22 Members of the 5·18 Martial Law Forces Reclassified from 'Fallen' to 'Honored Dead'

The scene of Gwangju citizens confronting martial law troops at Geumnam-ro, Gwangju, in May 1980. Photo by KBS1 Current Affairs Planning

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Twenty-two martial law soldiers who were deployed in the forced suppression operation of citizens during the May 18 Democratic Movement and died have been reclassified from war casualties to those who died in the line of duty. The term 'rioter' was also removed from the initial cause of death descriptions recorded in the burial reports.

On the 22nd, the Ministry of National Defense announced that at the 24th Central Military Service Award Review Committee held on the 18th, the death classification of 22 'May 18 martial law soldiers war casualties' was changed to 'died in the line of duty.' The ranks of the 22 soldiers include Major (2), First Lieutenant (1), Staff Sergeant (2), Sergeant (4), Sergeant First Class (6), Corporal (5), and Private First Class (2).

These deceased were recognized as war casualties according to the 'Army Regulation 1-31' (Handling of War Dead and Missing Persons) enacted in June 1972. This regulation defined 'war casualty' as "a person who died due to acts suppressing armed riots and rebellions or died from injuries sustained in such acts."

However, in 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that "the protests by the May 18 Gwangju citizens were not acts of rebellion disrupting the national constitution but legitimate acts to protect the constitutional order," thus the classification of the martial law soldiers who died at that time as war casualties no longer met the criteria.

Accordingly, the Ministry of National Defense reconsidered the death classification based on Article 54-2 of the Military Personnel Act at this committee, taking into account demands from the National Assembly and related organizations. Individual causes of death were derived through comparative analysis of burial reports, death confirmation documents, war casualty confirmation issuance ledgers, combat situation reports of the martial law troops at the time, martial law headquarters and Joint Chiefs of Staff situation logs, Security Command bulletins, various investigation and status materials from the Ministry of National Defense Past Affairs Truth Commission, and investigation results from the military prosecution.

As a result, the initial cause of death described as 'shot by rioters' for 18 soldiers was confirmed to be deaths caused by protestors' vehicles and armored vehicles (2), deaths during firefights with protestors (5), unexplained firearm death while commuting (1), and friendly fire deaths (10). The friendly fire was confirmed to have occurred when the martial law troops were withdrawing to Gwangju Airfield after handing over responsibility areas and were ambushed by the Infantry School correctional unit.

Additionally, one soldier initially described as 'stabbed to death by rioters' was found dead after being missing, with the cause of death undetermined. Three friendly fire deaths were identified as caused by the Armored School correctional unit during an ambush, with no changes to the initial cause of death during this verification process.

With this reassessment, the term 'rioter' in the initial cause of death descriptions for all 22 soldiers was removed. The Ministry of National Defense explained, "Most of the May 18 martial law soldiers who died were lower-ranking soldiers serving mandatory military service, and it was recognized that they died while performing their duties under strict hierarchical orders according to commands from superiors, thus they were classified as 'Line of Duty Death - Type II,' which qualifies them as national merit recipients."

The Military Personnel Act defines 'Line of Duty Death - Type II' as "a person who died while performing duties or training directly related to the protection of the nation’s security and safety or the protection of citizens' lives and property."

The National Seoul National Cemetery is expected to change the inscription on the tombstones of the 22 interred soldiers from 'war casualty' to 'died in the line of duty.'

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