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Presidential candidates head to Gwangju ahead of democracy uprising anniversary

Published: 17 May. 2025, 15:18 Updated: 17 May. 2025, 15:55

People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo sobs during his visit to Gwangju on May 17. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Key presidential candidates ramped up their election campaigns in the liberal stronghold of Gwangju on Saturday, a day ahead of an anniversary marking a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city.

With the official campaigns for the June 3 presidential election entering the sixth day, both Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo headed to Gwangju and nearby Naju, with the 45th anniversary of the uprising set to take place on Sunday.

In his third day of campaigning in the southwestern region, Lee emphasized the "spirit of Gwangju" and noted how its people had confronted martial law forces during the May 18 uprising.

Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung pays his respects at the May 18th National Cemetery in Gwangju on May 17 [JOONGANG ILBO]

"You are protecting this nation," he said to voters in Naju. "Hundreds of people were victimized during the long and gruesome military regime, but it all came to an end with the May 18 pro-democracy movement."

"It is the spirit of Honam that put an end to this violent and anachronistic regime," Lee said, in an apparent reference to former President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law bid.

As part of his weekend campaign in Gwangju, Lee is set to visit the May 18th National Cemetery and attend ceremonies marking the anniversary of the democracy uprising.

The PPP's Kim paid respect to victims of the democracy movement as he visited the May 18th National Cemetery earlier Saturday.

The former labor activist paid tribute to victims as he visited their graves, recalling how he was imprisoned in a prison cell in Gwangju, where one of the victims died from a hunger strike.

In an election policy committee meeting in Gwangju, Kim vowed to fight for democracy until the end.

"No corruption or dictatorship of any kind can exist under the May 18 spirit," Kim said.

"What we see in front of us is an unprecedented dictatorship," he said, criticizing the DP candidate and his party for seeking the impeachment of the chief state auditor and prosecutor.

Yonhap