Lee Juho, Acting President, Attends in Absence of President and Prime Minister
Presidential Candidates Lee Jae Myung, Lee Jun Seok, and Kwon Young Guk Participate
"It Is Time to Revive the Spirit of May and Pursue Dialogue and Compromise"
Lee Jae Myung of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee Jun Seok of the Reform New Party, and Kwon Young Guk, presidential candidates of the Democratic Labor Party, are singing the "March for the Beloved" at the 45th anniversary ceremony of the May 18 Democratic Uprising held on the 18th at the National May 18 Democratic Cemetery in Buk District, Gwangju Metropolitan City. Photo by Yonhap News
The 45th anniversary ceremony of the May 18 Democratic Uprising was held at 10 a.m. on May 18 at the National May 18 Democratic Cemetery in Gwangju.
Under the theme "Together, Writing May," the ceremony was attended by Lee Juho, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education; May 18 Democratic Merit Awardees and their bereaved families; major political and government figures including presidential candidates from each party; students; and more than 2,500 participants in total.
Among the presidential candidates, Lee Jae Myung of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee Jun Seok of the Reform New Party, and Kwon Young Guk of the Democratic Labor Party attended, representing three political parties. Kim Moon Soo, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, was absent.
In previous years, either the president or the prime minister attended the ceremony as the government representative. However, due to the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, Acting President Lee Juho was present at this year's ceremony. This is the first time in history that the government ceremony for May 18 has been held in the absence of a sitting president.
Ahn Chang Ho, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, was unable to attend the ceremony after facing strong protests from citizens. These protests arose due to controversies surrounding the December 3 Martial Law and the political turmoil following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The ceremony lasted 40 minutes and included the national pledge, a progress report, an opening performance, commemorative speeches, a commemorative video, a grand chorus, and the singing of "March for the Beloved." The opening performance, "Eternal Memory," revisited the story of Moon Jae Hak, the real-life protagonist of Han Kang's Nobel Prize-winning novel "Human Acts."
The life of Yoon Sang Won, the "citizen army spokesperson" who died defending the South Jeolla Provincial Government building in the early morning of May 27, 1980, the last day of the uprising, was also highlighted through the voice of a friend remembering him. Singer Lee Jung Kwon performed Roy Kim's song "Even When Spring Comes" to honor the spirits of the democratic martyrs.
Acting President Lee stated, "In May 1980, Gwangju was the site where ordinary students and citizens defended the values of democracy, justice, and human rights with their lives. The history of Gwangju is the history of all of us. Today, conflicts and divisions are deepening throughout Korea."
He continued, "The spirit of solidarity and unity shown by Gwangju in May 45 years ago is a lesson we desperately need today. We must continually revive the spirit of May in our daily lives and open the path to true national unity through dialogue and compromise." However, there was no mention of including the spirit of May 18 in the preamble of the Constitution.
The ceremony concluded with participants holding hands with those next to them and swaying back and forth, or raising their clenched fists, as they sang "March for the Beloved" together.
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