'Seoul Chonnom' In Yohan: "I Pretended to Be a US Embassy Staff Member to Go to Gwangju During the May 18 Incident"

On the 2nd, Professor In Yo-han appeared on the tvN variety show 'Seoul Village Boy' and shared an episode about entering Gwangju during the May 18 Democratic Uprising. Photo by tvN 'Seoul Village Boy' broadcast capture

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Min Jun-young] Professor In Yo-han revealed that he entered Gwangju during the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement by pretending to be an embassy staff member.

On the 2nd, the tvN variety show 'Seoul Village Idiot' featured Cha Tae-hyun, Kim Byung-hyun, Yunho Yunho, Hong Jin-young, Lee Seung-gi, and In Yo-han.

In the broadcast, In Yo-han stated that he visited Gwangju in May 1980, saying, "I was a first-year medical student. Many of my friends attended Chosun University and Chonnam National University, and they said something bad was happening in Gwangju."

When asked, "The city must have been sealed off. How did you get in?" he explained, "I first encountered a barricade in Damyang, then took the national highway, stopped the car again, and walked, passing through seven places in total." He added, "I told a big lie all my life. I pretended to be a US embassy staff member and lied that I needed to check if there were missionaries in Gwangju."

He continued, "The square was packed with people, and a mother who saw her son shot to death grabbed the microphone and sobbed uncontrollably." He said, "A friend named Andrew Nagoski, a Newsweek East Asia correspondent, asked me to interpret."

He added, "So within 20 to 30 minutes, I interpreted at an international press conference held at the Jeonnam Provincial Office. The citizen army representative said, 'We are not communists. This is not a riot.' I interpreted for three hours at that time."

He also said, "I told the students that it was dangerous because I saw soldiers when I came in, but one student told me not to say such things." He added, "Even if I try to explain what happened here, you have to come and see to feel it. From afar, people might wonder what the fuss is about."

Upon hearing this, Kim Byung-hyun asked, "Was it taboo among Gwangju people to bring up the May 18 story?" In Yo-han replied, "It was not easy to even mention the word itself in the past."

Yunho Yunho also said, "Now that movies have come out and it has become easier for many people to understand, it has become easier to talk about it." He added, "During our school days, we often visited the Gwangju Provincial Office on field trips. These stories were not unfamiliar but were naturally heard."

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