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On May 17, 1980, a declaration of martial law dashed all hopes for a transition to democracy and citizens rebelled with student demonstrators, leading to what is now known as the tragic, bloody Kwangju incident. It erupted when both demonstrators and spectators were beaten and bayonetted, and a number killed, by Black Beret paratroopers, untrained in crowd control, who had reinforced martial law troops. Over the next three days, word of the brutality spread among citizens of Kwangju, and the troops were forced to retreat from the city, allowing students and other citizens to obtain arms from police stations and army stockpiles. By May 22, the citizens controlled the city, whichwas surrounded by the military. Negotiations aimed at a peaceful settlement continued until May 27, when the government ordered troops to retake the city in an early morning assault in which more people were killed.(27)

Early government estimates showed that more than 200 died in the clashes between citizens and soldiers, while members of the political opposition have claimed that more than 2000 perished. Furthermore, although the United States officially claims that it played no significant role in Kwangju, there were two specific forms of involvement. First, the United States played the role of an important bystander, almost inevitable given its close relations with South Korea and its large military presence on the peninsula. On May 26, the citizens of Kwangju appealed to the U.S. government to mediate a truce. The appeal came in the midst of the rebellion, with the city of Kwangju sealed off by government troops. The U.S. Department of State declined to mediate, saying "We recognize that a situation of total disorder and disruption in a major city cannot be allowed to go on indefinitely." Second, the troops sent to reinvade the city and quell the uprising were released from the joint U.S.-ROK command structure, which at the time was headed by an American, General John A. Wickham, Jr.(28)

In short, the Kwangju incident was itself a massive human rights episode. It cast its shadow not only over the regime of former President Chun Doo Hwan and his successor President Roh Tae Woo in Korea, but also over the U .S. relationship with South Korea. (pages on "The Existing Narrative: Themes in Media Coverage of Korea" omitted here). . . . .