Who knew going to a grocery store in Gwangju would be one of the highlights of our 14 day trip to South Korea. With an hour left before dinner, a few of us headed into this three-story building to buy some junk food.
We got some strange looks from people going from aisle to aisle, taking pictures and examining products very closely. In the end, I bought squid jerky, white fluffy rice balls, (that tasted more like Styrofoam) chocolate, tea, seasoned dried Pollack, and something that looked like a doughnut, but was stuffed with bean paste. (I didn’t eat all these. I plan to share them on the bus) The shopping trip was a break from the serious discussion we had earlier in the day at a memorial site.
In May 1980 the South Korean government put down an uprising in Gwangju following the declaration of martial law. The government publication The May 18th Gwangju Democratic Uprising says, “…the total number of those killed, wounded, or arrested, both during and after the uprising, may be closer to 7,500.”
Our guide still gets emotional when talking about the victims, including the first one to die, a deaf man, who had nothing to do with the uprising. Pro- democracy demonstrators marched through the streets for 10 days, and eventually the military cracked down at this very location. (see below)
Following the violence, residents of Gwangju tried to overcome their anger using art. Even today there are a lot of art galleries in the city. The memorial site is a popular stop for politicians. Just today, one of the leading presidential candidates, Sohn Hak Que, was there, and came over to talk to us. He is pictured below in the center. To his right is Ray Burghardt, our group leader(East West Center) and former official in the U.S. Embassy in South Korea.
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