Artist Hong Sung-Dam block prints. May 18 Memorial Foundation.
Thesis
South Koreans throughout the 1970s endured political oppression in the form of censorship, authoritarianism, and corrupt elections. On May 18, 1980, in Gwangju, South Korea, students united in protest, suffering tragic deaths and tyranny in the struggle for democracy. Their sacrifices triumphed as a legacy of protest thatinspired political accountability, served as a catalyst for direct elections in South Korea, and paralleled protests that ring throughout the world today.