NEARLY HALF of today's South Koreans were not yet born when it happened. In May 1980 citizens of the south-western city of Gwangju began to protest against an expansion of martial law by the country's military dictatorship. When security forces tried to suppress the protests, they evolved into an uprising. Civilian militias took control of the city. On May 27th the government sent in helicopters, tanks and soldiers to crush them. Over the course of the uprising, hundreds were killed. Three months later Chun Doo-hwan, the general who had ordered the crackdown, became president. He remained in power for seven years before pro-democracy protesters forced him to call an election, which another general won after promising democratic reforms. Abroad, many reckon the uprising and its suppression sowed the seeds of South Korean democracy. "It was the first time students, labour activists and regular people got together and said enough is enough," says Alexis Dud-den of the University of Connecticut.
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