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Gwangju City News
MONTHLY NEWS
Reprinted with permission from Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall Photographs courtesy of Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall
Gwangju City Pays Respects to the May 18 Fallen
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
June 2020
O
n May 11, about 80 city officials, city councilors, and heads of affiliated organizations, including Mayor Lee Yong Sup participated in cemetery visits. “In the wake of the designation of May 18 as a local holiday, we will enhance the will and spirit of the souls of all the fallen heroes who died protecting democracy in their hometown.” The Gwangju Metropolitan City delegation visited the May 18 National Cemetery and the original 5.18 Cemetery in Mangwol-dong ahead of the anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement. More than 80 people participated in the joint visit with Mayor Lee Yong Sup, including Gwangju City Council Chairman Kim Dong-chan, city officials, city council members, heads of construction companies, industrial complexes, investment and funding organizations, the chairman of the May 18 Memorial Foundation, and other May 18 organizations (bereaved families, the wounded, and those formerly imprisoned). The memorial service was conducted at the May 18th National Cemetery in front of the Memorial Monument
with flowers and incense burning, salutes, and a silent tribute. Then, the delegation visited the second cemetery to pay tribute to the May 18 patriots and democratic martyrs buried there. In particular on that day, to comfort the souls of the deceased, chrysanthemum flowers were placed on all the graves at the May 18 National Cemetery and 5.18 Cemetery in Mangwol-dong. Mayor Lee Yong Sup stated, “When May arrives in Gwangju, the pain of countless citizens holding their tears in their hearts grows,” adding, “I hope that all Gwangju citizens will stop their daily routines for a day on May 18, which was designated as a local public holiday, and remember the pain and the sacrifice of our city’s martyrs.” “Today, the full committee of the May 18 Democratic Movement Fact-Finding Committee gathers as well as the former Jeonil Building 245, which will be reopened after four years and four months,” the mayor added. “We will do our best to make this 40th anniversary a gathering of the citizens’ will and determination to find out the truth about May 18 and then nationalizing and globalizing it.”
