▲ On the afternoon of the 17th, on Geumnam-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju, the eve of the 43rd anniversary of the 5.18 Democratization Movement, the Great Democracy March is being held. (yunhap news)
The eve of the 43rd anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement began on the 17th. The eve began with the Great March for Democracy and Peace, which reproduced the images of Gwangju citizens shouting for democracy during the May 1980 uprising. About 3,000 people, including organizations and citizens, participated in the event and filled the streets.
In addition to political figures such as Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party representative, and Lee Jun-seok, former representative of People’s Power, Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jeong and People’s Power, former Gwangju Mayor Ju Ji-hwan, attended.
The march, which started at Suchang Elementary School, leads to a special stage in front of Jeonil Building on Geumnam-ro. This year’s eve, rather than the mode of hosting the event with an emcee, it was conducted as a total play (a total of 7 acts, including the introduction) where theatrical performances and traditional percussion instruments harmonize for 2 hours.
In the total play, the late Martyr Lee Jeong-yeon, who volunteered for the militia as a student at Chonnam National University and died during the final protest at the Jeonnam Provincial Office on May 27, was reincarnated as a pigeon, the progenitor of Gwangju, and met Sanha, the teenage protagonist representing the future generation. It contains an unfolding story.
A student living in the present and this martyr who was reincarnated as a pigeon talked about the spirit of May 18th together and conveyed the spirit to future generations.
Earlier in the morning of the same day, a memorial service for the 43rd anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising was held at the National May 18 Democratic Cemetery in Unjeong-dong, organized by the Association of Bereaved People of the May 18 Democratic Merit.