose brain-washed for a considerable time and starved for a few days, given only alcohol beverage and hallucinating medicine. 1 guess that the comments of elders, "There were no such cruelties as these even during the war in 1950." stirred the public sentiment deeply. We believe that the 'vampire units' (the paratroopers are now passing as the title) hid or burned away a lot of the dead bodies they killed.