May 18 Archives Seeks Direction for State Violence Archive

Academic Conference to Be Held at Chonnam National University on May 22

'The 2nd 518 Researchers Conference' poster. Provided by Gwangju City

The May 18 Democratization Movement Archives announced on May 20 that it will hold an academic conference on May 22 at Seminar Room 1 of the Main Administration Building at Chonnam National University, under the theme of the second 518 Researchers Conference record session, "The Pros and Cons of Building a State Violence Archive."

The academic conference is jointly hosted and organized by the May 18 Democratization Movement Archives, Sungkonghoe University Democracy Archives, and Chonnam National University 518 Research Institute, with support from the Cultural Heritage Administration, Gwangju City, South Jeolla Province, and Chonnam National University.

The conference will be attended by organizations and groups related to the May 18 Democratization Movement, institutions and organizations dealing with state violence, record research institutions and organizations, and groups involved with UNESCO's Memory of the World program.

At the conference, Song Yonghan, a research professor at the Sungkonghoe University Democracy Archives, will present on "Research on Standardization Criteria and Methods for Building a State Violence Database (DB)." Professor Song will discuss the criteria to consider and standardization methods for building such a database, based on a theoretical review of the concept of state violence.

Yoon Hyesun, a manager at the Memorial Foundation for the Democratization Movement, will propose new directions for building an integrated database through a case study of the foundation's archive.

Jang Yeonhee, secretary of the October 29 Itaewon Disaster Special Investigation Committee, will give a presentation titled "Whose Memory Is It?: Questioning the Rights and Responsibilities of State Violence Records," shedding light on practical issues regarding the ownership and copyright of state violence records and seeking direction through overseas examples.

The subsequent panel discussion will feature Park Kangbae, executive director of the May 18 Memorial Foundation; Kim Shinsuk, record researcher at the War and Women's Human Rights Museum; and Kim Taehyun, professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. They will discuss the direction for building a state violence archive.

Kim Hokyun, director of the May 18 Democratization Movement Archives, stated, "Through this event, which examines the current status and challenges of state violence archives, we aim to objectively assess the expectations, concerns, and realities surrounding the integrated May 18 database, and to explore future policy directions for the May 18 archive."

Meanwhile, the second 518 Researchers Conference, which will be held over two days from May 22 to 23 at Chonnam National University, is an academic conference commemorating the 45th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement and the 14th anniversary of its inscription in the Memory of the World Register. Under the theme "Social Transformation, May 18 as a Compass," the conference is designed to explore how the spirit of May 18 can serve as a tool for reflecting on the liquidation of negative legacies from the past and for driving social transformation.