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The May 18 and the Military: For Building a New Relationship

  • The Journal of Northeast Asia Research
  • Abbr : NEA
  • 2021, 36(1), pp.169-194
  • DOI : 10.18013/jnar.2021.36.1.006
  • Publisher : The Institute for Northeast Asia Research
  • Research Area : Social Science > Political Science > International Politics > International Relations / Cooperation
  • Received : July 5, 2021
  • Accepted : August 16, 2021
  • Published : August 31, 2021

Gong, Jin Sung 1

1조선대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Over the past 40 years, the dominant view on the May 18 has changed in South Korea. The view of the military authorities on the May 18 as a ‘riot’ had been dominant in the beginning. The socialist view and the liberalist view competed against it, and the liberalist view became dominant when the May 18 was officially recognized as a ‘democratic movement’ after democratization of South Korea. Recently, the pacifist interpretations of the May 18 are presented strongly, all of which show a certain anti-militarist bias. However, based on the idea of the republican ‘citizen-soldier’, de-militarizing the May 18 is ultimately de-politicizing the May 18, which is not an objective interpretation of the May 18 as actually an event in which the idea of ‘citizen-soldier’ came in reality, but a very dangerous interpretation that could lead to military and political alienation of citizens. The political meaning of the May 18 could be fully revealed when it abandons anti-militarist prejudice, and accepts the military and extends the meaning of ‘the military’ adjustable to the contemporary Korean society.

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