Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-htx7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-09T11:00:54.340Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Jürgen Hinzpeter and Foreign Correspondents in the 1980 Kwangju Uprising

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2020

Andrew David Jackson
Andrew David Jackson*
Affiliation:
Monash University
*
*Corresponding author. Email: andrew.david.jackson@monash.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

German journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter won the 2003 Song Kun-ho Press Award for his reporting of the 1980 Kwangju Uprising. He was also the subject of documentaries and the 2017 hit movie A Taxi Driver, which credit him as the first journalist to expose the Kwangju Uprising to the world. In fact, Hinzpeter was one of many journalists who revealed what had happened at Kwangju. Since the production of the 2003 documentary Hinzpeter – the Blue-Eyed Witness to May 1980, interest in the many other foreign journalists who covered Kwangju has been elided, raising the question of why only Hinzpeter's contribution is remembered and celebrated. Using ideas about historical memory developed by Paul Cohen, I argue that a narrative about Hinzpeter's actions in Kwangju has emerged, which has little to do with who first broke the news of the Kwangju Uprising. The story of Hinzpeter's relationship with the South Korean democratization movement as well as the film he shot of the moment Kwangju citizens seized power and established an alternative government to military rule – have become important weapons for the activist generation in an ongoing struggle over the memorialization of the Kwangju Uprising.

Keywords

Kwangju UprisingA Taxi DriverJürgen HinzpeterChun Doo-hwan

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 19 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

This work was supported by the Core University Program for Korean Studies through the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and Korean Studies Promotion Service of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2017-OLU-2250002). Thanks also to Stephanie Jaehrling, Bruce Jacobs, Bae Wonae, Perry Iles, Roland Bleiker, Gregory Kailian, the two anonymous peer reviewers of this article, and Maria Montas of the CBS News Archives for their help. In Memoriam Bruce Jacobs, September 19, 1943–November 24, 2019.

References

References

Anderson, Terry (2000). “Remembering Kwangju.” In The Kwangju Uprising: Eyewitness Accounts of Korea's Tiananmen, eds. Henry, Scott-Stokes and Jai Eui, Lee, pp. 43–52. Armonk NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Bae, Seung-hoon (2017). “Taxi Driver's Identity Is Confirmed.” Korea JoongAng Daily. September 7, 2017. http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3038058Google Scholar
Baker, Don (2003). “Victims and Heroes: Competing Visions of May 18.” In Contentious Kwangju: The May 18 Uprising in Korea's Past and Present, eds. Shin, Gi-Wook and Kyung Moon, Hwang, pp. 87–107. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
BBC News (2018). “South Korea Apologises for Rapes during 1980 Gwangju Protest Crackdown.” November 7, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46123548Google Scholar
Cheongam Press Foundation (2003). “About Jürgen Hinzpeter.” From The 2nd Song Kun-ho Prize Program, December 5, Seoul Press Centre.Google Scholar
Choi, Jung-woon (2003). “The Formation of an ‘Absolute Community.’” In Contentious Kwangju: The May 18 Uprising in Korea's Past and Present, eds. Shin, Gi-Wook and Kyung Moon, Hwang, pp. 3–10. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Choi, Min-yong (2018). “Real-life Heroes of A Taxi Driver Pass Away without Having Reunited.” Hankyoreh. May 14, 2018.Google Scholar
Chopra-Gant, Mike (2008). Cinema and History: The Telling of Stories. London: Wallflower.Google Scholar
Chosun Ilbo (2004). “German Journalist to Be Buried in Gwangju.” The Chosun Ilbo. May 10, 2004. http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2004/05/10/2004051061026.htmlGoogle Scholar
Clark, Donald N. (1988). The Kwangju Uprising: Shadows over the Regime in South Korea. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Paul (1997). History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Cumings, Bruce (1999). “Introduction.” In Kwangju Diary: Beyond Death, Beyond the Darkness of the Age, Jae Eui Lee, pp. 17–33. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian Pacific Monograph Series.Google Scholar
Fenton, James (1988). All the Wrong Places: Adrift in the Politics of the Pacific Rim. New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press.Google Scholar
Gleysteen, W. H. (1999). Massive Entanglement, Marginal Influence: Carter and Korea in Crisis. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Han'guk Ilbo (1980). “Chagŭkjŏkin somuni kip'okje, kŭkhan sanghwang ch'idara p'ach’ulso semugŏnmul pult'a. kunch'al simin sasang” (“Provocative Rumours Were the Catalyst. Extreme Situation Worsening. Police Stations and Tax Offices Set on Fire. Civilian, Military and Police Deaths”). May 23, 1980.Google Scholar
Hinzpeter, Jürgen (2003). “Speech of the 2nd Song Kun-ho Prize Recipient.” From The 2nd Song Kun-ho Prize Program, Seoul Press Centre, December 5, 2003.Google Scholar
Hinzpeter, Jürgen (2000). “I Bow my Head.” In The Kwangju Uprising: Eyewitness Accounts of Korea's Tiananmen, eds. Henry, Scott-Stokes and Jai Eui, Lee, pp. 63–76. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Hinzpeter, Jürgen (1997). “An Eyewitness Report of the Kwangju Citizen's Uprising in 1980.” In Kwangju in the Eyes of the World, ed. Journalists Association of Korea, pp. 29–52. Seoul: Pulbit.Google Scholar
Hŏ, Yun-ch’ŏl, Kang, Sŭnghwa, Pak, Hyoju and Ch'ae, Paek (2012). “Han'guk ŏllongwa o il p'al Kwangju minjuhwa undong tamnon: Tonga ilbo ŭi podo kisawa sasŏrŏŭl chungsimŭro” (“The South Korean Press and the 5.18 Kwangju Democratization Movement, Focussing on the Reporting of the Tonga Ilbo in Its Articles and Editorials”. Han'guk ŏllon chŏngbohakbo 58 (May 2012), pp. 130–53.Google Scholar
Joongang Ilbo (2017). “President Moon Cries after Watching the Film The Taxi Driver.” Joongang Ilbo. August 14, 2017.Google Scholar
Journalists Association of Korea (Han'guk kijhyŏphoe) ed. (1997a). 5.18 T’ŭkp'awŏn ripotŭ (Special Correspondents’ Report of the 5.18 Kwangju Uprising”). Seoul: Pulbit.Google Scholar
Journalists Association of Korea ed. (1997b). Kwangju in the Eyes of the World. Seoul: Pulbit.Google Scholar
Jung, Dae-ha (2016a). “As He Wished, German Journalist Laid to Rest in Gwangju.” Hankyoreh. May 17, 2016.Google Scholar
Jung, Dae-ha (2016b). “The Bereaved Mothers Who Were Painted as North Korean Spies.” Hankyoreh. May 19, 2016.Google Scholar
Katsiaficas, George (2012). Asia's Unknown Uprisings Volume 1: South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century. Oakland, CA: PM Press.Google Scholar
Kim, Hak Soo and James, Larsen (1988). “Communication and Martial Law in the Republic of Korea, 1979–1988.” Canadian Journal of Communication 13 (1988), pp. 87–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Hang (2011). “The Commemoration of the Gwangju Uprising: of the Remnants in the Nation State's Historical Memory.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 12:4, pp. 611–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Jae-heun (2017). “A Taxi Driver Attracts 10 Million Moviegoers; 15th Korean Film in History.” The Korea Times. August 21, 2017. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2017/08/689_235061.htmlGoogle Scholar
Kim, Sung Tae (2000). “Making a Difference: U.S. Press Coverage of the Kwangju and Tiananmen Pro-Democracy Movements.” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 77:1, pp. 22–36.Google Scholar
Kim, Tong-hyung (2017). “South Korean President Vows to Reopen Probe into 1980 Massacre.” Associated Press. May 18, 2017. https://www.apnews.com/6767624510224126a52bd88903751c7dGoogle Scholar
KOFIC (Korea Film Council) (2018). Korean Cinema 2018 (20) Seoul: KOFIC.Google Scholar
Larson, James F. (1990). “Quiet Diplomacy in a Television Era: The Media and U.S. Policy Toward the Republic of Korea.” Political Communication 7:2, pp. 73–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, James F. and Jiande, Chen (1992). “Television and Foreign Policy: US Response to the Beijing and Kwangju Pro-democracy Movements.” Asian Journal of Communication 2:2, pp. 78–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Jai Eui (1999). Kwangju Diary: Beyond Death, Beyond the Darkness of the Age. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian Pacific Monograph Series.Google Scholar
Lee, Sang Hee (2003). “Che 2 hoe Song Kŏnho ŏllŏnsang charyojip” (“Collected Documents of the The 2nd Song Kun-ho Prize for Journalism”). Seoul: The Song Kun-ho Prize Committee, Cheongam Press Foundation and Hankyoreh Newspaper.Google Scholar
Martin, Bradley (1997). “Yun Sang Won: The Knowledge in those Eyes.” In Kwangju in the Eyes of the World, ed. Journalists Association of Korea, pp. 69–95. Seoul: Pulbit.Google Scholar
Park, Su-sŏn (2018). “5.18 Ch'uijaehan woesin kijado tŭrauma kyŏkkŏtda.” (“The Overseas Correspondent Also Experienced Trauma because of the Kwangju Uprising”). P.D Journal. May 11, 2018. http://www.pdjournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=61948Google Scholar
Park, Ji-won (2019). “LKP Delays Punishment for 3 Hawkish Members.” The Korea Times. February 13, 2019. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/02/356_263640.htmlGoogle Scholar
Petersen, Mark. “Americans and the Kwangju Incident: Problems in the Writing of History.” In The Kwangju Uprising: Shadows over the Regime in South Korea, ed. Donald N., Clark, pp. 52–64. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1988.Google Scholar
Pons, Philippe (1980a). “L'armée impose au président Choi l'extension de la loi martiale et l'arrestation des principaux opposants” (“The Army Imposes President Choi's Extension of Martial Law and the Arrest of Important Opposition Figures”). Le Monde. May 20, 1980.Google Scholar
Pons, Philippe (1980b). “Les émeutes auraient fait une centaine de morts à Kwangju.” (“Disturbances Have Resulted in a Hundred Deaths in Kwangju”). Le Monde. May 22, 1980.Google Scholar
Scott-Stokes, Henry (1980a). “Cabinet Resigns in South Korea as Riots Grow: More Deaths Reported in Huge Kwangju Protest.” The New York Times. May 21, 1980.Google Scholar
Scott-Stokes, Henry (1980b). “When the Troops Finally Came, Kwangju Revolt Became a Rout.” The New York Times. May 28, 1980.Google Scholar
Scott-Stokes, Henry and Jai, Eui Lee (2000). “Introduction and Acknowledgements.” In The Kwangju Uprising: Eyewitness Accounts of Korea's Tiananmen, eds. Henry, Scott-Stokes and Jai Eui, Lee, pp. xvii–xx. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Scott-Stokes, Henry, Shim, Jae Hoon and Philippe, Pons (2000). “A Scream for Freedom.” In The Kwangju Uprising: Eyewitness Accounts of Korea's Tiananmen, eds. Henry, Scott-Stokes and Jai Eui, Lee, pp. 107–16. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Shim Jae, Hoon (1980). “Protestors Control South Korean City: At Least 32 Killed.” New York Times, May 22, 1980.Google Scholar
Shin, Gi-Wook (2003). “Introduction.” In Contentious Kwangju: The May 18 Uprising in Korea's Past and Present, eds. Shin, Gi.-Wook and Kyung Moon, Hwang, pp. xi–xxxi. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Shin, Ki-sŏp (2003). “Kwangju podoro che i Song Kŏn-ho ŏllonsang padŭn wirŭgen hanch’ŭ p'etŏ” (“Because of His Reporting of Kwangju Jürgen Hinzpeter Receives the Second Song Kun-ho Prize for Journalism”). Han'kyŏrae, December 5, 2003.Google Scholar
Shorrock, Tim (1999). “The Kwangju Diary: The View from Washington.” In Kwangju Diary: Beyond Death, Beyond the Darkness of the Age, pp. 151–72. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian Pacific Monograph Series.Google Scholar
Song, Kisuk et al. eds. (2001). 5. 18 Kwangju Minjung Hangjaeng (“The May 18 Kwangju People's Uprising”). Kwangju: Kwangju yŏksi 5.18 saryo p'yŏnch'anwiwŏnhoe.Google Scholar
Stringer, Julian (2003). “Introduction.” In Movie Blockbusters, ed. Julian, Stringer, pp. 1–13. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Taet'ongnyŏng Sosok Ǔimunsa Chinsang Kyumyŏng Wiwŏnhoe (“Presidential Truth Commission”) (2004). A Hard Journey to Justice. First Term Report by the Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths of the Republic of Korea (10.2000–10.2002). Seoul: Samin.Google Scholar
Tenney, Warren John (1992). “U.S. Responses to the Tiananmen and Kwangju Incidents: American Relations with China and Korea.” The Journal of Northeast Asian Studies 11, pp. 58–76.Google Scholar
Tilly, Charles (1975). “Revolutions and Collective Violence.” In Macropolitical Theory Volume 3, eds. Fred, Greenstein and Nelson, Polsby, pp. 483–555. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.Google Scholar
Wickham, J. A. (1999). Korea on the Brink: From the “12/12 Incident” to the Kwangju Uprising, 1979–1980. Washington, DC: National Defense University Press.Google Scholar
Blue-eyed Witnesses, Remembering Kwangju May 18. (“Purŭn nunŭi mokkyŏkja, owŏrŭl kiŏkhada”). MBC. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5mS0zHdRokGoogle Scholar
5.18 Hinzpeter Story (“Hinchŭp'et’ŏ sŭt'ori”) (Dir. Chang Yŏng-ju, 2018).Google Scholar
4 Angles. Arirang. May 27, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wSm5ldNeLUGoogle Scholar
Hinzpeter – the Blue-Eyed Witness to May 1980. Sunday Special. (“p'alsip nyŏn owŏl p'urŭn nunŭi mokkyŏkja Hinch’ŭp'et’ŏ. Iryŏsŭp'esyŏl”). KBS. May 18, 2003.Google Scholar
KBS Nine o'clock News. KBS. February 2, 2016.Google Scholar
“South Korea Today.” Bruce Dunning Report. CBS Evening News. May 22, 1980. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvBk9Z29-vEGoogle Scholar
“Student Demos.” Bruce Dunning Report. CBS Evening News. May 19, 1980.Google Scholar
Blue-eyed Witnesses, Remembering Kwangju May 18. (“Purŭn nunŭi mokkyŏkja, owŏrŭl kiŏkhada”). MBC. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5mS0zHdRokGoogle Scholar
5.18 Hinzpeter Story (“Hinchŭp'et’ŏ sŭt'ori”) (Dir. Chang Yŏng-ju, 2018).Google Scholar
4 Angles. Arirang. May 27, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wSm5ldNeLUGoogle Scholar
Hinzpeter – the Blue-Eyed Witness to May 1980. Sunday Special. (“p'alsip nyŏn owŏl p'urŭn nunŭi mokkyŏkja Hinch’ŭp'et’ŏ. Iryŏsŭp'esyŏl”). KBS. May 18, 2003.Google Scholar
KBS Nine o'clock News. KBS. February 2, 2016.Google Scholar
“South Korea Today.” Bruce Dunning Report. CBS Evening News. May 22, 1980. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvBk9Z29-vEGoogle Scholar
“Student Demos.” Bruce Dunning Report. CBS Evening News. May 19, 1980.Google Scholar