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| Cho Young-dae, a Catholic priest who is suing former dictator Chun Doo-hwan for libel in a case involving his uncle, the deceased Father Cho Bi-oh, speaks outside Gwangju District Court, Jan. 7. Chun called Father Cho Bi-oh, an eyewitness who testified about soldiers firing machine guns from military helicopters in the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, a "liar" and "Satan" in his 2017 memoir. Yonhap |
By Lee Suh-yoon
For Father Cho Young-dae, the ongoing libel suit against a former dictator has more at stake than just his uncle's honor.
"The things Chun said about Father Cho Bi-oh (Cho's uncle) in his memoir, it's defamation not just against Cho but also the clergy and the people of Gwangju," he said in a phone interview Tuesday, days before the 39th anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.
In a controversial memoir published in 2017, former President Chun Doo-hwan called Cho's uncle "a shameless liar" for his testimony of aerial machine gun attacks on Gwangju residents during the uprising. Hundreds of people were beaten, stabbed or shot to death in the brutal military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, which Chun referred to as a "riot," branding student protesters as military personnel planted by North Korea.
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| Cho Young-dae, right, poses with his uncle Cho Bi-oh in front of Sohwa Sister's House, a care facility for women with mental disabilities that the two supported, in this January 2008 photo. The older Cho passed away in September 2016. Courtesy of Cho Young-dae |
"Lawyers from the May 18 civic groups first made the suggestion (for the libel suit), so we did, compelled by a historical calling to put Chun Doo-hwan back on trial," Cho said.
The previous time Chun was put on trial in 1996, he was given the death sentence ― later reduced to a lifetime jail term by an appeals court ― for his 1979 military coup and the 1980 Gwangju Massacre. He was released the following year on a special pardon by the newly elected President Kim Dae-jung in a gesture of political reconciliation. To this day, Chun continues to deny any responsibility for the military's bloody crackdown in Gwangju.
In a 1995 investigation into Chun's crimes, Father Cho Bi-oh testified that he saw machine gunners in military helicopters open fire on civilians as he was leaving Honam-dong Church with other priests, May 21, 1980. Some Gwangju residents ― including those who were formerly hospitalized with gunshot wounds ― attended a hearing in the libel case Monday, giving vivid account of the aerial attacks. On the same day, a former intelligence agent for the U.S. military in Korea at the time gave public testimony saying Chun made a secret trip to Gwangju and met with military officials stationed there May 21, the day the military helicopters started shooting.
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| Chun Doo-hwan fights his way back to his car after a libel suit hearing at Gwangju District Court, March 11. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
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| Two eyewitness survivors of military helicopters firing on pro-democracy protesters during the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising speak outside Gwangju District Court, Monday, after testifying in a libel hearing against former President Chun Doo-hwan. Yonhap |
"Countless testimonies, the National Forensic Service report on the bullet holes left on Jeonil Building ― all these things are clear evidence of the aerial shooting," Cho said. "Chun mobilized the military to commit atrocities against the citizens of Gwangju, but shows no sense of remorse."
The trial is still ongoing. When Chun was summoned to a hearing in March, it was an emotional moment for Gwangju. Family members of the victims killed in the uprising flooded Gwangju District Court as Chun arrived, calling for justice.
Cho said Chun could have been brought to court sooner if Korea had something akin to Germany's laws against Holocaust denial.
"There is no anti-defamation law that allows Gwangju's residents or civic groups to sue those who say slanderous things about the 1980 Gwangju Massacre in general; it is allowed only when an individual is pointed out," Cho said, referring to degrading remarks made about the uprising by conservative politicians recently.
"Because there is no legal system to sue for the insult thrown at Gwangju, I had to do it through filing a libel suit for Father Cho Bi-oh. It is paramount for our society to discover the truth behind the atrocity of the May 18 massacre and move on. To do that, Chun must admit his wrongdoing and set history straight."
