공간의 변화를 통해 본 5･18항쟁

Abstract

Jeollanam Provincial Government Office(전남도청) and Geumnam-ro(금남로) were the starting point, center, and final battlefield of the May 18 uprising(5･18항쟁), but they were not the space of May 18 from the beginning. The Jeollanam Provincial Government Office had been there since Japanese colonial period and Jeollanam Provincinal Police Department(전남도경찰국) and other important buildings were around there. In addition, Jeollanam Provincial Government Office, Geumnam-ro, and Chungjang-ro(충장로) are places where Gwang-ju(광주) citizens used to live their daily lives. On the other hand, it was a space where domination and resistance were in conflict. Before the May 18th uprising, state violence was committed and attempts to go to the “front of the provincial government!” continued. The May 18 uprising was based on these spatial characteristics. Gwang-ju citizens led the uprising on behalf of students when their daily lives were destroyed. After the withdrawal of public power, including martial law forces, on the afternoon of May 21, the Jeollannam Provincial Government Office and Geumnam-ro were transformed into a center of protest and a space for democracy. Gwang-ju was isolated, but the citizens themselves overcame the difficulties. On May 27, 1980, when the military's armed forces suppressed the resistance of the citizens, Gwang-ju, including Jeollannam Provincial Government Office and Geumnam-ro, was returned to be the controlled and monitored space. However, the citizens of Gwang-ju did not erase the memory of the fallen and the days of the uprising. Gwang-ju citizens started another fight. The people of South Korea, who were told of the isolation and misery of Gwang-ju, also joined the new fight. At the center of it was a space of Jeollannam Provincial Government Office and Geumnam-ro. People went on the path of protest again, dreaming of 'to the front of the provincial government!”.