Double podcast episode about the South Korean movements of 1987 which overthrew the US-backed military dictatorship and won big improvements for workers. In these episodes we speak with Kim Jin-sook and Hong Seung Ha about their experiences of the June Democratic Struggle, and the Great Workers’ Struggle which immediately followed it.

Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
You can listen to our podcast on the below links, or on any major podcast app. Links to a few below.

Episodes

  • Part 1 – The June Democratic Struggle, the historical background, and how the movement began.
https://www.spreaker.com/show/5711490/episodes/feed
  • Part 2 – The Great Workers’ Struggle, the massive strike wave, the first elections after the fall of the dictatorship, and its legacy today.
https://www.spreaker.com/show/5711490/episodes/feed

More information

Sources

Acknowledgements

  • Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano.
  • Thanks also to the following people and groups for additional assistance with these episodes: Hwang Jeongeun and Steven, of the International Strategy Centre, Kwon Beomchul, Angela Lee, Kap Su Seol, Hwang Yi-ra, and Loren Goldner.
  • Learn more about the International Strategy Centre at https://www.goisc.org/home
  • Photograph used in episode graphic courtesy 『세계는 서울로, 서울은 세계로: 1984-1988』(2019) (The World to Seoul, Seoul to the World: 1984-1988) by 서울역사아카이브 (Seoul History Archive)/Wikimedia Commons
  • Music used in this episode under fair use was “Marching For the Beloved” by Baek Ki-wan, Hwang Seok-young and Kim Jong-ryul.
  • This episode was edited by Jesse French.

Subscribe

Listen and subscribe to WCH in the following ways: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Anchor | Castbox | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Podbean | Radio Public | RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn 

Transcript

Part 1

In 1987, a mass uprising took place in South Korea which overthrew the brutal, US-backed dictatorship. Soon after, workers launched what became known as the ‘Great Workers’ Struggle’, a mass strike which helped transform the country for working-class and poor people. This is Working Class History.

[Intro music]

Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. For example, our supporters can listen to both parts of this double episode now. We have been working on these episodes since 2021, and it’s only because of your support we are able to devote the amount of time and resources we do to producing episodes like this. Join us and find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory

Now, we are not going to go into too much detail about the background to this movement, because we cover this in a lot of detail in previous episodes. In episode 51 we cover the period from World War II up until the end of the 1970s, and in episodes 53-56 we talk about the 1980s, and in particular the Gwangju uprising in 1980, which was the most significant pro-democratic rebellion in the country prior to 1987.

But in short, for most of the time since the end of World War II, South Korea was ruled by a succession of violent, and repressive dictatorships all propped up by the United States, where workers toiled long hours for low pay, and any resistance was brutally crushed, as it was in Gwangju.

Hong Seung Ha: In 1980, when the Gwangju Uprising occurred, I was in the first year of middle school. At that time, my older sister and brother were university students.

This is Hong Seung Ha, who was born in Seoul, and whom I met with there last year. Her words are translated and dubbed by Hwang Jeongeun, of the International Strategy Centre, to whom we are extremely grateful for interpreting for us during our interview. We would also like to thank Kwon Beomchul, who connected us with Hong, and helped translate questions, as well as our patreon supporters who make all of our work like this possible.

Hong Seung Ha: Although I was young, I could understand a bit about the situation in Gwangju in 1980. During that time, information about Gwangju was not covered by the media at all. However, I heard about the Gwangju situation from my sister and brother. From what I remember, there was extensive coverage of the Gwangju Uprising in a magazine called “Shin Dong-a” when I was in high school.

I vividly read about the Gwangju Uprising in that magazine and was very surprised. Learning about the truth played an important role in my teenage period. That’s when my perspective on society began to develop, around high school.

Hong’s siblings were both older than her, already at university. A few years later, Hong herself enrolled in university, to study architectural engineering.

Hong Seung Ha: At that time in Korean society, parents had various concerns about their children getting involved in student activism once they entered university. Consequently, they worried about what would happen if their children participated in student movements. Fearing that their children might engage in student activism, they prevented their children from doing so. However, I had prior exposure to such experiences through my sister and brother. Although my sister and brother didn’t participate in student activism, they still attended events like gatherings, despite my parents’ opposition. So, I felt that I could easily engage in such activities right from the start.

Parents were justified in being afraid for their children, as the dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan was extremely repressive and violent, especially against any sort of left, progressive or democratic movements.

Hong Seung Ha: There were social progressive movements risking their lives, much like during the independence movement under the Japanese colonial era, up until the 1970s. Even in the 1980s, police could enter universities and even classrooms, arresting students. This was the atmosphere when I entered university in 1986. When I joined a club in college, we used pseudonyms. Even in the officially established singing club, where I became a member, we used pseudonyms.

Sexism was also prevalent at the time, both from the state, and broader society.

Hong Seung Ha: During that time, gender discrimination was prevalent, and I even experienced sexual harassment when I entered university.

There were many instances where men belittled women. Even in the 1980s, there was almost no perspective viewed through a gender lens. Therefore, although gender discrimination occurred frequently in daily life, it was not a major issue. At that time, there were cases where if women smoked in cafes or on the streets, men would come and slap them. So it was hard for women to smoke outside.

However, the oppression by the military dictatorship was overwhelming compared to the issue of gender discrimination. Gender movements were not widespread at that time.

So while there was not much of a feminist movement to speak of, there was a sizeable underground student movement against the dictatorship.

Hong Seung Ha: Many people, including myself, who became university students under the military dictatorship, had to contemplate the crucial decision of whether to engage in student activism or not.

Initially, I decided not to participate and began preparing for the civil service exam. At that time, students who entered university were sent to the military training ground, and in their second year, they were forced to participate in front-line military exercise. As a result, students initiated a struggle against the front-line military exercises, and during this process, Kim Se-jin and Lee Jae-ho, who were students at Seoul National University, self-immolated. The self-immolation of Kim Se-jin and Lee Jae-ho had a decisive impact on me, prompting me to quit my civil service exam preparations and join the struggle on the streets.

Self-immolation protests had a recent history in South Korea, going back to Jeon Tae-il, a garment workers organiser who set himself on fire in 1970, and is the main subject of our podcast episode 51.

The student movement wasn’t immune to the sexism of wider society, but for Hong and other women activists at that time, there were bigger concerns.

Hong Seung Ha: Within the student movement, I think there was more emphasis on something other than gender discrimination. When you went out on the streets, you could get caught, and if you were caught, you had to give up a lot in your life, you know, choosing that kind of life. I think those urgencies were even greater than gender issues.

One issue which did come up was that many student activist groups had a ban on romantic relationships within them.

Hong Seung Ha: What was interesting was that the seniors prevented us from dating. I was dating at the time, so I received a lot of criticism for it.

I received criticism, but I ignored it and continued to date. At that time, the criticism was about how I could date during such a harsh period, and it was argued that the movement should be the top priority.

But Hong, along with many others, decided that involvement in activism didn’t mean putting your personal life on hold.

Kim Jin-sook: I grew up on an island called Janghwa in the Incheon region.

I first started working in 1978 – came down to Busan to work at a Hanbok (traditional clothing) factory. Then I worked at another factory making men’s shirts.

This is Kim Jin Sook, whose words here have been translated and dubbed by Angela Lee, and was working in garment factories at this time. Thanks to Hwang Yi-ra for conducting this interview for us, and to Kap Su Seol for connecting us and making it happen.

Kim Jin-sook: “Shidabari” – at the hanbok factory, I worked stamping the gold and silver foil onto the fabric. At the clothing factory, I sewed and cleaned chalk marks off of garments with wet toothbrushes.

Pay and working conditions in South Korea were terrible. The average hourly wage was $1.75, compared with over $13 in the US. The average working week was also 57 hours – one of the longest in the world.

Genuine workers’ organisations were illegal under the dictatorship. Instead there were just pliant, corrupt, company “unions”.

Kim Jin-sook: In 1986 there were fishermans unions, other quote unquote unions. But they aligned with the taste of companies. These false unions did what the companies asked to do, what they commanded. Those types of unions were not needed, nor did they help. So other than the workers’ demands regarding the company, or regarding the government… the main, direct demands was about unions themselves.

It was found that the corporations used dues to drink and party, to use as personal funds… and the workers’ fury only increased.

Workers who tried to actually fight for their own interests, quickly came into conflict both with employers, and the state.

Kim Jin-sook: This is the time people were being arrested, taken away, and tortured. They withheld work from us. They separated us and moved us to different locations, and many were fired.

The oppression didn’t come from business, the bosses, or a corporation. The government powers enacted the oppression of the workers. So if I went on strike, the police are the ones who came to beat us, arrest us, and create blockades and restrict our movement. It was state violence.

Kim had got a job at a shipyard, and was the first woman welder in South Korea. While she was attempting to organise there, Hong had begun to get active at university.

Hong Seung Ha: Then I started engaging in club activities and student activism, devoting myself entirely to it. I spent 1986 immersed in daily struggles on the streets and seminars on social issues.

I remember vividly the first day I participated in the street protests in 1986. It was so frightening. A senior suggested we go somewhere, and I waited nervously until the senior signalled to join the protest. I still remember the fear I felt back then. Once that fear broke, I wasn’t afraid anymore from then on.

As you may know, there were many significant events in 1986, but 1987 also witnessed a multitude of events.

The Chun Doo-hwan regime intensified its oppression with great power. In 1986, there was the incident at Konkuk University, and in 1987, there were numerous fabricated spy cases.

The fake spy cases were a consequence of the division of Korea into the North, backed by the Soviet Union, and the South, backed by the United States.

Hong Seung Ha: After the independence and the Korean War, the Korean Peninsula was divided between the North and the South. The period around the 1950s and 1960s was marked by North Korea sending spies to the South with the aim of achieving North-South reunification.

With a background of the Cold War, left-wing and progressive ideas in the South were, and to an extent still are, conflated with pro-North Korean sentiment and espionage.

Hong Seung Ha: One notable incident was the death of Park Jong-chul due to torture.

Park Jong-chul was a linguistics student who was arrested by police for protesting against the government. He was interrogated, tortured and waterboarded, which killed him in January 1987.

In early February, this led to the biggest protests in South Korea in years, organised by students, church groups and workers’ organisations. Tens of thousands took to the streets in at least 17 cities around the country. In Seoul, 20,000 demonstrators faced off against 30,000 riot police, and clashes took place as police fired teargas and protesters threw rocks and petrol bombs. Police detained over 1000 people, and put other known activists under house arrest.

Kim Jin-sook: I was laid off in 1986. And in 1987 there was the 6월항쟁, the struggle of June. That was sparked by Park Jong-chul, a college student, who had lost his life after being tortured in the 댕공분실 (daegong boonshil, a building where activists were held and tortured).

In ’86, just 8 months before Park Jong Chul met his fate, I experienced the same torture in the building. But I had guilt that I had made out of the torture room alive. Park Jong Chul was held just across the hall from me. He came up in the same region as me. He was tortured in the same space as I. But I escaped with my life, and he lost his. This caused me great pain and guilt… so I fought as hard as I could during the June Struggle.

Hong Seung Ha: Various fabricated spy cases occurred within the major activist factions. So, even after the Park Jong-chul torture death incident, the Chun Doo-hwan regime continued its oppression with confidence, thinking it could transfer power through military dictatorship.

Grassroots support was growing for amending South Korea’s constitution to mandate direct presidential elections, as opposed to the indirect ones which were in place at the time, where lawmakers, in the National Conference for Unification, elected the president. But the existing constitution did ban presidents from holding power for more than seven years – a time period which was due to expire for Chun in 1987.

Hong Seung Ha: Therefore, despite ongoing discussions about constitutional amendments, the Chun Doo-hwan regime announced a decree to protect the Constitution that virtually nullified the constitutional discussions on April 13.

On 13 April 1987, Chun Doo-hwan officially announced that the constitution would remain unchanged. However, his plan was to appoint one of his supporters to succeed him.

This provoked huge public anger. Meanwhile, attempts by authorities to cover up the murder of Park Jong-chul eventually failed. On 18 May, at a memorial mass commemorating the Gwangju uprising of 1980, a priest, a member of the National Catholic Priests Association for Justice, revealed the truth: that Park was tortured to death. This sparked a huge outcry.

Kim Jin-sook: Park Jong Chul had passed away in January. People understood the significance of his death. Jun Do Hwan Administration had lied about the cause of death, that he just keeled over and died on the table. At the time, those few who had experienced the torture room knew what had gone on in that building, so the nation came to understand that torture was the cause of Park Jong Chul’s death.

 So after hearing of Park Jong Chul’s death, knowing that he died by torture, we fought. We demonstrated, we protested, and we marched. We fought to oust the lies and manipulation of the press. The fight continued.

Hong Seung Ha: From spring 1987, I went out to the streets every day. First, I went to school early in the morning. Initially, we had classes at school, but later there were no classes. When I went to school, I went to the classroom and persuaded my classmates to go out to the streets by explaining the situation at that time. And then we went out to the streets. After the protest, we went back to school, shared and discussed the day’s situation. We repeated this every day. That’s what we did. After the college stopped classes, I played a role in ensuring that students could come out to school.

Mass protests were planned against the murder of Park for 10 June – the day that the ruling party planned to announce that Chun Doo Hwan’s successor would be Roh Tae-woo, the second most powerful figure in the dictatorship, and the founder of the intelligence service, the KCIA.

As student activists prepared for the protests the following day on 9 June, the next key event happened which would cause the situation to escalate to another level.

Hong Seung Ha: On June 9, the historic incident occurred where Lee Han-yeol, a student activist, was fatally hit by a tear gas canister and died. Right after that, the June 10 Democratic Movement took place. This marked the peak of the democratization movement in 1987.

Lee Han-yeol was a student at Yonsei University who was shot in the head with a teargas canister and put in a coma by the police, in an incident which spurred even bigger support for the movement. “Bring back Lee Han-yeol!” became a popular slogan.

Desperate to try to stop the planned protest on 10 June, the day that authorities rounded up thousands of known activists, and put hundreds of opposition leaders under house arrest.

But this failed to stop the protests. On 10 June, the day after Lee was injured, Hong was one of those who took to the streets.

Hong Seung Ha: On June 10th, I was also near Seoul City Hall and the Euljiro area. At that time, the police arrested the leaders of the protest. So, the police took a lot of pictures and arrested all the leaders. The detained leaders were sent to jail. Usually, senior students in their fourth year of university became the leaders. When the protest began, seniors would take the megaphone and start agitating, and people would gather after dispersing. We protested in that way.

In 2017, a film directed by Jang Joon-hwan came out called ‘1987: When the Day Comes’, about the June democratic uprising – Hong says that its depiction of the protests, and what it was like on the streets during that time is pretty accurate. So if you want to get a feel for how it felt, you should check it out.

Protests took place in at least 18 cities all over South Korea. Police attacked demonstrators finally, and used copious amounts of teargas. In Masan, an international football match between South Korea and Egypt had to be suspended because players couldn’t play in the clouds of teargas hanging over the pitch.

In some places, protesters got the better of police, burning down police boxes, and in one incident a group of officers was captured, and stripped of their helmets and uniforms which were then thrown into a fountain.

Demonstrators had called on motorists in Seoul to honk their horns to indicate their support for the protests that evening. The New York Times reported that “For 25 minutes, cars honked and beeped their way across City Hall Plaza, reaching a crescendo in one five-minute period, when almost every driver seemed to have a hand pressed to the horn.”

To look after each other and stay safe on the demonstration, Hong and her comrades made plans for how to stay connected matter how hectic things became.

Hong Seung Ha: We had agreed in advance where to disperse. We waited, and when the seniors started agitating, we gathered together to form the protest. At that time, there were many people around Seoul City Hall and Euljiro. After the protest, we often lost our shoes. I remember on June 10th, there were piles of shoes everywhere. The police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Then the protest group scattered and fled to nearby alleys or streets. Some even sought refuge in nearby shops. There were shopkeepers who let us in such situations.

In Busan, tens of thousands of people took to the streets chanting “Overthrow the Dictatorship!”, and in Seongnam, 30,000 people rallied. In Daegu, 20,000 people took to the streets. Some demonstrators were arrested and placed on a bus, but the crowd stoned the bus, and rescued those detained.

The strength of public feeling was so strong that people started losing their fear, and everyone started to get involved – including those who had previously been reluctant to engage in student activism. One of Hong’s fondest memories is of how, eventually, the distinction between activists and just her friends, everyone else, was essentially erased as the movement had become so big.

Hong Seung Ha: In 1987, many friends from college didn’t join at first. But when the June uprising began, almost all the students went out to the streets. So after the protest was over, having a drink of makgeolli together felt really good at that time.

Makgeolli is a (delicious) Korean unfiltered rice wine, which is cloudy, slightly fizzy, and is typically about as alcoholic as a strong Belgian beer – around 6-9%.

Elsewhere in Seoul, hundreds of protesters tried to avoid the police crackdown by seeking refuge in the Myeongdong cathedral. Police surrounded it, waiting to arrest those inside, so the 760 people who had been surrounded launched a sit-in. Although the occupiers were criticised by the official democratic opposition, the National Movement Headquarters for the Achievement of a Democratic Constitution, they were supported by the Catholic community, local office workers, and students at the local girls’ school who brought them lunch boxes and supportive messages. Eventually, the government offered the occupiers amnesty to leave, and the cathedral was vacated by 15 June.

The success of the cathedral occupiers further emboldened the movement, and protests continued. A protest against police violence, and in particular the use of teargas, was organised for 18 June. Rallies took place in nearly 250 locations in 16 cities, and according to the New York Times, riot police “los[t] control of the streets”. After this, Chun Doo Hwan came close to calling in the army, but ultimately decided against it.

While there were large numbers of students on the streets, and the June Democratic Movement is primarily referred to as a student movement, Kim believes that the role of the working class in the struggle has been widely underestimated, or even whitewashed.

Kim Jin-sook: In Korea, the June Struggle of ’87 was led by the “386 generation.” That means that college students were key in the leadership of the struggle. But as a direct participant, I’d like to challenge that idea.

The 386 generation in South Korea refers to the generation of people born in the 1960s, so equivalent to younger baby boomers, and elder Generation X members in the US or UK. The number comes from the 386 Intel computer, which was the one mostly in use in the 1990s when the term was coined.

Kim Jin-sook: Yes, there were plenty of students who were there. Student protestors could fall under the flags of student organisations and groups. But this was a time prior to the idea or concept of a democratic union. There were no flags, there were no organisations that workers could gather under. So I’d have to argue that there was a strong, perhaps bigger population of workers within the Struggle of June.

The biggest change was when workers were on the streets directly fighting with the authorities. They were being taken away, being hit by teargas… but there was no fear.

This prioritisation of students in historical narratives, at the expense of workers, is something which is very common. For example, similar airbrushing occurs with the Tiananmen Square uprising in China, which had a very significant working-class component, which is usually ignored. The same goes for the May 68 events in France: the most significant aspect of this movement was a general strike with factory occupations by 10 million workers – but these are normally ignored in favour of student protests. We are actually working on a podcast miniseries about May 68 at the moment, so watch out for that in the future.

Kim Jin-sook: The greatest sacrifice was made by the workers. All those who participated in the citizens’ movement suffered – the students, the people… but especially the workers and labourers. Workers were not able to receive pay. All of the demands were getting heated, and they were not able to change…

 And the first thing that the Chun Doo Hwan administration did was to oppress the workers. All of the rebels, the activists, union organisers were taken away and manipulated. the media painted them as vigilantes, rebels, as Bbalgaengie’s (“reddies” – commies). There was an absolute government ban on all union organising … it was a difficult time for workers. The lives of workers were tenuous and there were no means for them to make any living.

In addition to factory workers and labourers, even significant numbers of white-collar workers began joining the protests. For example, in Seoul, lots of workers in banks and financial services started joining protests during their lunch breaks. White-collar workers around the country also started forming underground unions.

Because of the harsh dictatorship, students also had to organise covertly.

Hong Seung Ha: At that time, the student movement against the dictatorship also operated as underground organisations. So, publicly, most students were involved in club activities but they were actually part of the illegal organisations. They chose this way because if they didn’t, they would face oppression. In that year as well, there were major fabricated spy cases involving PD-related representative organisations.

The PD here, was the New Korean Democratic Party, a liberal, centrist or centre-right democratic opposition party at this time.

Hong Seung Ha: Many prominent figures in the movement at that time were arrested. I attended a predominantly male-dominated engineering college with very few female students. So, in fact, I received a lot of protection.

Usually, by the time male students and seniors reach the fourth year, they all got arrested at that time. I was among the last generation to experience this period.

However, Hong was only able to avoid arrest for so long.

Hong Seung Ha: I was once detained in Suwon in 1987. It was when I went on an expedition protest to another school. The police raided the bus. When the police raided the bus, the male seniors all escaped through the bus windows, but I couldn’t run away, so I was caught at that moment. Usually, when the police fired tear gas, you could flee on the streets. And the police often beat up male students or detained them. So even when I stopped running away, the police didn’t catch me.

Thankfully, Hong didn’t suffer any serious legal consequences.

Hong Seung Ha: At that time, I was asked some questions to write a report at the police station then I was let go. Since I was only a sophomore at the time and there needed to be substantial evidence of being a leader, which wasn’t present. Typically, leaders were seniors in the fourth grade, and usually, the first, second, and third grades were protected. Furthermore, I think I didn’t take a forefront position because I was a female student.

Being a woman sometimes meant that the police’s sexist assumptions that women couldn’t be leading organisers constituted a layer of protection for women activists. But it also added a significant danger.

Hong Seung Ha: At that time, when women were sent to prison, they often faced sexual assault. The case of Kwon In-sook’s sexual assault is well-known worldwide. Women faced a lot of that kind of oppression.

Kwon In-sook was a 21-year-old student who dropped out of university and began working and organising in factories. She was arrested in June 1986 for participating in the protests, and sexually assaulted during her police interrogation. Her attacker was convicted and jailed for five years in 1988.

The police also used arrests as an opportunity to gather intelligence and put pressure on protesters.

Hong Seung Ha: The police took a lot of pictures of people at the protest site. At that time, the seniors who were in charge of the student union exchanged information with the police who were in charge. When they met the police, the police showed them the pictures of almost everyone who participated in the protest. At the time, I was also an executive member of the student union and president of a club, so the police must have kept a close eye on me. I don’t remember exactly if it was in my second or third year of college, but I remember receiving a persuasion letter from the police. The letter said, “Your parents are worried, and you have a lot of talent. Why are you living like this? Shouldn’t you study and live a successful life?”

In addition to uniformed police on the streets, the government also used plainclothed undercover officers to infiltrate the movement.

Hong Seung Ha: And the police had undercover agents a lot. So among the comrades who were participating in student movements, there were people suspected of being undercover agents. Because many cases were not clearly revealed, we still debate when we meet, saying that person was an undercover agent. There were grounds for suspicion, but it couldn’t be proven. The undercover agents actually existed, and it’s unfortunate that there was a possibility that a friend who was fighting alongside us might have been an undercover agent.

Despite all the repression, the government was unable to stop the growth of the movement. The government discussed using the army to crush the protests, as they did in Gwangju in 1980, and one diplomat said they came “very close” to doing so. There were several likely contributing factors to this decision. Firstly, figures within the government had warned Chun that using the army might jeopardise the planned Olympic Games scheduled for the following year in Seoul. Secondly, many military commanders did not want to be used to repress their own population, especially given the unpopularity of the decisions to do so previously. Another factor was likely the scale of the protests. Unlike previous uprisings, which were confined to particular regions, like Gwangju, or Busan and Masan, this movement was across the whole country.

Finally, the government likely feared that if they did send troops against their own people around the country, soldiers might mutiny, as they did in 1960, when the dictatorship of Syngman Rhee collapsed. Alternatively, it might spark their overthrow in a violent revolution which could get completely out of control.

So instead, a government minister went on TV and threatened that general “extraordinary” measures would be taken if protests didn’t stop. But they didn’t stop. And in the end, after 2 ½ weeks of upheaval, on 29 June, there was only one “extraordinary” measure left for the government to take.

Hong Seung Ha: The main figure of the military regime, Roh Tae-woo, announced the June 29th Declaration. After Chun Doo-hwan, the second-in-command Roh Tae-woo announced the June 29th Declaration and we call it “deceptive” declaration. The June 29th Declaration was about implementing direct presidential elections.

So the government caved to the main demand of the protesters, to hold direct elections for president.

[Outro music]

That’s all we’ve got time for this week. Next time, we learn about the unprecedented strike wave which subsequently swept the country, about the election, and the attempts by the dictatorship to cling to power by the back door. And we talk about more recent Korean history, and lessons for today.

Our patreon supporters can listen to part 2 early, and without ads, now! It is only because of support from you, our listeners, that we are able to spend time making these podcasts, and it does take a lot of time. We’ve been working on this one for over three years now. So if you appreciate our work please do think about joining us at patreon.com/workingclasshistory, link in the show notes. In return for your support, you get early access to content, as well as ad-free episodes, exclusive bonus content, discounted merch, and more.

And if you aren’t in a position to support us right now, that’s totally fine. Please just tell your friends about this podcast and give us a five-star review on Spotify or Apple podcasts.

As always, we’ve got sources, links to more info, transcripts, and more on the webpage for this episode, link in the show notes.

Thanks also to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano.

We would also like to thank various other people for their assistance with these episodes. In particular: Hwang Jeongeun and Steven, of the International Strategy Centre, Kwon Beomchul, Angela Lee, Kap Su Seol, and Hwang Yi-ra. On a personal note I would also like to thank my friend Loren Goldner, whose writings first got me interested in Korean history, some of which we have used as sources for these episodes. Loren passed away in April 2024. He is sorely missed.

Theme music for this episode was Marching For the Beloved, about the Gwangju uprising, by Baek Ki-wan, Hwang Seok-young and Kim Jong-ryul, link to stream it in the show notes.

This episode was edited by Jesse French.

Finally, thanks to you for listening. Catch you next time.

If you value our work please take a second to support Working Class History on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!

Published by Working Class History

History isn't made by kings or politicians, it is made by us: billions of ordinary people.