Lee Seokyoung, Respected Figure of the Democratization Movement and Honorary Professor at Jeonbuk National University, Passes Away

An Educator Who Endured Dismissal and Torture During the May 18 Gwangju Uprising
A Life Dedicated to Guarding the Scenes of the Sewol Ferry and Itaewon Tragedies

Lee Seokyoung, an honorary professor at Jeonbuk National University known as the "elder statesman of the democratization movement in Jeonbuk," passed away on March 31 at the age of 89.

Born in 1936 in Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk, the late professor began his career as a teacher at Jeonju Kijeon Girls' High School before joining Jeonbuk National University's College of Agriculture in 1970. He later served in the Department of Applied Biotechnology. During the Yushin regime and military dictatorship, he acted as an advisor for the Korea Student Christian Federation (KSCF), taking to the streets alongside students.

The late Professor Seokyoung Lee of Jeonbuk National University. Provided by Jeonbuk Democracy Movement Memorial Association, Yonhap News Agency

During the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980, he was taken by martial law troops, tortured at the Jeonju Security Unit, and dismissed from his professorship on charges of inciting unrest. After being reinstated in 1984, he served as co-chair of the Jeonbuk Christian Social Movement Union, co-representative of the Jeonbuk Citizens' Solidarity for Participatory Autonomy, and co-representative of the Jeonbuk Democratization Movement Memorial Association, becoming a central figure in the region's democratization movement.

His activism did not cease after retirement. He served as a member of the Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths, chairman of the alternative school Pureunkkum High School, and advisor to the Jeonbuk Civil Society Solidarity Council, continuing his dedication to education, human rights, and social movements. Notably, since 2014, he guarded the Jeonbuk memorial altar for the Sewol ferry disaster victims, and more recently, served as a guardian at the Itaewon disaster memorial altar and as an advisor to the Jeonbuk Movement Headquarters for the Resignation of Yoon Sukyeol.

Civil society remembers him as an elder who walked alongside democracy?a person who was present at the scene before his name was known, someone who endured quietly more than anyone else.

His funeral will be held as a Jeonbuk Democratic Citizen Social Funeral. The procession will take place at 8 a.m. on the 3rd, with a street ritual at 9 a.m. in front of the Sewol ferry memorial altar at Pungnammun Square in Jeonju. He will be laid to rest at the Gwangju May 18 National Cemetery. He is survived by his son Younghoon and daughters Jungwan and Kyungwan. The funeral hall is Room 301 at Jeonju Jesus Hospital Funeral Home.