DistantNews
Support us
🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

Brother of May 18th Citizens' Army Spokesperson Reveals Personal Diary

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • The diary of Yoon Tae-won, brother of Yoon Sang-won, a spokesperson for the May 18th Citizens' Army, has been revealed for the first time.
  • His diary entries from May 1980 detail the chaotic situation, his grief over his brother's death, and his own feelings of fear and helplessness.
  • The diary is part of an exhibition in Gwangju commemorating the 46th anniversary of the May 18th Democratization Movement.

The diary of Yoon Tae-won, younger brother of Yoon Sang-won, a prominent spokesperson for the May 18th Citizens' Army, has been publicly displayed for the first time. The entries, written in May 1980, offer a deeply personal and poignant account of the tumultuous period leading up to and during the Gwangju Uprising.

I had become a coward. I had become a despicable person. I had become a base person.

· Yoon Tae-wonIn a diary entry dated May 20, 1980, reflecting on his inability to act during the Gwangju Uprising.

In his diary, Yoon Tae-won expresses profound fear and self-reproach for not being able to act more decisively. "I had become a coward. I had become a despicable person. I had become a base person," he wrote on May 20, 1980. He recounts witnessing the brutal actions of the paratroopers, describing how "execrable paratroopers were grabbing young men and women, beating them, stabbing them with bayonets, and hitting them with guns, causing countless students to bleed and die." He felt trapped and helpless, "too afraid to even run outside, just cowering in the room with a stifled heart."

The torch of our family and a guiding light for my future, is nowhere to be found.

· Yoon Tae-wonDescribing his grief and uncertainty about his brother Yoon Sang-won's fate in a diary entry from June 1, 1980.

The diary also reveals his deep sorrow over the loss of his brother, Yoon Sang-won, who died during the final resistance at the provincial government building on May 27. "I have no way of knowing my elder brother's news, so my father went to Gwangju. But he returned with only ominous news, and the whole family was engulfed in grief," he wrote on May 29. Later entries express his despair: "My brother, who was the torch of our family and a guiding light for my future, is nowhere to be found."

My brother, who was the torch of our family and a guiding light for my future, is nowhere to be found.

· Yoon Tae-wonExpressing his deep sorrow and concern for his brother, Yoon Sang-won, who was a key figure in the May 18th movement.

These personal reflections are part of the exhibition 'Citizen's Diary: The Most Private Resistance' in Gwangju, commemorating the 46th anniversary of the May 18th Democratization Movement. The exhibition aims to use the records of Gwangju citizens from May 1980 to reflect on the meaning of democracy today. While Yoon Sang-won's and their father's diaries were published in book form in 2021, Tae-won's diary entries offer a unique, intimate perspective on the historical events.

The entries of ordinary neighbors, written down, have become powerful historical evidence.

· Kim Ho-gyunDirector of the May 18 Archives, commenting on the significance of personal diaries in historical documentation.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog