"Jeon Du-hwan States No Political Ambition"... 21 Additional US Secret Documents Released

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] It has been revealed through the disclosure of secret U.S. diplomatic documents that former President Jeon Du-hwan met with the U.S. ambassador three days after the December 12 incident and insisted that "this is not a military coup," expressing that he had no political ambitions.

Among the 21 secret documents related to the May 18 Democratization Movement, received and disclosed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the U.S. government on the 6th, this content was included.

According to a document recording the meeting between then U.S. Ambassador to Korea William Gleystein and former President Jeon on December 15, 1979, three days after the December 12 incident, the former president reportedly stated that "he has no political ambitions and supports President Choi Kyu-ha's political development plan."

Additionally, according to the document, former President Jeon explained to Ambassador Gleystein regarding the December 12 incident that "it was not a military coup but an event that occurred during the arrest process requested for the investigation of Army Chief of Staff Jeong Seung-hwa in connection with the assassination of President Park Chung-hee."

A document recording the meeting between Presidential Chief of Staff Choi Kwang-soo and Ambassador Gleystein on May 26, 1980, the day before the Gwangju suppression operation, contained circumstances indicating that the Martial Law Command carried out the suppression operation without prior notice.

Chief of Staff Choi told Ambassador Gleystein that "the Martial Law Command concluded that the situation in Gwangju must be suppressed before it worsened further," revealing the military's intention that they decided to carry out the operation without prior notice because strong resistance was expected if advance notice was given.

It was already known through responses sent by the U.S. Department of State to the 1989 Gwangju Special Committee that the U.S. was aware in advance of the martial law troops' re-entry decision, but this is the first time related U.S. government documents have been fully disclosed.

These documents are scheduled to be made available on the May 18 Democratization Movement Archive website.

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