Gwangju Uprising

Kim Ju-cheol left his boys with their mother and told them he would be back in time for the upcoming holiday. Days passed, and no one heard from him. When his family went to the police, they were told that a missing person report couldn't be filed. It wouldn't be until three week ...  Show more

In January 1987, businessman Yoon Tae-sik appeared on live national television claiming he had narrowly escaped being abducted to Pyongyang by his wife, who had been hiding that she was a North Korean spy. In reality, 34-year-old migrant worker Kim Ok-bun lay dead beneath the bed ...  Show more

There were strikes and student protests across South Korea in May 1980. The military government responded with a brutal crackdown in the city of Gwangju and elsewhere striking workers faced arrest and even torture. Heongjun Park has been hearing from one of those strikers, Bae Ok ...  Show more

Park Heongjun takes us back to May 1980, when a strike in the city of Gwangju became one of the most divisive moments in South Korea’s history and led to the imprisonment of activist Bae Ok Byoung. She worked in a factory making wigs and along with other female employees, went on ...  Show more

The final part of our four-part podcast miniseries about the May 18 uprising in Gwangju, South Korea, in 1980 against the US-backed military dictatorship of Chun Doo Hwan. We speak with Kim Yong Ho, David Dolinger and Jeon Yong Ho, who took part in the events, as well as research ...  Show more

In 1968 and early 1969 university students across Japan fought pitched battles with riot police after they barricaded themselves into their lecture halls and went on strike. They were protesting about the poor quality of their education and the inequalities of Japanese society in ...  Show more