Sentenced to Death in 1980 and Imprisoned for Over 2 Years... The History of the 5·18 Truth Struggle
5·18 Democratic National Funeral... Funeral Ceremony in Front of Former Jeonnam Provincial Office on the 31st and Memorial Service at Chonnam Natio
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeong Dong-nyeon, chairman of the 5·18 Memorial Foundation who was sentenced to death during the May 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement, passed away on the morning of the 29th. He was 79 years old.
According to the 5·18 Memorial Foundation, Chairman Jeong collapsed due to a heart attack and did not regain consciousness, passing away around 10 a.m. that day.
The deceased was born in Gwangju in 1943. In 1964, he led protests against the humiliating Korea-Japan diplomacy as the president of the student council at Chonnam National University, and later was arrested and expelled while leading opposition to the ratification of the Korea-Japan talks.
He was sentenced to death on charges of being the ringleader of the rebellion related to the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980 and was imprisoned the longest among those involved in 5·18 until December 1982.
Throughout the 1980s, he resisted the Korean Central Intelligence Agency’s operation to remove the 5·18 burial site and was active mainly with the families of the 5·18 victims and the injured.
In 1988, he appeared at the National Assembly’s Gwangju hearing to expose the military dictatorship’s torture investigations, and in 1995, he challenged the prosecution’s non-indictment decision (against 35 responsible persons including Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo for rebellion and murder related to 5·18) by verifying the investigation results, never loosening his fight.
During this process, he served as the standing chairman of the Gwangju People’s Uprising Coalition, secretary-general of the 5·18 Memorial Project Promotion Committee, and co-chairman of the Democracy and National Unification Gwangju-Jeonnam Federation, playing a central role in Gwangju’s civic movement.
In September 1999, he was elected as a citizen candidate in the by-election for mayor of Nam-gu, Gwangju, and also distinguished himself as an administrator. He served as the chairman of the 5·18 30th Anniversary Commemoration Committee in 2010 and as the standing chairman of the 42nd Anniversary 5·18 People’s Uprising Commemoration Committee in 2022.
The deceased’s funeral parlor is set up in Room 301 at Kumho Funeral Hall, Hakdong, Dong-gu, Gwangju.
The funeral will be held as a 5·18 Democratic National Funeral (three-day funeral). The standing funeral committee chairpersons are Park Seok-mu, chairman of the Dasan Research Institute; Monk Ji Seon (chairman of the Democracy Movement Commemoration Association); Choi Gap-soon, chairman of the Bu-Ma Democratic Uprising Memorial Foundation; and Ko Hee-beom, chairman of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation.
The funeral host will be Moon Guk-ju, representative of the National Sovereignty Assembly, and Won Soon-seok, former standing chairman of the 5·18 Event Committee. The working committee will be handled by the 5·18 Memorial Foundation, the three 5·18 organizations, the 5·18 People’s Uprising Commemoration Event Committee, the Chonnam National University Democratic Alumni Association, the Gwangju-Jeonnam Memorial Solidarity, and the Gwangju-Jeonnam Democracy Movement Branch.
The farewell ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on the 31st at the former Jeonnam Provincial Office in Dong-gu, Gwangju, and the memorial service will be conducted at the 5·18 Memorial Foundation and Chonnam National University.
The deceased’s remains will be interred at the National 5·18 Democratic Cemetery.
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