14 Declassified US Diplomatic Documents on 5·18: "Concerns over Direct Contact with Jeon Du-hwan"

[Asia Economy Reporters Inho Yoo and Jieun Lee] The United States has released 14 diplomatic documents from the 1980s related to the May 18 Gwangju Uprising. The documents reveal the U.S. government's position, which recognized the new military regime led by Chun Doo-hwan, who came to power through a coup, as the real authority, while feeling burdened by acknowledging it. One passage even bluntly described then-President Choi Kyu-hah as a "helpless president."

The 14 recently declassified diplomatic documents received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the U.S. government also include essential content for reconstructing the political situation after the May 18 Democratic Uprising, such as ▲ military trends following the December 12 incident ▲ the political status of the Choi Kyu-hah interim government ▲ and the political handling process after May 18.

◆ The U.S. Burden Regarding Chun Doo-hwan = The U.S. recognized Chun Doo-hwan, then commander of the Security Command, as the real power in the military during May 18, but it was reluctant to have direct contact with him. A document titled "U.S. Position on the Military" mentions that the Deputy Secretary of State instructed to pressure the real power, Commander Chun, by conveying that if conflicts within the military were not stabilized, the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) would be postponed. However, there was also concern that meeting directly with Commander Chun might be perceived as acknowledging his authority.

The U.S. Embassy in Korea, in a document titled "Suppression in Seoul" sent to Washington shortly after the expansion of martial law, explicitly stated that the military had completely seized power, with Commander Chun at its center. However, it judged that the martial law was a collective decision by the military leaders, not Chun's unilateral judgment, and regarded former President Choi as a "helpless president." In a document titled "Access to Political Prisoners," the U.S. government reported on the Korean government's measures regarding individuals imprisoned in the "Kim Dae-jung rebellion conspiracy" case, revealing sensitivity toward the trial of former President Kim Dae-jung.

◆ Significance of Shared 'Democracy' Values Between South Korea and the U.S. = The newly released documents fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of State, not the Department of Defense, and do not disclose new information about sensitive issues such as the military's May 18 suppression operations, orders to fire on protesters, or secret burials. Nevertheless, they are significant as important materials that allow insight into the military's trends and the situation at the time following the May 18 Democratic Uprising. Furthermore, with the reaffirmation through the South Korea-U.S. summit that the two countries share democracy and human rights as core values of their alliance, and as this is the Biden administration's first release of May 18-related documents, further declassification of secret documents is anticipated.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "The declassification resulted from the longstanding consensus and spirit of cooperation between the two countries." This is not the first time the U.S. administration has handed over May 18 Democratic Uprising documents to the South Korean government. Last year, the U.S. Department of State delivered 43 documents, part of the report files, to South Korea upon the government's request, marking the first time in 40 years since the incident.

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