This military document, obtained by Yonhap News Agency in September 2019, shows an operational plan against a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Late former President Chun Doo-hwan described a military document recommending a crackdown on the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju as a “good idea,” a fact-finding panel said Monday.
Marking the second anniversary of its launch, the May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Commission released interim results of a probe into the clampdown that led to the deaths of hundreds of protesters in the city, now the cradle of the country’s democracy.
The commission said the document, written by South Korea’s Second Army Command, showed “his excellency” had called the recommendation of the military operation against protesters a “good idea.”
The commission said the expression, “his excellency,” apparently referred to Chun, then defense security commander, rather than then President Choi Kyu-hah, as past military records mentioned the general as “his Excellency, Chun.”
The commission also found that in May 1980, the directive for the Jindogae 1 combat posture, a high alert level, had been relayed to airborne troops.
Under the posture, live ammunition can be distributed for military operations.
Past military documents related to airborne units deployed to the crackdown did not contain any records about the issuance of the Jindogae 1 posture.
The commission said it has been trying to ascertain why such records had been omitted.
Launched under a special act on finding the truth behind the bloody crackdown, the commission is aimed at investigating the command system and firing order associated with the crackdown, and disclosing human rights violations, including civilian casualties.
(Yonhap)
