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| Police officers inspect a graveyard site Friday at a former prison in Gwangju where dozens of unidentified bodies were found. Yonhap |
By Lee Suh-yoon
Some 40 unidentified bodies found at the former site of a prison in Gwangju have reopened an investigation into dozens of disappearances during one of Korea's bloodiest political events.
The bodies ― two with holes in the skull and one appearing to be that of a child ― were discovered last week by workers who were moving a graveyard on the grounds of the former Gwangju Prison.
Civic groups suspect the bodies may be linked to people who went missing in the 1980 military crackdown on Gwangju's pro-democracy protests. A total of 448 people were reported missing after the bloody military suppression. Of this figure, 84 cases were formally confirmed to be related to the crackdown. Most of the bodies were never recovered.
Gwangju Prison, briefly captured by a rebelling citizen's army, was used as a base for soldiers under martial law. It was also where captured protesters were tortured.
During the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, government forces attacked the city with tanks and fired machine guns from helicopters. By the time the last group of armed civilians surrendered at City Hall on May 27, hundreds had been killed, although the exact number is still under dispute. After Korea's democratization in the late 1980s, former President Chun Doo-hwan was sentenced to death for his involvement in the massacre. However, his sentence was commuted to life in prison and President Kim Dae-jung later pardoned him in a gesture of political reconciliation.
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| Forensic officers inspect unidentified remains found at the former prison site in Gwangju. Courtesy of May 18 Memorial Foundation |
According to the May 18 Memorial Foundation, several commanding officers and soldiers who took part in the bloody suppression later testified that they secretly buried the bodies of killed protesters near the prison.
Documents by the National Security Forces, a predecessor of the now-defunct Defense Security Command, show 28 citizens died at Gwangju Prison. But only 11 bodies have been recovered on the prison grounds and a nearby hill. Civic activists believe some of the remaining bodies are still buried around the site.
The National Forensic Service will conduct a detailed DNA analysis of the unidentified bodies at its headquarters in Wonju, Gangwon Province. The process is expected to take six to 12 months. The DNA will be compared with samples submitted by families who reported missing persons in relation to the uprising.
Some say the bodies may not be linked to May 1980, as there is a possibility the unidentified remains were brought to the cemetery when Gwangju Prison changed locations in 1971.
It is also possible that the remains belong to death-row inmates who were buried together in an unmarked grave. The justice ministry said it would review its records to look into possible links to the 1980 event.
