Gwangju City Accelerates Search for Missing Persons from May 18 Incident... Accepting Family Blood Sample Applications

From the 3rd of next month to May 29th

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju Metropolitan City will once again launch a large-scale search for the families of the missing persons from the May 18 Incident this year.

On the 16th, Gwangju City announced that from April 3 to May 29, it will accept applications for blood collection from the parents, siblings, grandchildren, children, and maternal relatives (missing persons' maternal aunts, maternal uncles, and maternal cousins) of the May 18 missing persons to secure their DNA.

For the convenience of applicants, both electronic and non-electronic methods will be used for application submission.

Non-electronic submissions via mail, email, fax, or in-person visits will be accepted starting April 3, and electronic submissions through the city’s website will be available from March 9 after upgrading the program to add this function.

The blood collected through these applications will be used as basic data to compare the genetic information of the remains and the families in case remains are excavated in the future, such as from secret graves.

So far, to find the May 18 missing persons, the city has compared blood samples obtained from families with 24 sets of excavated remains: 11 from the May 18 old cemetery’s unknown martyr graves, 3 from the Junam Village and Bueongsan excavations, and 10 from secret grave tip-offs. In 2002, this led to identifying the families of six unknown martyrs.

To encourage active participation from the families of the missing, the city will promote the campaign nationwide in cooperation with city and provincial governments and related organizations. Additionally, separate notices will be sent to 14 families of recognized May 18 missing persons who have not yet applied for blood collection.

Yoon Mokhyun, Director of the Gwangju Metropolitan City Democracy, Human Rights, and Peace Bureau, said, “Finding the May 18 missing persons is a historical and national task that must be resolved, and it is Gwangju City’s mission. With the launch of the May 18 Truth Investigation Committee on December 27 last year, we earnestly hope to uncover the full truth of May 18 history and locate the missing persons.”

Meanwhile, since 2001, the city has conducted the “May 18 Missing Persons Family Search” project five times until 2018, securing blood information from 154 families totaling 334 people, which is stored at the Department of Forensic Medicine at Chonnam National University.

For other inquiries, contact the Gwangju Metropolitan City May 18 Commemoration Division or the May 18 Truth Investigation Support Team.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.