High School Student Who Led May 18 Anniversary Protest Has Case Dismissed in Retrial After 44 Years

Front view of Gwangju District Court.

A high school student who attempted to organize a rally condemning Chun Doo-hwan's new military regime ahead of the first anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising has been acquitted in a retrial 44 years later.

The Criminal Division 2 of the Gwangju District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Kim Jongseok, announced on the 27th that it had overturned the original verdict and declared the case dismissed in a retrial for Mr. A (61), who had previously received a suspended prison sentence after being indicted for violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act.

Mr. A, who was a high school student in April 1981, was indicted for distributing leaflets denouncing the atrocities of the military regime to high schools throughout Gwangju and planning related protests ahead of the first anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising.

A dismissal of a case means that the criminal proceedings are terminated without a judicial judgment due to reasons such as the expiration of the statute of limitations, or the revision or abolition of the relevant law after the crime. Before the retrial, Mr. A had received a final sentence of one year in prison, suspended for two years.

This retrial began in April of this year under the Special Act on the May 18 Democratic Uprising, which allows those convicted for acts of resistance against the destruction of constitutional order to request a retrial.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.