![“41 years ago I shot him”… May 18 Martial Law Forces Apologize for First Tears[영상]](https://pds.joins.com/news/FbMetaImage/202103/cfc52aaa-f171-4b53-9053-ca8bbeb80b9e.jpg "“41 years ago I shot him”… May 18 Martial Law Forces Apologize for First Tears[영상]")
The first game to apologize for a specific victim.
“Sorry. I hesitated (apologize) as it would cause another pain.”
Oh Yeol “Sense of Guilt for 40 Years” in Search of the Victim’s Bereaved Family
May 23, 1980 Near Nodaenamje Reservoir in Nodae-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju. A man was killed by a gun shot by a martial law army member of the 7th Airborne Brigade. The three-letter name’Park Byung-hyun’ that the martial law army who shot the gun has not forgotten since then. After 41 years, the martial law army, standing in front of the bereaved family, broke the cry that had endured with their knees down. On the 16th, at the reception room at the National 5 18 Democratic Cemetery, it was a meeting of bereaved families, including Martial Law Army A belonging to the 7th Airborne Brigade at the time of May 18, and Park Jong-soo (73), the older brother of the late Park Byeong-Hyeon, a civilian victim at the time.
The meeting was arranged when Mr. A, a martial law army, expressed his wish to apologize to the bereaved family of a civilian victim who killed him through the May 18 Fact Finding Investigation Committee. It is the first time in 41 years that martial law forces deployed to Gwangju at the time of May 18 apologized to a bereaved family for killing a certain victim.
On the 16th, at the reception room at the National 5 18 Democratic Cemetery in Unjeong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, the martial law army and the victims’ families met and apologized. Photo 5·18 Fact Investigation Committee
According to the May 18 Investigation Committee, Mr. A remembered the names of the victims who died 41 years ago because of him, and expressed his apology in front of the bereaved family.
On this day, Mr. A raised a loud bow in front of Mr. Park’s bereaved family, sobbed for a long time, and dismissed his mouth by saying, “I am sorry for the pain that cannot be washed by any words.” He said, “I suffered from guilt for more than 40 years,” and said, “I haven’t been able to find it for 41 years because (the perpetrator) stood in front of the bereaved family again, in case they would hurt again.”
Mr. A “The guilt that has been harassing you for 41 years”
On the 16th, the martial law army and the victim’s bereaved family were hugged and crying when they met at the reception room at the National 5 18 Democratic Cemetery in Unjeong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju. Photo 5·18 Fact Investigation Committee
He clearly testified of the day Park Byung-hyun died in front of the investigation committee. Mr. A said, “On May 23, 1980, a company’s troops were on a reconnaissance mission to block out the outskirts of Gwangju City, and found two young civilians walking toward Hwasun. ‘But I fired unconsciously while Park Byeong-hyun and others were fleeing in fear.” Park Byeong-hyun was on his way to Boseong, his hometown, to help with farming.
He vividly remembered the moment when Mr. Park was dying without being able to resist martial law forces. Mr. A said, “There were no firearms or anything that could be a threat to the area around the death site,” he said. “There was no fact of violence against airborne personnel, and he was simply frightened and fleeing.”
Bereaved Family “Thank you for the late apology”
On the 16th, a martial law-gun A is worshiping in front of the grave of the victim Park Byeong-hyun, which was located in the National 5 18 Democratic Cemetery in Unjeong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju. Photo 5·18 Fact Investigation Committee
Mr. Park Jong-soo rather extensively read Mr. A, who couldn’t even look up because of guilt. “Thank you for apologizing even late. I will think I met my dead brother again.” He also said, “Thank you for finding yourself out of the courage.”
Following the meeting of apology and reconciliation, Mr. A and Mr. Park’s bereaved family worshiped in front of a mausoleum built in the May 18 National Cemetery. At the time of May 18, it was unprecedented that the martial law forces apologized in front of the graves of certain victims.
An official from the 5·18 investigation committee said, “There was a case where the martial law forces who participated in the suppression operation in May 1980 witnessed an incident, but the perpetrator remembered a specific victim and never met the bereaved family.”
Gwangju Metropolitan City = Reporter Jin Changil [email protected]
