'Injured Martial Law Soldiers, Civilians Who Helped Evacuate, and Doctors Who Treated Them' Gathered Together for the First Time in 43 Years Since the May 18 Incident

During the 5·18 Democratization Movement, a wounded martial law soldier, a civilian who helped transport him to the hospital, and the doctor who treated him met in one place for the first time in 43 years.

According to the 5·18 Democratization Movement Truth Investigation Committee on the 24th, Park Yoon-soo (then a corporal) of the 20th Division, who was injured in May 1980, Shin Bong-seop (then a taxi driver), a civilian who helped transport him to a nearby hospital, and Dr. Jung Young-il, who hid and treated the martial law soldier, met.

Mr. Park Yoon-su, who came to Gwangju as a martial law soldier during the May 18 Democratic Uprising, and Dr. Jung Young-il, who treated him, are talking at the hospital where they were treated at that time.
[Photo by May 18 Democratic Uprising Truth Investigation Committee]

This meeting was confirmed through Park Yoon-soo’s testimony and military records during the committee’s bottom-up survey of martial law soldiers.

Additionally, multiple testimonies about the situation were cross-verified, which led to the identification of the civilian and the doctor, and the meeting was ultimately arranged at the request of martial law soldier Park Yoon-soo.

On May 21, 1980, Park Yoon-soo, who was the duty soldier of the battalion commander of the 61st Regiment, 20th Division, traveled from Seoul to Gwangju in the battalion commander’s vehicle. Near the Gwangju Tollgate, around the entrance to the Gwangju Industrial Complex, he was seriously injured by a stone thrown by protesting citizens.

Shin Bong-seop, a taxi driver, calmed and persuaded the citizens surrounding the unconscious Park Yoon-soo, took him to the hospital, and prioritized his treatment. Dr. Jung Young-il, who lived upstairs from the hospital, hid and treated Park Yoon-soo at his home.

After emergency treatment and rest, Park Yoon-soo was told that it was dangerous to go outside in his military uniform, so he changed into civilian clothes and was able to safely return to the headquarters of the 61st Regiment, 20th Division, stationed in Gwangju.

Meanwhile, according to the 20th Division’s combat report, it was recorded that “Park Yoon-soo went missing at 9:30 a.m. on May 21, 1980, at the Gwangju Tollgate,” which can be confirmed through the 1996 investigation records of the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office by the battalion commander at the time.