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| Gwangju Biennale honours sacrifice that brought democracy to South Korea | Gwangju Biennale honours sacrifice that brought democracy to South Korea |
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| Ahn Sung-rye was a nurse when the limp, bloodstained bodies of young men and women started arriving at her hospital in central Gwangju on 18 May 1980. | Ahn Sung-rye was a nurse when the limp, bloodstained bodies of young men and women started arriving at her hospital in central Gwangju on 18 May 1980. |
| "There were bodies strewn across the corridors and mothers screaming as they searched for their children, but it was so chaotic, there was nothing I could do to help them," she says. "We didn't even have time to sterilise the medical instruments before taking patients into surgery." | "There were bodies strewn across the corridors and mothers screaming as they searched for their children, but it was so chaotic, there was nothing I could do to help them," she says. "We didn't even have time to sterilise the medical instruments before taking patients into surgery." |
| Ahn had no idea at the time, but her patients were the first casualties of an uprising that was to mark the beginning of South Korea's transformation from military dictatorship to liberal democracy. Those events live on in the city's collective memory in the form of the Gwangju Biennale – two months of art, film and performance launched in 1995 to honour its citizens' sacrifice, seven years before South Korea became a democracy. | Ahn had no idea at the time, but her patients were the first casualties of an uprising that was to mark the beginning of South Korea's transformation from military dictatorship to liberal democracy. Those events live on in the city's collective memory in the form of the Gwangju Biennale – two months of art, film and performance launched in 1995 to honour its citizens' sacrifice, seven years before South Korea became a democracy. |
| When the ninth biennale opened in the south-west city earlier this month, Ahn, who appears in one of the most talked about exhibits, was not alone in bringing South Korea's tumultuous path to democracy full circle. | When the ninth biennale opened in the south-west city earlier this month, Ahn, who appears in one of the most talked about exhibits, was not alone in bringing South Korea's tumultuous path to democracy full circle. |
| Among the guests was Park Geun-hye, whose father, Park Chung-hee ruled the country with an iron fist for 18 years until his assassination in October 1979. Ms Park, who acted as first lady after her mother was killed by a North Korean sympathiser in 1974, is hoping to become South Korea's first female president in December. | Among the guests was Park Geun-hye, whose father, Park Chung-hee ruled the country with an iron fist for 18 years until his assassination in October 1979. Ms Park, who acted as first lady after her mother was killed by a North Korean sympathiser in 1974, is hoping to become South Korea's first female president in December. |
| Her father had been dead for half a year when the Gwangju uprising began, but many blame his successor Chun Doo-hwan's adherence to yushin – Park's attempt to legitimise military rule – for the brutality of the military's reaction to demonstrations calling for an end to martial law. | Her father had been dead for half a year when the Gwangju uprising began, but many blame his successor Chun Doo-hwan's adherence to yushin – Park's attempt to legitimise military rule – for the brutality of the military's reaction to demonstrations calling for an end to martial law. |
| After more than a week of violence beginning on 18 May, at least 150 people had been killed and another 3,000 injured. Relatives of the missing claim soldiers threw hundreds of other bodies into mass graves or lakes. Other demonstrators and their sympathisers were rounded up, interrogated and tortured. | After more than a week of violence beginning on 18 May, at least 150 people had been killed and another 3,000 injured. Relatives of the missing claim soldiers threw hundreds of other bodies into mass graves or lakes. Other demonstrators and their sympathisers were rounded up, interrogated and tortured. |
| Initially dismissed by the regime as a communist-inspired riot, the Gwangju uprising spawned similar movements that culminated in 1987 in South Korea's first directly elected president since 1960. As Kim Young Sam, the country's first civilian leader, said in 1993: "The bloodshed in Gwangju in May 1980 is the cornerstone of this country's democracy. Its victims gave their lives for democracy." | Initially dismissed by the regime as a communist-inspired riot, the Gwangju uprising spawned similar movements that culminated in 1987 in South Korea's first directly elected president since 1960. As Kim Young Sam, the country's first civilian leader, said in 1993: "The bloodshed in Gwangju in May 1980 is the cornerstone of this country's democracy. Its victims gave their lives for democracy." |
| Park Geun-hye was given an enthusiastic reception by the audience at the biennale opening this month, but the president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, Yongwoo Lee, voiced mixed feelings about her hastily arranged campaign stop. | Park Geun-hye was given an enthusiastic reception by the audience at the biennale opening this month, but the president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, Yongwoo Lee, voiced mixed feelings about her hastily arranged campaign stop. |
| "The public didn't warmly welcome her; they understood she was an unexpected guest," says Lee, who was a newspaper reporter at the time of the massacre. He witnessed the violence, but his stories were censored under martial law, and he was later fired and placed on the regime's blacklist. | "The public didn't warmly welcome her; they understood she was an unexpected guest," says Lee, who was a newspaper reporter at the time of the massacre. He witnessed the violence, but his stories were censored under martial law, and he was later fired and placed on the regime's blacklist. |
| "When Park's office told me she might come, I said nothing. I didn't welcome her, but I didn't oppose her visit either. I have to be diplomatic. I suppose we like to think of the biennale as a place where even politicians can appreciate art. | "When Park's office told me she might come, I said nothing. I didn't welcome her, but I didn't oppose her visit either. I have to be diplomatic. I suppose we like to think of the biennale as a place where even politicians can appreciate art. |
| "From the very start, the Gwangju Biennale has been driven by the spirit of resistance and the Gwangju citizens. When we founded it 14 years ago, we stated that the spirit of the civil uprising was essential. It comes to the first page." | "From the very start, the Gwangju Biennale has been driven by the spirit of resistance and the Gwangju citizens. When we founded it 14 years ago, we stated that the spirit of the civil uprising was essential. It comes to the first page." |
| Twenty-five years of democracy have helped South Korea become an east Asian economic powerhouse. Its chaebol conglomerates, such as Hyundai and Samsung, are instantly recognised around the world; its "soft power" - TV dramas, films, food, music and even cosmetics - have won over millions of consumers across the region. | Twenty-five years of democracy have helped South Korea become an east Asian economic powerhouse. Its chaebol conglomerates, such as Hyundai and Samsung, are instantly recognised around the world; its "soft power" - TV dramas, films, food, music and even cosmetics - have won over millions of consumers across the region. |
| Yet there is growing concern that some of the gains of the democracy movement have been lost during five years of conservative rule by the current president, Lee Myung-bak. Amnesty International is among those who claim, for instance, that Lee has abused the national security act, intended to root out North Korean infiltration, to quell legitimate opposition at home. | Yet there is growing concern that some of the gains of the democracy movement have been lost during five years of conservative rule by the current president, Lee Myung-bak. Amnesty International is among those who claim, for instance, that Lee has abused the national security act, intended to root out North Korean infiltration, to quell legitimate opposition at home. |
| Ahn, one of five people connected to the massacre whose images form part of an installation at the biennale, set up May Mothers House in 1996 after visiting Argentina to meet the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. | Ahn, one of five people connected to the massacre whose images form part of an installation at the biennale, set up May Mothers House in 1996 after visiting Argentina to meet the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. |
| Her group holds regular meetings for about 70 women whose children were killed in May 1980, or who were themselves injured or interrogated. | Her group holds regular meetings for about 70 women whose children were killed in May 1980, or who were themselves injured or interrogated. |
| Im Kun-tan's son, Kim Gyeong-cheol, became the first official fatality of the uprising after being attacked by soldiers as he returned from a work lunch on 18 May. He was 29. | Im Kun-tan's son, Kim Gyeong-cheol, became the first official fatality of the uprising after being attacked by soldiers as he returned from a work lunch on 18 May. He was 29. |
| "He had been beaten like a dog and his eyes has been gouged out," says Im, 89. "He was naked and covered in just a white sheet when I first saw him at the military hospital mortuary. When I returned with some clothes, I caught sight of a guard hosing down the corpses while another recorded their names." | "He had been beaten like a dog and his eyes has been gouged out," says Im, 89. "He was naked and covered in just a white sheet when I first saw him at the military hospital mortuary. When I returned with some clothes, I caught sight of a guard hosing down the corpses while another recorded their names." |
| Like many of the victims' mothers, most of whom are over 65, Im is worried that time will erase memories of the massacre, even though 18 May is now a public holiday in South Korea. | Like many of the victims' mothers, most of whom are over 65, Im is worried that time will erase memories of the massacre, even though 18 May is now a public holiday in South Korea. |
| "I am just thankful that I have somewhere like this to come," she says of May Mothers House. "When I close my eyes I no longer feel the torment of the past. We come here to share the pain and to honour the memory of our children." | "I am just thankful that I have somewhere like this to come," she says of May Mothers House. "When I close my eyes I no longer feel the torment of the past. We come here to share the pain and to honour the memory of our children." |
| The remains of the May 1980 dead, and of hundreds more who died later but had been injured, tortured or purged for supporting the pro-democracy campaign, are buried together at a specially built cemetery on Gwangju's outskirts. | The remains of the May 1980 dead, and of hundreds more who died later but had been injured, tortured or purged for supporting the pro-democracy campaign, are buried together at a specially built cemetery on Gwangju's outskirts. |
| Im's son is the first victim you see after passing the cemetery's towering cenotaph. The rows of victims stretch in perfect symmetry up a hill, each resting place marked by a mound of grass-covered earth, a simple headstone and a black-and-white photograph. | Im's son is the first victim you see after passing the cemetery's towering cenotaph. The rows of victims stretch in perfect symmetry up a hill, each resting place marked by a mound of grass-covered earth, a simple headstone and a black-and-white photograph. |
| Like the women of Gwangju who are trying to keep the memories of May 1980 alive, Park Geun-hye could struggle to make a clean break with South Korea's dark past. Only this week, she vowed to clarify her position on her father's controversial legacy. | Like the women of Gwangju who are trying to keep the memories of May 1980 alive, Park Geun-hye could struggle to make a clean break with South Korea's dark past. Only this week, she vowed to clarify her position on her father's controversial legacy. |
| A recent survey by Seoul National University found that voters are taking an increasingly dim view of his regime; her emergence as a presidential candidate, the poll said, is "shining the spotlight on the Park Chung-hee era, which is bringing about changes in opinion." | A recent survey by Seoul National University found that voters are taking an increasingly dim view of his regime; her emergence as a presidential candidate, the poll said, is "shining the spotlight on the Park Chung-hee era, which is bringing about changes in opinion." |
| Park's visit to the Gwangju Biennale may prove to have been an early display of courage on the presidential campaign trail. Or it could go down as a dangerous misreading of the public mood in country where, in the minds of some citizens, the road to democracy still glistens with the blood of Gwangju's martyrs. | Park's visit to the Gwangju Biennale may prove to have been an early display of courage on the presidential campaign trail. Or it could go down as a dangerous misreading of the public mood in country where, in the minds of some citizens, the road to democracy still glistens with the blood of Gwangju's martyrs. |
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