Commemorating Kwangju: The 5.18 movement and civil society at the millennium

Each spring the May 18, 1980 Uprising3 is remembered in Kwangju with parades, song fests, rallies, graveside memorial services and, all too often in the past, violent clashes with police. Oft-heard May “protest songs” like the one quoted above celebrate the revolutionary spirit of the city and its citi zens, and the defiant tone of the anniversary events well into the 1990s typically reflected the oppositional political stance of the majority of the participants.