President says 1980 pro-democracy spirit revived in resistance to 2024 martial law declaration

“President Lee Jae Myung said that the spirit of the Gwangju pro-democracy movement lives on and was revived in 2024 through peaceful public protests that helped overturn the imposition of martial law. “Just as the citizens of Gwangju rose in defiance against martial law troops in May 1980, so too did the great people of Korea stand unarmed against armed martial law forces in 2024,” Lee said during a ceremony in Gwangju to mark the 46th anniversary of the uprising on Monday. He referred to the Gwangju uprising, which began on May 18, 1980, against the military junta led by then-Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, and the monthslong movement that began on Dec. 3, 2024, opposing the imposition of martial law by ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Lee pointed out that, although Chun’s dictatorial regime brutally suppressed the Gwangju Uprising, the spirit of May “was revived through the conscience of countless citizens who chose to stand on the side of truth and justice.” “The same spirit was reborn as the revolution of light on a bitter winter night in 2024, as citizens protected democracy b

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