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The Kwangju Uprising: Eyewitness Press Accounts of Korea’s Tiananmen

From the publisher’s website:

The Kwangju Uprising that occurred in May 1980 is burned into the minds of South Koreans in much the same way that Tiananmen is burned into the minds of contemporary Chinese. As the world watched in horror following the assassination of President Park Chung Hee, student protesters were brutally suppressed by the military and police led by strongman Chun Doo Hwan. Kim Dae Jung, the current president of South Korea, was imprisoned and sentenced to death during this period.

This book recreates those earth-shaking events through eyewitness reports of leading Western correspondents on the scene as well as Korean participants and observers. Photographs, detailed street maps, and dramatic woodblock prints further illuminate the day-to-day drama to keep this atrocity alive in the conscience of the world.

Contents

Foreword President Kim Dae Jung

Introduction and Acknowledgments | Henry Scott-Stokes and Lee Jai Eui

Maps

  • Korea
  • The clashpoints between Chonnam National University students and martial army forces on Sunday, May I5, 1980
  • The sites of clashes between demonstrators and martial army forces on May 19, 1980
  • The situation on the night of May 20, 1980
  • The site of the last battle before the withdrawal of the army, May 21, 1980
  • The spread of demonstrations, May 21, 1980
  • The recapture of Kwangju by martial army forces, early morning of May 27, 1980

Part One: Two Korean Voices

  1. Days and Nights on the Street | Kim Chung Keun
  2. Operation “Fascinating Vacations” | Lee Jai Eui

Part Two: The Foreign Press

  1. Remembering Kwangju | Terry Anderson
  2. A Nightmare in Broad Daylight | Gebhard Hielscher
  3. I Bow My Head | Jurgen Hinzpeter
  4. Reflections on Kwangju | Sant Jameson
  5. Vim Sang Won: The Knowledge in Those Eyes | Bradley Martin
  6. A Scream for Freedom | Henry Scott-Stokes with Shim Jae Hoon and Philippe Pons
  7. “Let’s Live and Meet Again” | Norman Thorpe

Part Three: The Korean Press

  1. An Editor’s Woes | Kim Dae Jung
  2. How the Provincial Hall Was Taken | Cho Sung Ho
  3. Bang! Bang! Bang! | Suh Chung Won
  4. “Maybe I Was Too Young…” | Chang Jae Yol
  5. A Photographer’s Credo | Hwang Jong Gon
  6. “Not One Line…” | Ryu Jong Hwan
  7. Kwangju, That Changed My Destiny | Oh Hyo Jin
  8. Kwangju Is Not Over Yet | Kim Yang Woo

Epilogue | Henry Scott-Stokes and Lee Jai Eui

Index

Entry on Goodreads.com here.

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