The Significance and Achievements of Publishing The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and Women 2025
JEONG Kyungwoon [Professor, Graduate school of Culture, Chonnam National University]
This text summarizes the significance and achievements of the book The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and Women 2025, published to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement. The first book to document the engagement and sufferings of women in the uprising was published in 1991, titled The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and Women. Since then, numerous oral testimonies have been collected, and national reports including military documents have been published as well. This accumulation of materials has created an opportunity to rewrite the history of women's struggle in the May Uprising. The use of the same title as the one published in 1991 has two meanings. First, it aims to inherit the spirit of the precedent of women who first documented the history of women's struggle even in a harsh era. Second, adding the year 2025 in front of the title reflects the expectation that the history of women's struggle will continue to be rewritten in the future.
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The achievement of The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and Women 2025 lies in that the history of women's struggle was reconstructed on a daily basis and the conditions suffered by women were listed, including the number of those missing and killed, or those who suffered sexual violence. However, due to limitations in various sources, this list is not complete. Therefore, in order for the history of women's struggle to be fully rewritten in the future, more extensive archival discoveries are necessary. This ultimately implies that a reinvestigation at the national level is needed to be carried out.
The Significance and Achievements of Publishing The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and Women 2025
JEONG Kyungwoon [Professor, Graduate school of Culture, Chonnam National University]
This text summarizes the significance and achievements of the book The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and Women 2025, published to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement. The first book to document the engagement and sufferings of women in the uprising was published in 1991, titled The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and Women. Since then, numerous oral testimonies have been collected, and national reports including military documents have been published as well. This accumulation of materials has created an opportunity to rewrite the history of women's struggle in the May Uprising. The use of the same title as the one published in 1991 has two meanings. First, it aims to inherit the spirit of the precedent of women who first documented the history of women's struggle even in a harsh era. Second, adding the year 2025 in front of the title reflects the expectation that the history of women's struggle will continue to be rewritten in the future.
.
.
.
The achievement of The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and Women 2025 lies in that the history of women's struggle was reconstructed on a daily basis and the conditions suffered by women were listed, including the number of those missing and killed, or those who suffered sexual violence. However, due to limitations in various sources, this list is not complete. Therefore, in order for the history of women's struggle to be fully rewritten in the future, more extensive archival discoveries are necessary. This ultimately implies that a reinvestigation at the national level is needed to be carried out.