Yang Bunam Proposes Amendment to the "Act on the Restoration of Honor for Participants in the 3.15 Uprising"
Including Gwangju in the Official Definition of the 3.15 Uprising
Assemblyman Yang Bunam.
Yang Bunam, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (representing Gwangju Seo-gu Eul), announced on the 21st that he has proposed the first-ever amendment to the "Act on the Restoration of Honor for Participants in the 3.15 Uprising," which includes Gwangju?the region where the uprising against the fraudulent 3.15 election first broke out?in the official definition of the 3.15 Uprising.
The current law defines the 3.15 Uprising as "the democratization movement that occurred in the Masan area in opposition to the fraudulent election of March 15, 1960, from around March 15 to April 13, 1960."
However, before the citizens' uprising in Masan at around 3:30 p.m. on March 15, 1960, more than 1,200 citizens and students of Gwangju had already staged a protest called "Gok, Funeral for Democracy" at around 12:45 p.m. that same day in the Geumnam-ro area, opposing the dictatorial regime and fraudulent election of the Liberal Party. During this protest, then National Assembly member Lee Pilho and others were detained by the police, many citizens were injured, and even Lee Pilho's pregnant wife was seriously injured during the protest and died two months later along with her unborn child.
The amendment redefines the 3.15 Uprising to include Gwangju, based on historical facts, instead of limiting its scope to Masan as in the current law.
Yang stated, "In order to nationally inherit and further develop the spirit of the 3.15 Uprising, which first began in Gwangju, the sacred ground of democratization, we have revised the law to reflect historical facts," and added, "I hope that this legal amendment will help restore, even in part, the honor of the citizens of Gwangju who suffered under the dictatorial regime of the Liberal Party and the fraudulent 3.15 election."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
