민주화운동 40주년, 미 평화봉사단 의 증언

Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the South Korea's May 18th Democratic Movement.
I had the opportunity to speak to an eyewitness to the horrors that unfolded in May 1980 first hand.
Our Choi Won-jong put together the personal account of David Dolinger. Dr. David Dolinger came to South Korea as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in 1978.
He was in Gwangju in 1980 where he witnessed the Democratic Movement first hand.
Dr. Dolinger still remembers the day of May 21st when he saw a helicopter above his head.
"I stood there and just looking through the helicopter trying to figure out what was going on. When I actually grabbed by the Koreans and dragged inside the stores where they said, don't stand out there and they could shoot you."
However, this was not the only thing that he witnessed in Gwangju.
"In an emergency room, we actually saw X-rays that bullets were penetrating on one person's upper left shoulder and exit wounds were down by the right hip, so they had to have been shot from above."
Many years have gone by, but the collective spirit of Gwangju was what still stays with him until now.
"We cannot allow military to do this us. We have to fight back. That is the spirit that I remember of Gwangju."
People in Gwangju told him the fight was not for themselves, but for something greater.
"They all said one thing. We are doing this for the future. That was what they were thinking about."
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said during the commemorative event on Monday that the truth can open a path towards forgiveness and reconciliation.
South Korea launched an investigation committee earlier this year, to find out who was responsible for the brutal orders given in May 1980.
Choi Won-jong, Arirang News.