Na Kyung-taek (former photojournalist for Jeonnam Daily Newspaper)

Editorial comment: Na Kyung-taek's voice over the phone seemed hesitant when I asked him to write a letter. “I am not sure if I can write it, I am over seventy years old…” Forty-one years ago, in 1980, he captured on camera the tragic events which had unfolded in Gwangju, as a photojournalist working for Jeonnam Daily Newspaper. His cameras recorded various scenes including the military violently beating citizens with clubs, the subsequent gathering of large crowds at the old Jeonnam Provincial Government building, people sharing rice balls on the streets, and bereaved families wailing over the coffins of their loved ones. He had hidden many of these photos in the ceiling at his home in order to protect them from the Security Corps, and eventually made them public in 1988 for the first time. His photos contributed greatly to revealing and disseminating the truth about the May 18th Democratic Uprising against the Military Regime to a wider audience.

For Na Kyung-taek, the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Myanmar had a familiar ring. During our 10-minute phone conversation, he asked many questions about the situation Myanmar journalists were currently experiencing, and a few hours after the phone call, I received his reply. “Let me have your e-mail address, I'll write it and send it to you”, he said. The situation in Gwangju in 1980 and that of Myanmar in 2021 whilst not being ‘identical’ were sufficiently similar in that state violence was directed at local citizens and journalists risked their lives to report the atrocities. Na Kyung-taek said, "Although I am old, I have a desire to rush to Myanmar with my cameras". The following letter from Na Kyung-taek, a photojournalist on the ground during the Gwangju Uprising, is intended to show support and solidarity to the journalists in Myanmar.

It is May here in Korea, and the atmosphere is peaceful under a clear blue sky. In May 1980, in Gwangju, it was entirely different, the world was gray, bloody and violent. At that time, I was working as a photojournalist for Jeonnam Daily Newspaper in Gwangju. Any reporting on the Gwangju Uprising was prohibited, and neither a single line of copy nor a single photograph could be published. Newspapers, instead, were forced to print statements issued by the authorities. Despite witnessing with our own eyes, the citizens of Gwangju being murdered or dragged away, leaving the streets bloody and strewn with the dead, we were prevented from reporting the truth.

when presented with the photographic evidence, the military force admitted.
 

It was quite impossible to witness the scenes of protest and the atrocities committed by the soldiers without being infuriated, shocked and horrified. Everyday photojournalists were exposed to new dangers as they continued to try and record the harrowing events to provide evidence to confront the horrors. The young journalists at my newspaper collectively decided to print what we had witnessed and recorded, knowing full well that it would mean arrest and torture. When the management discovered this, they stormed in to prevent publication and put an end to our plan. We resigned en mass and either returned home or joined the protesters fighting for democracy.

The newspaper was temporarily closed down, but I continued to venture out to take photographs with the firm conviction that I needed to record for history the Gwangju Uprising. This sometimes proved difficult as the citizens often refused to cooperate or tried to stop me taking photographs, as they were very angry that the newspaper failed to report ‘Bloody Sunday’, the first day of the uprising. Additionally, the threat of being arrested by the soldiers and the police was constant, and I often resorted to hiding inside tall buildings to take my photographs. Many a night, I fell asleep inside my hideaway in a cold building and with an empty stomach.

On May 21, the soldiers opened fire on a crowd of hundreds of thousands of citizens, and then retreated to the Chosun University sports ground. I managed to hide myself on the rooftop of a five-story Daedo Inn near the provincial government building and tried to capture the scene of military snipers picking off civilians. It nearly cost me my life when a military helicopter spotted me and opened directed fire. The next day, I slept in Honamdong Catholic church and eventually left with a cloth shopping bag that a nun had given me in order to hide my two cameras. On one occasion, whilst trying to take photos of a flag at half-mast on the roof of the provincial government building, I was surrounded by citizens who were ready to lynch me, believing I was a spy. I continued, however, to try and record to the best of my ability as many events as possible, despite a continuous mortal risk. The sense of duty to reveal the truth about the Gwangju Uprising was overwhelming.

I captured everything I saw with my two cameras, my pockets full of extra rolls of black-and-white film. In the world of 1980, there was no YouTube or other social media, and Gwangju was completely cut off from the rest of the country. The martial authorities controlled the media and prevented them from reporting on the Gwangju Uprising; no one outside of Gwangju and Jeonnam area knew the truth of what was happening. Many believed the official line and thought the Gwangju citizens to be violent mobs that had to be pacified. This was possible because the media at the time only reported what had been approved by the authorities.

In 1987, when the country was still in the grip of the military dictator Chun Doo-hwan, the Justice & Peace Committee of the Catholic Archdiocese of Gwangju published leaflets containing a statement entitled ‘Gwangju, Cross of Our Nation’. It also produced a photograph collection May, When The Day Comes Again, and a videotape based on the documentary filmed by a German journalist who covered the Gwangju Uprising, which Father Jang Yong-ju, the president of the Justice & Peace Committee, smuggled in from Germany. The photograph collection was produced using the rolls of film which I provided in the underground car park of the Catholic Archdiocese in Im-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju. It was distributed nationwide through Catholic churches to inform people of the democratization movement of Gwangju. At the same time, the May 18 Gwangju Uprising photo exhibition was held at the Catholic Center on Geumnam-ro located in the center of Gwangju, where many Gwangju citizens and residents from surrounding areas queued to view. These efforts played a critical role in educating the public who had believed that the citizens of Gwangju were a dangerous mob, when they were in fact, ordinary citizens struggling for democracy.

In November 1988, a hearing was held before the National Assembly’s special committee to Investigate the truth of the Gwangju Uprising. The commander of the special force paratroopers and others who were sent to Gwangju as the military force, denied the atrocities committed by the military, but reluctantly admitted to the violent suppression when presented with the photographic evidence which I provided. Each photo played an important role in establishing the truth. It was a miracle that a photograph collection and a video on the Gwangju Uprising were produced when Chun Doo-hwan was still in power. It was only possible because everyone including the priests of the Justice & Peace Committee and others, as well as myself who provided the photos, risked our lives in the pursuit of truth.

The photos taken during the uprising contributed greatly to the dissemination of the truth about what happened in Gwangju in 1980, and it led to the enactment of the Special Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement. It condemned the act of disrupting constitutional order and made it clear that any coup, including the Coup of December Twelfth, which took place on December 12, 1979, would be punished whether it was successful or not.

'Gwangju Riots' was officially renamed the 'May 18 Democratic Uprising' in 1990. I visited several universities in Gwangju to present the truth about the Gwangju Uprising with the photos I had taken at that time. I also held photo exhibitions in Seoul, Busan and Daegu, and made appearances on TV. In 2017, I held a May 18 photo exhibition in Potsdam, Germany for two months, and gave lectures about the uprising with my photos to Korean expats and German citizens in cities including Berlin, Bochum, Cologne and Frankfurt. In 2018, I held a May 18 photo exhibition and gave lectures in LA. I have been doing my best to publicize the truth of Gwangju Uprising as a reporter who covered the tragedy, and I will continue to do so. Photographic and other records play an important role in promulgating the truth.

In 2011, 2,017 cuts in negative film, which I provided, journalists' notebooks and citizens' diaries that recorded the atrocities of the military, were listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Three decades later, it was recognized globally as the May 18 Democratic Uprising.

Currently, Myanmar is experiencing chaos unleashed by the military coup which has seized power. Hundreds, and perhaps more, citizens demanding democracy, have been shot dead by the military forces. Whenever I watch the reports of young Myanmar citizens continuing to protest despite the extreme danger, I am reminded of Gwangju, Korea, in May 1980. As a photojournalist who recorded the Gwangju Uprising, I, despite my old age, feel an urge to be in Myanmar with my cameras.

May Gwangju is one with Myanmar

Presently, photos and paintings depicting the protests of the people of Myanmar and the atrocities of its soldiers are on display in the May 18 Democratic Plaza, in front of the Gwangju’s Asia Culture Center (formerly Jeonnam Provincial Government building). The Association of the Korean National Fine Artists in Gwangju has installed a large panel, entitled ‘May Gwangju is one with Myanmar’, to display artworks in support of the people of Myanmar. Many citizens as well as tourists visiting Gwangju can get information about the current situation in Myanmar and show solidarity with the Myanmar people’s struggle here in the Plaza. Also, every Saturday afternoon, Gwangju civic groups hold events and rallies to express support for the people of Myanmar at the Plaza. Recently in May, members of the May Mothers’ House invited Myanmar students and workers in Korea, and held a ‘Sharing Rice Balls’ event in the square in front of the intercity bus terminal, to express their sympathy and support. Such events will continue until Myanmar succeeds in achieving democracy.

Dear Myanmar journalist colleagues! They say a single photograph has the power to change history. It was true in the Korea's April 19 Revolution in 1960, the May 18 Gwangju Uprising in 1980 and the June Democratic Struggle in 1987. It was also true in other countries. The ‘power of photography’ that testifies to the truth has ousted dictators, brought war to an early end, and accelerated democratization. People around the world were deeply moved by the photo of a naked girl running from a napalm attack at the height of the Vietnam War, and the photo of an unarmed citizen standing alone in front of a line of tanks in a desperate attempt to block their advance, during the Tiananmen Square protests. The photojournalist is on standby 24 hours a day ready to take photographs which will demonstrate the desires of the people, and so accelerate the creation of a just society safe from persecution.

The recent news from Myanmar breaks my heart because I know what you are going though. My thoughts are with all of you who are fighting for democracy in Myanmar. I believe it is the journalist’s obligation to record and testify, despite the difficulties. The photojournalist has a mission to document and record the story on behalf of the people on the ground. Even large and crucial events can be overlooked if there is no photographic evidence to substantiate the truth of those events.

Photojournalists have a crucial role to be the eyes of the nation, and so requires them to be alert at all times. We need to get close to the action as quickly as possible in order to witness the events and record the truth, and this will sometimes lead us to being outraged as well as emotionally touched as we share the trauma of the people on the ground.

I wish to express my support and solidarity for the Myanmar journalists who are continuing to report courageously from inside the country, despite the risk. I salute the people fighting for human dignity and democracy despite the violent repression of the military forces. An oft repeated quote is that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and this is undoubtedly true. The corrupt regime is likely to collapse from the inside. Darkness can't withstand the light forever and the truth will prevail. It might take time for the truth to emerge, but emerge it will. The Bible says, ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’ Just as Korean people have triumphed, I am confident that the people of Myanmar will also triumph. I pray every day for a new dawn for Myanmar as well as peace on the Korean Peninsula.