The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980, which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (May 18; Korean: 오일팔), in reference to the date the movement began. The uprising is also known as the Gwangju Democratization Struggle (Korean: 광주 민주화 항쟁), the Gwangju Massacre, the May 18 Democratic Uprising, or the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement (Korean: 5·18 광주 민주화 운동). The uprising began after local Chonnam University students who were demonstrating against the martial law government were fired upon, killed, raped and beaten by government troops. Some Gwangju citizens took up arms, raiding local police stations and armouries, and were able to take control of large sections of the city before soldiers re-entered the city and put down the uprising. At the time, the South Korean government reported estimates of around 170 people killed, but other estimates have measured 600 to 2,300 people killed. During Chun Doo-hwan's unelected presidency, the authorities defined the incident by classifying it as the ''Gwangju Riot,'' and claimed that it was being instigated by "communist sympathizers and rioters", possibly acting on support of the North Korean government.

Gwangju Uprising - Wikipedia