May 18 Memorial Foundation Elects Yoon Mokhyun as 16th Chairman

Efforts to Promote Nationwide and Global Recognition of the May 18 Spirit

Yoon Mokhyun, the 16th chairman of the May 18 Memorial Foundation.

The May 18 Memorial Foundation announced on July 2 that it has elected Yoon Mokhyun, director of the Gwangju Democratization Movement Memorial Association, as the 16th chairman of the May 18 Memorial Foundation.

The foundation held a board meeting on the same day, during which the Executive Recommendation Committee recommended Yoon Mokhyun, director of the Gwangju Democratization Movement Memorial Association, as a candidate for chairman. The board decided that he was the right person to realize the values of the May 18 Democratization Movement and to operate the foundation. Yoon will begin his three-year term on July 14.

In 1980, Yoon was sentenced to five months in prison and incarcerated for his involvement in the democratization movement. He later served as a reporter, editor-in-chief, vice president, and advisor at the Mudung Ilbo. He also worked as co-representative of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Democratization Movement Comrades Association, co-representative of the Gwangju Democratization Movement Memorial Association, and director of the Human Rights and Peace Bureau of Gwangju City. He is currently serving as director (in charge of business operations) of the Gwangju Democratization Movement Memorial Association.

Yoon stated, "I will strive to promote the nationwide and global recognition of the May 18 spirit, including enshrining the May 18 spirit in the preamble of the Constitution, legislating penalties for the distortion of the May 18 movement, and advancing follow-up projects after UNESCO registration."