[Reporter’s View] The ‘Gwangju Spirit’ and Politician Kim Bu-gyeom

Former Assemblyman Kim Bu-gyeom (4th from the left in the back row in the photo) visited Gwangju on the 18th of last month to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising and held a meeting under the theme "The Meaning of the Gwangju Spirit."

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] A ‘big match’ is expected to unfold as presidential candidates from Yeongnam and Honam regions face off head-on for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Some citizens of Gwangju seem to hope that the primary election, held at the 40th anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising, will be a sober evaluation of who is the true successor of the ‘Gwangju Spirit.’

The ‘Gwangju Spirit’ can be summarized as the spirit of risking one’s life to uphold justice when the nation is in crisis. During the Imjin War, General Yi Sun-sin said, “If there is no Honam, there is no country,” meaning “若無湖南 是無國家 (Yakmu Honam Simugukga).”

The lives of the nameless Honam people repelled the Japanese invasion, and that spirit continued through the May 18 Democratic Uprising, remaining a current and ongoing force.

The late President Roh Moo-hyun ran for a by-election in Jongno District, Seoul, in 1998 and was elected. In 2000, he gave up the Jongno district, where he had a high chance of winning, and ran as the Millennium Democratic Party candidate in the Buk-Gangseo district of Busan, advocating for the “eradication of regionalism,” but lost to the candidate from the then-Hannara Party.

Although he was defeated, he willingly accepted martyrdom to break down the huge wall of regionalism. That is why people called him ‘Fool Roh Moo-hyun.’ Later, in March 2002, he unexpectedly took first place in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary held in Gwangju, being chosen as the rightful heir to the Gwangju Spirit, and was ultimately elected as the 16th President of the Republic of Korea in the December presidential election that year.

During the 21st general election, despite feeling the solid barrier of regionalism, I saw a politician overlapping with ‘Fool Roh Moo-hyun.’ He is former lawmaker Kim Boo-kyum, who ran as the candidate for Daegu Suseong-gap, known as the toughest district for the current ruling party, the Democratic Party of Korea.

He is regarded by many as the second ‘Roh Moo-hyun.’ This is likely because he is walking the path of ‘Fool Roh Moo-hyun’ as a pilgrim through a beautiful defeat.

Among those who like him, although he is from Daegu, his ties with Gwangju are special, and he is evaluated as a person who can inherit the ‘Gwangju Spirit’ more than anyone else.

He reportedly visited the Gwangju Air Force Base, where his father was stationed, every vacation during his childhood. Therefore, he says Gwangju feels like his second hometown. Due to his student activism and protest history, his father retired as a lieutenant colonel.

During the May 18 Democratic Uprising in 1980, Kim Boo-kyum was listed as one of the top ten wanted suspects in Daegu for the ‘Kim Dae-jung Conspiracy’ case. The leaflet he distributed at that time was titled, “Gwangju is dying. We must save Gwangju.”

Although he is from Gyeongsang Province, he was desperate to reveal the truth about Gwangju. He was imprisoned by the new military government in May 1980 and has since visited the Mangwol-dong cemetery in Gwangju every two to three years.

The personal history of Kim Boo-kyum, who has fought the evil of ‘regionalism’ for 40 years, aligns with the dream of ‘Fool Roh Moo-hyun.’ The dream of ‘Fool Roh Moo-hyun’ fully embodies the ‘Gwangju Spirit,’ but it is still ongoing and an unfinished dream.

I dare to hope that the Democratic Party of Korea’s leadership contest will not be a confrontation between Yeongnam and Honam, but a ‘stage’ to inherit the ‘Gwangju Spirit.’