"Chun Doohwan's Historically Distorted Memoir Ironically Revealed the Truth of May 18"

Memorial foundation announces achievements in legal response to historical distortion
Facts such as helicopter shootings revealed in Supreme Court trial

At a press conference titled "Results of Legal Responses to May 18 Historical Distortion and 2026 Response Status" held on the 19th at the May Memory Archive of the May 18 Memorial Cultural Center in Seo-gu, Gwangju, Kim Jungho, chair of the May 18 Special Committee of the Gwangju-Jeonnam branch of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, is announcing the results of the lawsuits to date. Photo by the May 18 Memorial Foundation.

There is an assessment that the memoir of Chun Doohwan, which was finalized by the Supreme Court with an order banning its publication due to historical distortion, has ironically become an opportunity to uncover the truth about the May 18 Democratization Movement.

On the 19th, the May 18 Memorial Foundation held a press briefing titled "Achievements in Legal Responses to Historical Distortion of May 18 and Plans for Response in 2026" at the May Memory Archive of the May 18 Memorial Cultural Center in Seo-gu, Gwangju, and announced the results of the lawsuits to date.

Kim Joungho, chair of the May 18 Special Committee of the Gwangju-Jeonnam branch of Minbyun Lawyers for a Democratic Society, who handled the lawsuit over Chun Doohwan’s memoir, said, "Through his memoir, Chun Doohwan tried to evade responsibility for May 18 and distort history, but in the end, facts that had been concealed were revealed in the course of the trial," calling it "the irony of history."

Attorney Kim cited two main achievements of the Supreme Court ruling on the 12th, which acknowledged Chun Doohwan’s responsibility for historical distortion in his memoir in the damages and publication ban lawsuits filed by May 18 organizations and bereaved families.

The first was that the helicopter shooting by martial law troops, which Chun’s side had consistently denied, was confirmed as fact during the trial.

Kim said, "In the first trial, the passage describing Father Cho Biyo, who testified that he had witnessed the helicopter shooting, as a 'shameless liar' resulted in a guilty verdict for defamation of the deceased, but with Chun’s death, the case was dismissed and the fact-finding was almost buried," adding, "However, through the civil ruling, the facts regarding the helicopter shooting by the martial law troops were acknowledged."

Kim also stressed that the claim of an attack by a citizen militia armored vehicle, which had been the key basis for Chun’s argument that the troops were exercising the right of self-defense, was likewise corrected through the trial.

He explained, "Chun and the other leaders of the new military regime had justified their theory of invoking the right of self-defense by claiming that martial law troops were killed by a citizen militia armored vehicle, but the court’s judgment confirmed that this was not true."

Kim expressed some regret that the account of the attack on Gwangju Prison, another point of controversy, was excluded from the portions of the memoir ordered to be deleted.

Kim emphasized, "I hope that, with this Supreme Court ruling as a turning point, distortions and disparagement of May 18, such as the theory of North Korean military involvement, will disappear," adding, "Ultimately, enshrining the spirit of May 18 in the preamble to the Constitution is the fundamental solution."

Meanwhile, the May 18 Memorial Foundation is currently continuing its legal response to content that distorts or disparages the May 18 Democratization Movement, with 2 criminal trials, 4 civil trials, and 16 complaints and accusations underway.