Trampling Corpses and Stabbing with Knives... The Horrific Killings by Martial Law Troops during the May 18 Incident

5·18 Investigation Committee Secures Numerous Reports and Testimonies on Civilian Killings

Civilian Sniper Shooting from Veranda During Night Duty Confirmed, Among Others

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Additional horrific incidents have been confirmed in which martial law troops killed unarmed civilians during the May 18, 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement.

The May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Investigation Committee announced on the 27th that it confirmed the fact that the killings of not only unarmed but also innocent civilians unrelated to the protests were far more brutal than previously known.

Based on compensation review materials for the May 18 Democratization Movement, the committee investigated and analyzed the injury status of over 2,500 disabled persons excluding detainees and those taken into custody. As a result, more than 360 victims suffered gunshot wounds, and there were over 90 cases of injuries caused by bayonets of the martial law troops.

In particular, a comparison and analysis with the death inspection reports prepared by the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office revealed that among the 131 gunshot death victims, 116 civilians died from gunshot wounds to the chest or higher.

The distribution of chest or higher gunshot death victims by date is as follows: May 20 (4 persons), May 21 (48 persons), May 22 (22 persons), May 23 (23 persons), May 24 (7 persons), May 27 (15 persons), and unknown dates (1 person).

The locations of deaths were also confirmed to be widespread throughout all areas of Gwangju city.

These investigation results prove that although there were some armed clashes with protesters, the violent suppression by martial law troops against civilians unrelated to the protests or unarmed civilians was an inhumane act that exceeded the level of protest suppression or self-defense.

Especially during the Gwangju outskirts blockade operation, the killings were found to be more brutal.

In addition to on-site shootings of wounded persons unable to resist, multiple testimonies from martial law troops confirmed that on May 23, 1980, at the scene of the minibus incident on the Gwangju-Hwasun road, the troops fired concentrated shots and then entered the stopped vehicle to confirm the kills.

Previously, the brutal circumstances of the deaths of Jeon Jae-su and Bang Gwang-beom children, who were sacrificed by the 11th Airborne Brigade in Hyodeok-dong, as well as Kwon Geun-rip, Kim Seung-hoo, Lim Byung-chul who were summarily executed on site, and 50-year-old woman Park Yeon-ok, were known.

Furthermore, new facts were confirmed through multiple testimonies of martial law troops present at the scene, death inspection doctors, and local residents, including additional mutilations such as shooting civilians arrested at private homes from a distance of 2 meters to death, stomping on the heads of corpses with military boots, and striking the corpses with personally carried jungle knives.

Among the seven bodies recovered on the Gwangju-Hwasun road after the Gwangju suppression operation ended, bullet entry wounds ranged from a minimum of six to a maximum of thirteen. The bodies recovered in Hyodeok-dong also showed causes of death such as skull fractures and left abdominal stab wounds.

Multiple horrific killings of unarmed civilians are supported as factual by the testimonies of martial law troops.

The 3rd Airborne Brigade, 11th Airborne Brigade, and 20th Division operated snipers who targeted and shot protesters, which has been cross-verified through confessions of the snipers themselves, testimonies of martial law troops present at the scene, and identification of victims.

Also, on May 21, 1980, around 1 p.m., Private A of the 11th Airborne Brigade, who was deployed as a sniper on the rooftop of the Jeonil Building during the mass shooting in front of the provincial government office, admitted to having targeted and shot a young man waving the Taegeukgi flag on an armored vehicle. The victim was confirmed to be a civilian named Jo.

On May 27 of the same year, multiple testimonies from martial law troops were secured that a soldier belonging to the 20th Division sniper-shot civilian Oh, who was on night duty at a company and looking out from the veranda early in the morning, and that the body, which fell outside the building after being shot, was moved to a public terminal. The perpetrator has also been identified and is under investigation.

Until now, it was known that the victim was hit and killed by stray bullets, but this is one of the incidents newly clarified during the committee’s investigation process.

A committee official stated, “These incidents were uncovered by securing confessions from perpetrators, testimonies from martial law officers and soldiers who were present at the scene at the time, and cross-verifying the confessions and various testimonies to reveal the truth. Accordingly, it has been revealed that the expression ‘the Gwangju incident was the Korean version of the My Lai incident,’ noted as a top-secret item by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) on June 11, 1980, was by no means an exaggeration.”

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