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A portion of US government documents donated by journalist Tim Shorrock

It has come to light that the Chun Doo-hwan military regime propagated false information during the May 18 Democratic Uprising to justify armed suppression of protesters, including claiming that public execution trials were being held in Gwangju. The military authorities tried to paint the situation in Gwangju as a national crisis, in an attempt to justify military intervention. Based on this false information, the US expressed tacit approval of the military regime’s armed suppression of protestors outside the South Jeolla Provincial Government Office.

translated into Korean by the May 18 Democratization Movement Archives. (provided by the May 18 Democratization Movement Archives)

On August 20, the May 18 Democratization Movement Archives stated “After translating confidential US government documents donated by Tim Shorrock, an investigative journalist, in 2016, it appears that these documents include a wealth of information planted by the Chun Doo-hwan military regime for the purpose of misleading the US.”

The Korean translation of the documents amounts to 3,530 pages, including the full text of communications between the US State Department and US Embassy to Korea, briefings given to the president and high-ranking government officials, Cherokee documents that contain records of meetings, and confidential documents from the Defense Department and the CIA, all ranging from 1979-1980.

The information was obtained from officials in the Korean government, the Ministry of Defense, Chun’s military regime and ROK-US Combined Forces Command by the US Embassy in Korea and military intelligence agencies.

One notable finding of this analysis is that the Chun Doo-hwan military regime wrote misinformation in English to provide to the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and other agencies. A report on the situation in Korea sent from the US Embassy to Korea to the US State Department at 3 pm on May 26, 1980 stated “According to a May 25 report, vigilantes are present in Gwangju, weapons have fallen into the hands of extremists and there have even been public trials where people were executed.”

Na Ui-gap, Director of the May 18 Democratization Movement Archives, stated “The military regime created false information to make it look as if the movement was led by radicals, and that the situation in Korea would escalate into another Vietnam if no action were taken.”

US investigative journalist Tim Shorrock

It is also estimated that the Chun Doo-hwan military regime conveyed false information to the US about a raid on Gwangju Prison. One of the confidential documents stated “Rioters attacked a prison where approximately 300 radical leftists were being held, leading to concerns that they are being controlled by underground communist forces.”

However, a civil case decided in Gwangju District Court in May (Justice Kim Seong-hui) found that the “Gwangju Prison raid” described in Chun’s memoirs never happened, and ordered the content to be deleted.

Na Ui-gap

The military regime also spread false information about the mass shooting that occurred at 1 pm on May 21, 1980 outside the provincial government building. One document stated “Despite repeated attacks from rioters, the martial law forces did not fire a single bullet.” At the time, the military regime claimed that the forces had fired at protestors in self-defense after citizens had seized weapons. However, in reality they had indiscriminately opened fire on unarmed protestors, leading to dozens of casualties.

It was also confirmed that the US was aware of the armed suppression outside the provincial government building before it happened. A briefing received by the Defense Department’s Asia-Pacific bureau on May 25 contained the message “Military strongman Chun Doo-hwan stated that he had been tricked by radical forces in Gwangju and has determined that military intervention is necessary. If an attempt by government representatives to resolve the situation fails, military action will be taken within 24-36 hours to regain control of the city.”

By failing to respond to the military intervention, the US effectively signaled tacit approval, which was driven by the false information spread by Chun’s military authorities.

Director of the May 18 Democratization Movement Archives

By Jung Dae-ha, Gwangju correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]