Thirty-eight years ago in May, Gwangju was isolated as the citizens cried for democracy. The airborne units set up a barricade and lied in ambush on the road heading to the outskirts of the city. On May 27, the military cut off all communication including phone lines ahead of an operation to take over the provincial office. People who wanted to know whether their families were alive went to Gwangju by bicycle and on foot. On the way, some were shot dead by the military for no reason.

The number of civilians who died during the May 18 Democratic Uprising was 166. When we add the number of people who died from injuries and other side effects (110) and of people who went missing (76), the total number of casualties reaches 352. The number of people punished for the May 18 incident is only fifteen, including former President Chun Doo-hwan. Former presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, who were sentenced to life and seventeen years in prison respectively, were both pardoned in 1997.

In the past, the National Assembly held a hearing (1988); the Prosecution Service launched an investigation (1995); and the defense ministry's committee on the investigation of past history (2007), the committee for the truth and reconciliation of past history (2010), and the defense ministry's special investigation committee (2018) conducted investigations to uncover the truth. The five investigations made some progress, but they failed to reveal the key details, such as the person responsible for opening fire. They also failed to find the bodies believed to have been secretly buried. The military records were found to be distorted, and the military has been reluctant to support relevant investigations.

This coming September, the government will conduct a sixth investigation. The citizens of Gwangju see the special committee for the investigation of the May 18 Democratic Uprising, which will launch in September, as "the last chance to reveal the truth." The committee will be active for two years, and this period can be extended up to one year. On May 17, Cho Jin-tae, the executive director of the May 18 Memorial Foundation said, "So far, there has been five government investigations on the May 18 Uprising, but they all failed to clearly identify the truth. Since the evidence and people are disappearing, this will be our last chance." He cited "the missing people" and "the person responsible for opening fire on civilians" as the key issues that must be revealed. He also pointed out that the committee should investigate the anti-humanitarian behavior of the soldiers, such as the massacre, rape, and torture of innocent people.

Yoon Jang-hyun, the mayor of Gwangju, released a statement when the Kyunghyang Shinmun published an article this day mentioning the allegation that the 7th Airborne Brigade remained in Gwangju for ten days immediately after the May 18 Uprising and secretly buried the bodies on Mudeungsan Mountain. The mayor said, "We are in desperate need of active cooperation from the government, politicians and military authorities, so that a clear investigation can be conducted on the military records, which hold the key to the allegations concerning the initial order to open fire and the secret burial of bodies. The people should come together in their will and strength to open the door to the truth and to hold the people responsible for the anti-humanitarian history accountable."

The military under martial law at the time, which knows the truth of Gwangju, remain silent. Last year, the Prosecution Service tried to question over forty pilots from the Korea Aerospace University who were dispatched to Gwangju at the time in order to find out whether shots were fired from helicopters during the May 18 Uprising, but only two responded. And nothing significant resulted from their statements.

Attorney Kim Jeong-ho said, "It confirmed that morality was not enough to force the soldiers to confess. That is why we stipulated the punishment of the military in the Special Act on Investigating the Truth of the May 18 Democratization Movement. There is an article that allows the state to forgive the soldiers who confess the truth, without holding them responsible." Cho also stressed, "The soldiers should realize that this is the last chance to tell the truth and be forgiven."