518 Foundation Welcomes Use of Gwangcheon-dong Citizen Apartment as History Museum

The May 18 Memorial Foundation stated on the 27th, "We welcome the decision to preserve and utilize the 'Gwangcheon-dong Citizen Apartment,' a symbolic space of May in Gwangju, as a historical museum."

The May 18 Memorial Foundation and the Deulbul Martyrs Memorial Association issued a commentary, saying, "Recently, the Gwangcheon-dong Housing Redevelopment and Maintenance Association submitted a revised maintenance plan to preserve Building 'Na' of the Citizen Apartment and return it to the public as a historical museum," and added, "The Seo-gu Office of Gwangju announced its intention to deliver this to Gwangju Metropolitan City."

They continued, "Since the signing of the four-party agreement in 2021 (Gwangju City, Seo-gu of Gwangju, Gwangcheon-dong Housing Redevelopment and Maintenance Association, and the Catholic Archdiocese of Gwangju) to preserve Building 'Na' of the Citizen Apartment, the base of Deulbul Night School, and to restore the Deulbul Night School within Gwangcheon-dong Cathedral, no follow-up measures have been taken," and added, "Immediately after the agreement, six organizations, including the May 18 Memorial Foundation and the Deulbul Martyrs Memorial Association, issued a joint statement actively supporting the preservation agreement and expressing their hope that follow-up measures would be implemented as soon as possible."

They further stated, "The Citizen Apartment is a space imbued with the spirit of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising in 1980 and is a symbolic place that embodies the spirit of community," and added, "We will do our utmost to ensure that the historic sites of the May 18 Democratization Movement, including the 'Gwangcheon-dong Citizen Apartment,' are properly preserved and utilized."