Supreme Court Finalizes Ruling on Chun Doohwan Memoir's May 18 Distortion... Kang Gijung: "I Will Use It as an Administrative Standard"

Final ruling on damages and publication ban ends nine years of legal battle
"Denial of helicopter gunfire ruled false"...Illegality of May 18 distortion confirmed

With the Supreme Court having finally ruled that the passages on the May 18 Democratic Uprising in Chun Doohwan's memoir are false and distorted, Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijung stated that he will use this decision as an administrative standard.

On the 12th, Mayor Kang wrote on social media (SNS), "Lies can never defeat the truth. Justice will ultimately prevail," adding, "The Supreme Court has sternly condemned the historical distortion of May 18 in Chun Doohwan's memoir." He continued, "In particular, the Supreme Court clearly ruled that the denial of 'helicopter gunfire' is false and illegal," stressing, "At Gwangju's Jeonil Building, the 245 bullet marks that attest to the truth of that day remain clearly visible."

On March 11, 2019, Chun Doohwan entered the Gwangju District Court and, when asked by reporters, said, "Why is this?" Yonhap News

He went on to say, "This ruling confirms that disparaging and distorting May 18 is not an exercise of freedom of expression but a clear illegality," and declared, "I will adopt this legal standard as a principle of administration." He explained that the recent decision to deny former Korea Communications Commission Chairperson Lee Jinsook permission to use the Jeonil Building 245 auditorium for a lecture was made in the same context, adding, "We cannot give citizens' space to those who habitually distort history."

This ruling is the judicial conclusion to the controversy over historical distortion surrounding Chun Doohwan's memoir, which was published in 2017. On this day, the Supreme Court finalized Chun's liability for damages and the injunction banning publication, on the grounds that the May 18-related content in the memoir constitutes falsehoods and distortions. Observers say that, after a lengthy trial, this has brought closure to a case that had escalated from an individual's recollections into a broader dispute over historical perception.

The controversy began with sections of the memoir that described the May 18 Democratic Uprising as a riot and advanced the theory of North Korean military involvement. It also included passages denying martial law troops' helicopter gunfire and characterizing the shootings as unavoidable acts of self-defense. In particular, the part that labeled the late Father Cho Biyo, who had testified that he witnessed helicopter gunfire, as a "shameless liar" further fueled public outrage.

The Supreme Court finalized a ruling ordering the late Chun Doohwan to pay damages, finding that he distorted the May 18 Democratic Movement in his memoirs and defamed those involved. At the Supreme Court in Seocho District, Seoul that day, Park Kangbae, Executive Director of the May 18 Memorial Foundation (left), and lawyer Kim Jungho issued a statement. Yonhap News

The May 18 Memorial Foundation, related organizations, and bereaved families filed civil and criminal lawsuits, arguing that the memoir constituted historical distortion and defamation. In the criminal trial, Chun was found guilty of defaming the deceased and was given a suspended prison sentence in the first instance, but the case was dismissed on appeal after his death, bringing the criminal proceedings to an end. In the civil lawsuit, both the first and second instance courts ruled that a substantial part of the memoir's core claims were false statements lacking any objective basis, and after the case was filed with the Supreme Court in 2022 and underwent lengthy deliberations, a final decision has now been reached.

Park Gangbae, executive director of the May 18 Memorial Foundation, said, "It is regrettable that it took nine years to set the historical record straight, but it is fortunate that the distortions have at least now been corrected," adding, "I hope that distortions and disparagement of the May 18 Democratic Uprising will not be repeated in the future."