Yoon Suk-yeol goes to Gwangju, sings anthem, to unify

President Yoon Suk-yeol, center, sings ″March for the Beloved″ in a ceremony marking the 42nd anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement at the national cemetery in Gwangju Wednesday. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk-yeol said he would uphold the spirit of the May 18 Democratization Movement, stressing the need for national unity in a visit to Gwangju Wednesday.

"The spirit of May is the restoration of universal values and embodies the constitutional spirit of liberal democracy," said Yoon in a ceremony marking the 42nd anniversary of the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju. "That spirit belongs to all of us and is a valuable asset of the Republic of Korea."

As a conservative president, Yoon was marching across the political and ideological divide by attending the celebration in the liberal heartland of Korea.

Speaking in front of some 2,000 people including lawmakers, activists and relatives of victims of the 1980 massacre in Gwangju at the May 18th National Cemetery, Yoon said, "The values of liberal democracy and human rights are the philosophy that unites our people."

He recalled that the uprising 42 years ago defended democracy "with blood," and is the "cornerstone of national unity."

In a 10-day uprising against the Chun Doo Hwan leadership from May 18, 1980, students from Chonnam National University staged a protest calling for democracy. The following day, Chun dispatched special forces to Gwangju, who opened fire on protesters and deployed brutal tactics to crush the demonstration. Hundreds of people were estimated to have died.

"The spirit of May still commands us to strongly resist any illegal acts that threaten freedom and human rights," Yoon said. "May 18 is a living history that is still in progress. Responsibly inheriting this is the starting point of prosperity for our descendants and the country."

By acknowledging in his speech that the history of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement is a "valuable asset" to the country, Yoon was making a direct appeal to the Honam region, referring to Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces, a liberal stronghold, underscoring his promise of national unity.

"Bold economic achievements, based on the universal values of liberal democracy and human right, must blossom in Gwangju and Honam," he said.

Earlier that morning, Yoon, ministers, aides and some 100 lawmakers from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) traveled to Gwangju on a KTX train to attend the ceremony. This marked Yoon's first regional visit after taking office last week.

Yoon entered through the "Gate of Democracy," the main gate of the May 18th National Cemetery, the first conservative president to do so. Previous conservative presidents avoided using that entrance for security reasons, especially because of protesters. President Moon Jae-in, a liberal, was the first president to use that gate, a direct entrance to the memorial monument and plaza area, in 2017.

While campaigning last November, Yoon was unable to pay respects at the memorial monument because of civic groups that protested his controversial remark that former President Chun "did well in politics," which later prompted an apology from him.

The revolt in Gwangju has long been associated with the liberal Democratic Party (DP). The conservative party has ties to the former dictatorship.

After passing the Democracy Gate, Yoon wrote in a guestbook, "The spirit of May will unite our people and protect us from crises and challenges."

In another departure from past conservative administrations, Yoon and PPP members sang along with the song "March for the Beloved" during the ceremony Wednesday.

In the past, members of the conservative party generally refrained from singing the song.

The song was written in 1982 for a posthumous wedding ceremony of two protestors killed by military forces during the 1980 Gwangju uprising. Novelist Hwang Sok-yong wrote the lyrics, and Kim Jong-ryul, a music student, composed the melody. It has been an anthem for democracy activists for decades.

North Korea used it as background music for a film in 1991, fueling controversy about the song and its ideology.

In 1997, the government designated May 18 an official commemoration day for the democracy movement, and until 2008, singing the song was required during the state-sponsored ceremony.

During the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments, the song was generally sung by a chorus excluded from the official ceremony. Under liberal President Moon Jae-in, the song was again sung by all participants in the ceremony.

Some DP lawmakers said that conservatives traveling en masse to Gwangju was a purely political move ahead of June 1 local elections.

Yoon, a former prosecutor general, has visited Gwangju eight times and the national cemetery three times since he entered politics in March 2021.

In his campaign, Yoon said that the spirit of the May 18 democratic movement should be reflected in the Korean Constitution.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]