Kim Dae-jung, co-chairman of the National Alliance, delivered a passionate speech in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do, on May 11, 1980, a week before the May 18th incident, urging people to "engage in urban and rural guerrilla warfare by infiltrating the populace in the style of Vietnam." A screenshot of Kim Dae-jung's speech in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do, on May 11, 1980. [Hanmi Ilbo archives]

As is known so far, when examining the distinguished persons of the May 18th incident, Kim Dae-jung's name appears at the very beginning. This means Kim Dae-jung is the first among the distinguished persons of the May 18th incident. Below him, one can see a motley crew of individuals too numerous to count.

Kim Dae-jung is the origin point of the May 18th incident. If it were not for Kim Dae-jung, there would have been no reason for students to take to the streets. As is well known, Kim Dae-jung met with Park Gwan-hyun, president of the Chonnam National University student council, in the spring of 1980 and ordered him to lead the campus protests to the streets to democratize the movement.

Prior to this, Kim Dae-jung gave a speech at the Donghak Revolution Commemorative Ceremony in Jeongeup, emphasizing the necessity of revolution. After Vietnam was communized, inspired by this, the National Liberation Front (Namminjeon) used the Viet Cong flag as their symbol. At that time, numerous leftists, especially the remnants of the South Korean Labor Party who had shouted cheers for the Republic, and left-wing intellectuals, were excitedly talking about the reunification of Vietnam. Moon Jae-in was one of them.

The assassination of President Park Chung-hee was a crisis for the economy and anti-communism, but it was clear that the leftists considered it the optimal time for communist reunification. At this critical juncture, Kim Dae-jung led the students into the streets.

Consequently, Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death. The court at the time identified Kim Dae-jung as the cause of the May 18th incident. Declassified CIA documents also pointed to Kim Dae-jung. However, Kim Dae-jung was pardoned and succeeded Kim Young-sam as president.

The May 18th incident was elevated to a democratization movement by Kim Young-sam. And Kim Young-sam retroactively applied treason laws to imprison Chun Doo-hwan. However, Kim Dae-jung pardoned Chun Doo-hwan, and their political show came to an end.

As the May 18th incident was elevated to a democratization movement, distinguished person status and numerous benefits were given to the citizens of Gwangju who had suffered. However, the fact that the May 18th incident was taking a strange direction, becoming privatized by the Democratic Party, was unacceptable.

The May 18th incident cannot be the exclusive property of Gwangju or the May 18th organizations. It belongs to all of us who were present at the scene at the time, including myself. Therefore, everyone's claims must be heard. In particular, it cannot be denied that the May 18th incident was caused by Kim Dae-jung's incitement. This is because it is a revealed fact.

Numerous other incidents remain in silence. The attack on Asia Motors and the subsequent raids on police substations and stations using vehicles stolen from there, leading to the plundering of armories for weapons like the M1 and Calvin, as well as grenades and dynamite purportedly brought from the Hwasun coal mine, what do these signify?

Defectors from North Korea have much to say about the May 18th incident. However, none of their claims are recognized. The fact that the May 18th incident was broadcast live to North Korea is also being buried. The fact that North Korean textbooks record the May 18th incident as an event that occurred under Kim Il-sung's command is also being forgotten.

Therefore, we must acknowledge what should be acknowledged. The fact that a considerable number of the deceased died from M1 or Calvin rifles raises numerous questions. Who exactly shot whom? It is unlikely that so many people died from accidental discharge. The M1 was a rifle that even those of us who completed military service found difficult to handle.

The scene where ragpickers, armed with firearms, announced an attack on the prison clearly reveals who the instigators of this chaos were. I would like to know how many of those who were driving around in vehicles and creating a commotion at the time were university students. According to our checks after returning for the second semester, not a single friend we knew had died. The number of casualties was 166, not thousands. We must also acknowledge that both rumors and facts were exaggerated.

According to the diplomatic cable (80SEOUL 014538) declassified by the U.S. government on October 1, 2024 (local time) after consultation with relevant departments, former 5·18 Memorial Foundation Chairman Jeong Dong-nyeon, who blamed Kim Dae-jung's failure, attempted suicide in prison but failed, and before appearing in court, confessed to connections with Kim Dae-jung and his guilt (left). Furthermore, in addition to the transcribed statements of those involved, the government at the time also seized and secured 'material evidence' such as diaries, weapons, photographs, printed leaflets, and underground newspapers calling for rebellion (right), submitting them as strong evidence of DJ's incitement to rebellion. Part of the diplomatic cable. [Discovered and held by Hanmi Ilbo]

Such scenes also appeared in the Donghak Revolution. I would like to introduce an article that douses the Democratic Party's attempts to find a historical link between the May 18th incident and Donghak with cold water.

Hwang Hyun, a patriotic scholar from Honam and an independence activist, left behind writings filled with bitter tears in defiance of Japanese imperialist aggression. Through his diary, 'Maecheon Yarok,' he truthfully recorded the Donghak movement.

Hwang Hyun clearly labeled Donghak as a 'rebellion (난 - nan).' He wrote: "A group of people who did not want to work but only complained entered Donghak, plundered civilian homes, raped women, and killed the wealthy and officials as they roamed about. While the obedient populace diligently sweated to care for their families, the Donghak mob was lazy and rebellious, unable to even obtain land to farm, so they roamed in hordes, making plundering and rape their occupation. While the initial departure of Donghak had noble ideals, it fell into the hands of loafers who were idle or unwilling to work, and Donghak became a means of survival by stealing others' property and women."

There could have been no one who understood the reality of Donghak at that time as accurately as Hwang Hyun, the scholar from Honam. Hwang Hyun was a witness of his time who observed the events unfolding around his life. Such shameful scenes lay at the foundation of Donghak. Just as then, such elements appear in the May 18th incident. They burned down MBC and attacked police officers, becoming the main instigators of the chaos.

Those who died at the May 18th cemetery from M16 rifles, not M1s, are undoubtedly those killed by the military. They were individuals wielding firearms that had been stolen and deployed, and they refused to return the weapons during the Gwangju city elders' arms return campaign.

Just as we cannot endorse the democratization advocated by Kim Dae-jung, we cannot honor just anyone as a victim of Gwangju. Therefore, while the innocent victims can be honored, not a single fake distinguished person, starting with Kim Dae-jung who was not even present at the scene, can be recognized.

However, compensation must be provided to the innocent victims, regardless of who caused their deaths. But this cannot extend to the fourth round of compensation. What is clear is that those who lost their lives or were injured during the unfolding tragedy must be clearly identified as victims whom we must protect.

If the May 18th incident is to be remembered with the spirit of a great revolution of liberation from dictatorship or a non-violent, non-resistance movement, then the May 18th incident was a flawed movement from the very beginning. History proves that Kim Dae-jung was the starting point of the May 18th incident.

Furthermore, the thousands of distinguished persons who are continuously added further prove how fictitious the May 18th movement is. Even though half a century has passed since the May 18th incident ended, the number of distinguished persons continues to grow. The reality is that individuals with no relation whatsoever to the May 18th incident are being given the title of distinguished persons. Therefore, the May 18th incident is clearly a tragic event dominated by fake distinguished persons.

The fact that most of them are figures from the Democratic Party further solidifies the reality of them being fake. The May 18th incident cannot be a source of enrichment for the Democratic Party. Thus, the May 18th incident, even its humble justification as a democratization movement, has been tarnished.

Kim Dae-jung, abhorrently, placed his own name at the very beginning of the list of distinguished persons of the May 18th incident. He is a self-proclaimed distinguished person. It was a tragedy he incited and ordered. How brazen can one be? The fact that Lee Hae-chan and others who succeeded Kim Dae-jung are distinguished persons is one of the significant stains that make the May 18th incident an event that can never be revered.

Kim Dae-jung incited a movement to create a second Donghak Revolution. He wanted to connect Gwangju to Donghak. However, at the foundation of Donghak lay the atrocities of ruffians and vagrants. To commemorate such acts is to mock the Republic of Korea. Even compensating individuals from the Donghak era, over 130 years ago, is an act of going backward in history. While the ideals of Donghak can be admired, loafers cannot be considered for compensation as participants of the revolution.

Donghak was a peasant movement, not a revolution. There should be no intellectuals who deny this. Moreover, there is no one in modern South Korea who does not know who Kim Dae-jung is. Kim Dae-jung is a figure who has brought about all sorts of tragedies in the modern history of the Republic of Korea. He is the person who, even amidst the outbreak of naval battles in the West Sea, abandoned fallen soldiers and went to Japan to watch the World Cup final. He is the person who took responsibility for North Korea's nuclear armament. Yet, what do the numerous memorials, including libraries, buildings, and roads, signify? He, a graduate of Mokpo Commercial High School, holds 19 honorary doctorates. He has amassed an abundance of accolades.

Why can't the citizens of Gwangju speak out that all of this is wrong? What are they so afraid of in the deceased Kim Dae-jung that they remain silent? You ignorant people, who are supposedly educated, why can't you say it's not true!

死孔明走生仲達 (Sa Gong Myeong Jo Saeng Jung Dal)

Are you not like Sima Yi, who fled upon seeing the deceased Kongming?

◆ Poet Jeong Jae-hak

Poet, national merit recipient, columnist, Park Chung-hee Presidential Publicity Committee member, 36 years of teaching service in Jeolla Province.