LKP holds anti-Moon rally in Gwangju but is cut short by anti-LKP demonstrators

On May 3, Liberty Korea Party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn heads to Songjeong Station in Gwangju after his party’s anti-Moon rally was cut short by local demonstrators representing victims of the Gwangju Democratization Movement. (Yonhap News)

Several demonstrators demand apology for Gwangju Democratization Movement

The plaza in front of Songjeong Station, in the city of Gwangju, was where the Korea Liberty Party (LKP) had been planning to hold a rally on the morning of May 3 for Gwangju residents to voice their opposition to the administration of South Korean President Moon Jae-in. But by 10 am, 30 minutes before the rally was supposed to begin, the people who’d already filled the square were not LKP lawmakers or members. They were a hundred or so Gwangju residents who were opposed to the rally itself. A dozen or so relatives of those who were killed in the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement had also come out after learning that Hwang Kyo-ahn was visiting Gwangju for the first time since being elected LKP leader.

“When I heard that Hwang was coming to Gwangju, I hurriedly canceled all of my other plans and brought together ten or so civic groups from the area. If [Hwang] had a conscience, what he ought to be doing here is getting down on his knees to express his contrition about what happened during the Gwangju Democratization Movement,” said Hwang Seong-hyo, secretary-general of the Gwangju Progressive Coalition.

In the end, LKP members were pushed out of the square and had to hold their rally on the sidewalk. The pushback from protesters got even stronger after the rally began. While Hwang asked for the crowd to give him a hearing, his voice was drowned out by people shouting at him to go home, and he had to set down the microphone for a while. After some remarks by LKP Supreme Council members Cho Gyeong-tae and Shin Bo-ra, Hwang returned to the microphone, but the whole time he was speaking, civic group members sang “March for the Beloved,” a song that has come to symbolize the Gwangju Democratization Movement. They also protested by holding up a placard behind Hwang that called for the LKP’s disbandment, claiming that it’s the political heir to Chun Doo-hwan, the dictator behind the slaughter in Gwangju in 1980.

“People of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province! Your patriots shed their blood to defend freedom, but our democracy is currently under attack. This immoral takeover of the legislature must be prevented, not on behalf of our party, but on behalf of liberal democracy. That’s why we had no choice but to take our struggle to the streets,” Hwang told the crowd. But the rally, which had been scheduled to last about an hour, had to be wrapped up after about 20 minutes because of ferocious opposition from the protesters.

After finishing his remarks, Hwang attempted to enter the train station, but his way was blocked by protesters for about 20 minutes, and he ended up getting separated from his aides. Some of the protesters even flung water at Hwang, prompting a group of police officers to unfurl black umbrellas. With the protection of the umbrella-bearing police, Hwang took shelter in the train station’s customer service office, some 200m away.

While 20 or so police officers guarded the door to the customer service office, family members of those killed during the Gwangju Democratization Movement approached and asked to speak with Hwang, and get an apology from him. “Just let us talk to him. We have something to tell him,” one of the family members said, but they were ultimately turned away. Hwang slipped out of the office via another door and boarded a train bound for Iksan, in North Jeolla Province.

Liberty Party Korea leader Hwang Kyo-ahn and party members hold a rally opposing President Moon Jae-in in front of Songjeong Station in Gwangju on May 3. (Yonhap News)

LKP receives opposition against at Jeonju rally

While moving north along the Honam railway line, Hwang held another rally against the Moon administration at the plaza of Jeonju Station. Protesters also showed up there, holding signs that said, “Disband the Liberty Korea Party for its offensive remarks about the Gwangju Democratization Movement” and complaining that Hwang would have the gall to visit Jeonju at all.

“There are some civic groups that have a negative view about me and some that don’t. But they’re all citizens of the Republic of Korea, and I think that, since I’m involved in party politics, I ought to embrace them,” Hwang told reporters after his rally at Jeonju Station.

“This has made me think I should come to the Honam region more often in the future. While remembering how the people of Honam have played an important role in various areas of society, I will work to create a republic of liberty, in which the whole country moves forward together.”

When asked why he hadn’t met with the family members of Gwangju Democratization Movement victims, Hwang said he hadn’t heard their request but that he would listen to them the next time they approached him.

The rallies in Gwangju and Jeonju, as well as other cities in the Jeolla region, were part of a two day national tour. The previous day, the LKP leadership had held similar rallies while moving south along the Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) line, in Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, and Busan. On May 4, the party will be holding a third rally in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square, before marching to the Blue House. Next week, they’re planning to hold rallies not only in big cities but in smaller towns around the country.

By Jang Na-rae, staff reporter

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