A Reevaluation of Korean Human Rights and Political Incidents after World War Ⅱ: A Case Study of the Gwangju Uprising

Human rights, characterized by liberty and equality that every human being should enjoy, is often violated by political incidents. With the Gwangju Uprising as an example, this text uses a historical approach and a document analysis approach in analyzing issues such as aggrievement of human rights during the Gwangju Uprising, its assessments, future prospects as well as compensations to set a model in reviewing the importance of human rights to a nation and its citizens. First of all, the text wholly examines the recorded documents regarding the Gwangju Uprising, second, it reviews the democratic movements in different periods of Korean history, third, it concretely analyzes the Gwangju Uprising in three ways including the socio-economic background of the city of Gwangju, the evolution of the Gwangju Uprising, as well as its comparison to Taiwan's major political movements, fourth, it discusses the reevaluation of the government's position toward the Gwangju Uprising discussing needs for a) a compensation for not stating the real facts and b) institutionalizing revealing the real facts and punishiment of the offenders. Furthermore, by comparing appraisals of democratic movements in different countries including Korea, Taiwan and other countries, it attempts to discuss the hardships Korean nationals have faced in the past in pursuit of freedom and equality, and appeal the fact that the dignity of human beings should not be violated in any way.