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Harmonizing with the flow of time in May

In the early morning of May 27, 1980, Yoon Sang-weon, a martyr, sent back the young students who remained in the provincial office ahead of the suppression operation by the martial law forces. These words are engraved at the top of the May Story Puzzle.

May is considered the month of families, with many holidays such as Children's Day, providing numerous opportunities for families to enjoy together. However, for the people living in Gwangju, May holds a different meaning. It is the month when an event that cannot be omitted from the history of democratization in South Korea took place, and for someone who survived, it remains a month remembered with sadness and pain. Forty-three years have passed since May of 1980, and now we have reached May of 2023. The children born in that year have grown up to become respectable adults, formed families, and many will have become the parents of other children.

For some, it became a living pain, while for others, it became a story they had only heard, read in books, or seen in movies, an experience they had never personally encountered. As time passed, there were more people who heard about it from others rather than those who directly experienced it. For the people living in Gwangju, the memories contained in the spaces they encounter in their daily lives became memories and stories that are not fully grasped by people from other regions.

As time goes by, our memories fade, and eventually, some forget. On Children's Day, there was a small effort between the Asia Culture Center (ACC) and the families living in Sinan-gun to continue our memories and empathize with the pain of others that I have not experienced. Breaking through the heavy rain, I visited the ACC.

Gwangju's May, remembered across the country and generations

When the movie May 18 was released in 2007, a friend of mine from Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, mentioned that they had never heard of the May 18th Democratic Uprising until they watched the film and were shocked by it. As someone who grew up in Gwangju, it was quite surprising for me to hear that because I had naturally known about what had happened on May 18 since I was young. Over the years, we have moved past an era where many things remained unknown and hidden due to the differences in the regions where we were born and raised. Now, we have entered an era where we can share and empathize with each other's pain, transcending regional and generational boundaries.

The ACC, located at the site of the democratization movement, has been operating the May Story Puzzle program to ensure that the history of the May 18th Democratic Uprising is passed down beyond regions and generations. In January of this year, the ACC signed an agreement with Sinan-gun to promote the activation of cultural, artistic, and educational fusion content. As part of this agreement, in April, representatives of the center visited Bigumdo Island and Dochodo Island in Sinan-gun to conduct the May Story Puzzle program.

And on May 5, in celebration of Children's Day, families from Sinan in Jeollanam-do were invited to Gwangju to create a memorable time together, reminiscing about Gwangju's May. Let's check it out in the video below.

Sinan-gun in Jeollanam-do, known as the "island of angels," is an area with 72 inhabited islands and over 950 uninhabited islands. As of 2023, even though the roads have improved and bridges have been built to connect many islands to the mainland, it is still not easy for some residents of Sinan-gun to visit Gwangju. However, families who have not experienced the events of May 1980 found their way to the ACC. The families who visited Gwangju from Aphaedo Island and Anjwado Island enjoyed the ACC and How Fun, while also solving the May Story Puzzle and exploring the various historical sites related to the May 18th Democratization Movement that still remain in Gwangju. They shared memories related to May 18, intertwined with rice balls, buses, taxis, etc.

The May Story Puzzle event, which was participated by families from Aphaedo Island and Anjwado Island, took place on the 1st floor of the former Jeollanam-do Office Annex Building. It started with a quiz about the May 18th Democratic Uprising, using an approach that was easy and approachable to connect with the participants. Although they couldn't win any prizes by correctly answering the questions posed by the instructor at the beginning, they learned about the sites related to the May 18th Democratic Uprising scattered throughout Gwangju as they solved the puzzle. Furthermore, they had a time where they drew items related to the May 18th Democratization Movement, such as rice balls, buses, taxis, music boxes, and groom-doll and bride-doll sets, from a stack of cloth-wrapped baskets. They shared their own stories about May 18 and learned about unfamiliar aspects through the explanations from the instructor.

The participating parents in the program expressed their impressions, saying, "It was a very meaningful time to learn about May 18 directly at the historical site of our country's modern history." The students who participated together shared their reflections, saying, "I thought I knew everything about May 18 because I learned about it at school, but I realized there were many things I didn't know." They spoke about their newfound understanding of the May 18th Democratic Uprising through the May Story Puzzle activity.

Stories passed from me to you

The era when people were unaware of May 18 due to regional differences has passed, and now we remember and learn about Gwangju's May in new ways through history education and cultural content such as films. The collaboration between the ACC and Sinan-gun, inviting them to share the stories of May, became a valuable experience for the participants, particularly because they had the opportunity to hear the stories directly from the historical site. Due to the rainy weather, they couldn't visit many places, but they had the opportunity to hear stories about Sangmugwan or Jeonil Building 245 from nearby. Observing the buildings and experiencing it firsthand is something that can only be done at the ACC.

While participating in the historical sites would be the best, if it is difficult to directly experience the May Story Puzzle program, you can solve the puzzle online through the ACC website. As technology advances, more and more people can experience and learn about Gwangju's May events through various means. I hope that they will pass on the stories they have learned to others and that the stories of May will continue to be told in the future.

ACC WebsiteVisit the website of the ACC.