Word: kwangju
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...four days crowds of students and workmen clashed with police and paratroops in the streets of Kwangju. Soon the protesters, waving rifles, iron bars and stones, took control of the city. They occupied the city hall and provincial headquarters and burned down a TV-radio station owned by a chain that had supported the Park regime. Raiding police and military armories, they seized some 3,500 weapons, including light machine guns. They commandeered dozens of military vehicles. For the most part the army avoided an open fight with the rioters. Even so, hospitals confirmed that 107 people had been killed...
TIME Correspondent S. Chang managed to visit Kwangju last week and found the city gripped by a strange combination of euphoria and lawlessness. Reported Chang: "The city's youth reigned supreme. Tens of thousands were roaming around town, driving or boarding army trucks, Jeeps, buses, even bulldozers. Chanting hoarsely, the youths banged on the sides of their vehicles with sticks or metal pipes. In the turbulent heart of kwangju. I flagged down a jeep for a ride. It stopped but its seven occupants stared at me suspiciously. 'What the hell do you want?' said one. When...
...discontinue their antics, since the driver, a speed maniac who for reasons best known to himself wore a gas mask, kept zooming at 40 m.p.h. through alleys full of shouting humanity. I felt like one of those G.I.s who rode through liberated Paris or Rome during World War II. Kwangju, after all, had been 'liberated' by its youth power...
...ride ended at last at the top of Mudung, a mountain behind Kwangju. The leader of my group pointed to the panoramic view of the city below and said, 'Look. We all love this city.' Then he shook hands, raced back to his Jeep and sped away. Only on the outskirts of Kwangju did I see some army troops, part of an estimated 15,000 who had been ordered to surround the periphery of the city. The soldiers were holding M-16s and guarding an approach to a penitentiary. Some demonstrators were giving them candy...
...What started it all? The Martial Law Command blamed it on 'hooligans and impure elements,' a reference to Communists and their sympathizers. Kwangju is not without some Communists. In fact I saw a red flag atop at least one commandeered army truck, the first I have ever seen in a land where Communism is outlawed. But I saw no signs of provocateurs or organized hooliganism. What I did see was an impending danger: with the youthful protesters stockpiling weapons, and troops encircling the city, Kwangju could turn into a bloodbath...