President Moon on the 'Seoul Station Retreat': "I Feel Tremendous Guilt About That Fact"
Shim Jae-cheol: "More Opinion Toward Disbanding Than Using Military Intervention as an Excuse"
Yoo Si-min: "We Should Not Disband. We Must Continue Here"
Yoo Si-min, Chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation (left), Shim Jae-cheol, Member of the Future United Party (right) Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Interest is focused on the so-called 'Seoul Station Retreat' that occurred 40 years ago following President Moon Jae-in's interview broadcast on Gwangju MBC on the 17th.
In particular, there was controversy as Rep. Shim Jae-cheol of the United Future Party and Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, who were present at the Seoul Station protest site, made conflicting claims regarding the withdrawal that day.
The 'Seoul Station Retreat' refers to the event on May 15, two days before the May 18, 1980, democratization movement, when about 200,000 university students gathered at the ground plaza of Seoul Station demanding the lifting of martial law and the promotion of democratization from the new military regime led by Chun Doo-hwan, but voluntarily dispersed upon news of military deployment.
On that day, hundreds of thousands of students from 30 universities in Seoul gathered at the plaza, shouting for the abolition of martial law and demanding the government and the new military regime present a democratization schedule.
The new military regime feared losing control over the crowd, and as rumors spread about the deployment of airborne troops, the students deliberated over whether to disperse or advance.
At that time, student council presidents from universities in Seoul held an emergency meeting inside a minibus in front of Seoul Station and decided to disperse. After heated debate, the students judged that a large-scale bloody clash could occur if there was a confrontation, so they decided to disperse that day and reconvene later.
President Moon Jae-in is being interviewed by Gwangju MBC on the 12th at Sangchunjae in the Blue House regarding the 5.18 Democratization Movement, which marks its 40th anniversary this year. [Image source=Yonhap News]
President Moon, who was a returning student representative at Kyung Hee University at the time, opposed that decision.
President Moon said, "I felt an immense sense of guilt about that fact, and not only I but all democratization activists outside the Gwangju region had a sense of debt toward Gwangju. That sense of debt later became an opportunity to further spread and promote the democratization movement."
◆ Shim Jae-cheol: "Consensus leaned toward dispersal rather than giving military intervention a pretext"
The announcement of the retreat to the protesters was made by Rep. Shim Jae-cheol, who was then the president of the Seoul National University student council.
Rep. Shim explained in a phone interview with Yonhap News that "inside the minibus, opinions were divided over whether to disperse, leading to heated debate," and ultimately, the consensus was to be cautious and disperse rather than provide a pretext for military intervention.
However, this led to conflict due to differing memories between Yoo, who served as the chairperson of the Seoul National University delegates' council at the time, and Rep. Shim.
◆ Yoo Si-min: "Everything was testified as being done at the student council level" vs Shim Jae-cheol: "Historical distortion"
Yoo appeared on a broadcast on April 20 last year and said, "Seniors told me to get on the bus and say 'We must not disperse,' so I went up and said that. I was terrified inside but said, 'We must not disperse; we must continue here,' then came down. I was very scared."
He also said, "Information needed to apprehend someone was not exposed, and no secret organizations other than our student council were revealed; everything was testified as being done at the student council level."
In response, on the 22nd, Rep. Shim rebutted, saying, "Historical truth should not be distorted for entertainment." He revealed part of a 90-page A4 confession statement written by Yoo at the Joint Investigation Headquarters in June 1980 regarding internal trends of the activist groups.
Rep. Shim claimed, "Yoo's confession statement effectively became a weapon aimed at democratization activists he mentioned, and was used as key evidence submitted by the prosecution to the court."
He added, "Yoo testified in the statement that he remained 'neutral' during campus protests just before advancing to Seoul Station on May 15. Therefore, Yoo's claim that he incited students to 'not disperse' is not true," reiterating his criticism.
Yoo countered Rep. Shim's claims again. In a video posted on the foundation's YouTube channel 'Alileo' on May 1, Yoo said, "I think the confession statement was well written. Everything that needed to be concealed was concealed, and everything that needed to be denied was denied."
He also claimed, "After the confession statement was written, a wanted list of nearly 500 people was announced, but not a single member of the secret organization (Seoul National University Rural Law Society) was on that list."
He added, "The confession statement written by the Martial Law Joint Investigation Headquarters only included what they knew about Shin Gye-ryun (then president of Korea University student council), Lee Hae-chan (then president of Seoul National University returning students' council), and other known facts. Other content was not secret and was of little value. I was repeatedly asked to confess that the protests were orchestrated by former President Kim Dae-jung, but I resisted, saying I did not know."
Regarding the timing of the handwritten confession statement, he said, "I guess it was written after July." He added, "The statement was created influenced by false testimonies from various related persons, so the person who wrote it cannot be considered the original declarant."
◆ "Yoo Si-min provided guidelines to the Joint Investigation Headquarters" Shim Jae-cheol repeatedly refutes Yoo's claims
In response to Yoo's rebuttal, Rep. Shim countered again. In posts on his blog on May 2 and 3 last year, he stated, "Yoo's confession statement to the Joint Investigation Headquarters was written on June 11 and 12, before my testimony on June 30, 1980."
He pointed out, "Among the 77 names listed in Yoo's June 11, 1980, statement, 18 were placed on the wanted list on June 17. One of those wanted was later arrested and gave a statement that was used as evidence against me and Rep. Lee Hae-chan."
He criticized, "Yoo described his own actions as passive bystander but detailed the actions of his peers actively and thoroughly, providing guidelines to the Joint Investigation Headquarters."
In 1980, in Gwangju Geumnam-ro, citizens and students demanded the resignation of the military regime, leading a large bus in front. Martial law troops arrested a protesting student and forced him to kneel in front of a tank. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Regarding the connection with the late President Kim Dae-jung, he also claimed, "Yoo's testimony appears to have provided clues that allowed the new military regime, which was trying to find links between former President Kim Dae-jung and the student protest leadership, to piece together the puzzle, specifically the involvement of the National Democratic Youth League and returning students in the protests, thus contributing to the 'Kim Dae-jung Conspiracy Case' narrative."
Regarding Yoo's request to "disclose Shim's confession statement," Rep. Shim released his own and Yoo's original confession statements on his blog and in a press release on the 6th.
The handwritten confession statement Yoo provided was dated June 12, 1980, and was 80 pages long. Rep. Shim's handwritten confession statement was dated June 30, 1980, and was 13 pages long.
Rep. Shim said while releasing the statements, "Yoo's statement detailed the actions of his peers extensively," and "My name was mentioned 78 times in his statement."
He emphasized, "I consistently asserted the purity of the student movement and that there was no involvement from political figures such as Kim Dae-jung, and this testimony was maintained during the trial."
◆ Yoo Si-min: Shim Jae-cheol's released confession statement is a lie
After Rep. Shim released the confession statement, Yoo again rebutted in an interview with Yonhap News, saying, "The statement is a lie from the beginning."
He added, "The part about first meeting Rep. Shim in March 1980 was completely fabricated. It was important to testify sincerely to make the investigators think 'that could be possible,' intending to deceive the authorities."
He also said, "It doesn't make sense that Rep. Shim, who was in the newspapers every time there was a protest, was prosecuted because of me."
Regarding Rep. Shim's release of the confession statement, Yoo said, "I think it was good that he released a statement I don't have. I have no intention of taking legal action against him. You just need to understand that all these things had to be testified as done by student council executives."
Meanwhile, the new military regime expanded emergency martial law nationwide on May 17 and seized power. They then arrested protest leaders and opposition politicians, leading to the May 18 democratization movement and its suppression.
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