Fulbright U.S. Education Center

For those of you interested in reading what has been published in English about the 1980 Kwangju Uprising, I suggest you consult the bibliography published by Matt on his “Gusts of Popular Feeling” blog.  Most of the links are still good, and the bibliography includes contributions by former American Peace Corps Volunteers, military and government officials, and others.  It includes Don Clark’s edited book, which was one of the first English language treatments of Kwangju. 

This past Friday evening Dr. George Katsiaficas, currently a Fulbright Scholar at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, gave a Fulbright Forum presentation entitled “U.S. Involvement in the Gwangju Uprising: 1980.”   His presentation, which you may view or download here fulbright-forum-kwangju2, reminded me of my long-held view that Americans in Korea need to understand the Gwangju uprising, its vital role in Korean politics, and its impact on U.S.-Korea relations.   In 1990 I published an article entitled “Quiet Diplomacy in a Television Era:  The Media and U.S. Policy Toward the Republic of Korea,” in a journal called Political Communication and Persuasion.  I have published excerpts from the article on the web.  To get a flavor of what happened during the Gwangju Uprising, it is helpful to look at video of U.S. network television coverage on YouTube.  The seven and one-half minutes of coverage posted on YouTube come from a total of approximately 45 minutes of U.S. network television coverge of Kwangju or about 15 minutes per network.  YouTube also has some German and Korean video from Kwangju which can easily be viewed by going to www.youtube.com and searching for “Kwangju Uprising.”    Please consider this post just a start in providing some online links to helpful information about the Kwangju Uprising.   We realize that a great deal has been written and published, some of it on the web, regarding this important occurrence in South Korea’s political history.   Your suggestions are welcome.