Gwangju City Uses Genetic Analysis to Locate Families of '5·18 Missing Persons'

"Restoring Victims' Honor
and Healing the Pain of Bereaved Families"

Gwangju City Hall exterior view.

The city of Gwangju is continuing its "genetic analysis project" to identify the missing victims of the 5·18 Democratization Movement and to locate their families. This project is being carried out as part of efforts to uncover the truth about the 5·18 Democratization Movement, in accordance with Article 52 of the "Gwangju City Ordinance on the Succession of the Spirit of the 5·18 Democratization Movement."

The city operates the project by collecting genetic information such as blood or oral epithelial cells from the families of the missing, and then conducting comparative analysis with the DNA of unclaimed remains that have been excavated.

From 2001 to 2024, the city conducted genetic analysis a total of seven times, confirming the identities of six individuals. In addition, from 2020 to 2023, the national "5·18 Democratization Movement Truth Investigation Commission" carried out further investigations, identifying three more individuals. As of now, the identities of a total of nine missing persons have been confirmed.

In the current project, the city plans to conduct comparative analysis between the genetic information of bereaved families and the DNA data of more than 290 remains (a total of 602 samples) collected so far, including 19 unclaimed remains excavated at sites reported to have been used for secret burials by martial law troops and others. The analysis will utilize both the STR (short tandem repeat) method and the highly precise SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) technique to enhance the accuracy of identification.

This year, genetic analysis will be conducted for families of applicants for the "8th Compensation for the 5·18 Democratization Movement" as well as any other bereaved families who wish to participate. Applications are accepted at any time until the end of the year, and families can visit city hall or a genetic testing institution to provide blood or oral epithelial cell samples.

On May 25, Jeong Seokhee, Director of the 5·18 Democratization Division, said, "We will do our utmost to heal the pain of the bereaved families and to restore the honor of the victims of the democratization movement. We will make every effort until the end so that even one more person can return to their family."