A poster for the 42nd anniversary of the 5.18 Democratization Movement. Provided by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs
A ceremony to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement will be held on the 18th at the Gwangju National May 18 Democracy Cemetery under the theme of ‘Give you May’.
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs announced that it would hold a ceremony to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the 5.18 Democratization Movement at the May 18th National Cemetery in Buk-gu, Gwangju at 10 am on the same day. This year’s commemorative theme is ‘Give you May’.
It is planned with the purpose of delivering a message to heal the pain through forgiveness and reconciliation through the investigation of the truth to the May 18 Democrats and their bereaved families, and to cherish the seeds of democracy sown in Gwangju and create a hopeful May together. done.
This year’s commemoration ceremony will be held by expanding the number of attendees to 2,000 people, including May 18 Democrats, their families, government officials, representatives from all walks of life, and students as the COVID-19 social distancing is eased. Last year, the number of attendees was limited to 99.
In particular, in accordance with President Yoon’s general mobilization ordinance, most of the People’s Power lawmakers, including Representative Lee Jun-seok of People’s Power, will attend the ceremony. As a result, lawmakers belonging to the Conservative Party are expected to attend the 5.18 commemoration ceremony the most in history. Most of the ministers of the Yun Seok-yeol government and the chief of staff in the presidential office also participate. In addition to the Democratic Party of Korea, about 50 members of the National Assembly, including co-chairs Yun Ho-jung and Park Ji-hyeon, are in attendance.
The ceremony will be held for 55 minutes in the order of flowers and incense, national rituals, progress report, commemorative performance, commemorative speech, commemorative performance, and ‘March song for the deceased’. Above all, it seems that the commemorative speech will contain a message about ‘the full text of the Constitution in the spirit of May 18’, which President Yoon Seok-yeol promised during his presidential campaign.
In addition, the commemorative performance begins with a video with the theme of ‘The Truth of May’ and continues with the on-site performance at the commemorative ceremony. Inspired by the movie ‘Taxi Driver’, the video is decorated with the content ‘Taxi in May, running towards the truth’. It is a type of taxi that runs along ‘May 18th’, the site of the 5/18 history, with history experts, people of merit, actors, and future generations together.
Actor Lee Ji-hoon, who is playing the role of Martyr Yoon Sang-won in the musical ‘Gwangju’, took on the role of a taxi driver in the video. Chonnam National University Professor Jeong-gi Choi, an expert on the 5/18 history, will accompany him and deliver historical facts. The video ends with the taxi arriving at the final destination of the May 18th National Cemetery, and after that, actor Lee Ji-hoon is scheduled to sing ‘Song of May’ with the May Mothers’ Choir and Children’s Choir.
The commemoration ceremony is expected to conclude with the message of ‘national unity’ by the members of the ruling and opposition parties sang a march for the president in the form of ‘singing’, unlike in the past conservative government, regardless of camp.
