No matter how strong the power is, it cannot defeat the people!
A passionate cry to resist the crisis,
April 3, April 19, May 18, June 10
The four major democratic struggles in one volume!

The modern history of the Republic of Korea is a history of struggle and solidarity to protect democracy.
The mature democracy that exists in our society today did not come about suddenly one day, but is a historical achievement achieved by ordinary citizens who came together to fight against injustice and oppression.
From the Jeju April 3 Incident to the April 19 Revolution, the May 18 Democratization Movement, and the June 10 Democratic Uprising, at every moment in our history when democracy was on the verge of being erased, the people gathered their strength and raised their voices.

『The History of Democratic Struggles: A Chain of Struggles』 examines modern history, focusing on four struggles that changed the course of history, from the April 19 Revolution to the June 10 Democratic Struggle.
It vividly captures stories that textbooks fail to cover, such as why the struggle occurred and how it changed the world.
Readers will come to realize and be convinced that the people are the masters of history.

The Japanese exploitation of Jeju Island during the Japanese colonial period was no different from that of Joseon.
The protest, which began on January 7, 1932, by about 300 female divers from Sehwa-ri who could no longer bear the tyranny of the Japanese, later grew to include over 17,000 people, becoming recorded as the largest anti-Japanese movement on Jeju Island.
This is called the 'Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement'.
Although Jeju Island was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, its suffering did not end.
--- p.21

In January 1947, Korean residents in Japan from Beophwan-ri, Seogwipo, donated materials for installing electricity to their hometown.
However, the police detected the ship that entered Jeju Island carrying materials as a smuggling ship and confiscated the materials.
The Jeju Police Inspector General, who was in charge of the Jeju Police, was dismissed for his involvement in this incident, and US military government officers were also suspected.
The people of Jeju Island could not bear to see their property stolen by Morigan Sangbae in their liberated homeland, and they could no longer trust the police or the US military government.

--- p.
32

After the March 1st Incident and the general strike, many changes occurred in Jeju Island.
Yoo Hae-jin, a far-right figure from North Jeolla Province, was appointed governor of Jeju Island, and Kim Young-bae, from Seoul, was appointed chief of the Jeju Police Inspection Agency.
The executives of the wiretapping and inspection offices were also replaced with those from the mainland, excluding those from Jeju Island.
In particular, when Yoo Hae-jin took office, he brought seven members of the Northwest Youth Corps as bodyguards.
The Northwest Youth League is an extreme right-wing anti-communist group created by people who defected from the northwestern region, namely Pyeongan Province and Hwanghae Province.
These people later play a role in throwing Jeju Island into chaos.

--- pp.42-43

The scorched-earth operation targeting Jeju Island residents was carried out from November to March of the following year.
This is because President Syngman Rhee said at a cabinet meeting, “In order to receive aid from the United States, we must resolve the Jeju incident even if it means using harsh methods.”
The suppression force ordered residents living in mountain villages to come down to coastal villages and submit to police investigation.
Residents who came down to the coastal village innocently were subjected to harsh torture, demanding to know where the armed group was based.

--- p.64

Syngman Rhee appointed officials who had worked in the US military government as government officials, most of whom were former officials of the Japanese Government-General.
Because his domestic political base was weak due to his long period of living abroad, he joined hands with pro-Japanese collaborators after liberation, and this continued naturally even after he became president.
--- p.79

Even during the war, Syngman Rhee was hesitant to become president for life and was looking for a way to become the next president.
At that time, it was not a 'direct election' in which the people elected the president, but an 'indirect election' in which the National Assembly elected the president.
However, Syngman Rhee's relationship with the National Assembly was so strained that he had no chance of being elected through an indirect election.
The Syngman Rhee government, which was looking for a way, submitted a direct election constitutional amendment to the National Assembly.
--- p.84

The Daegu high school students' protest was the first student demonstration against a dictatorship in the country.
This is called the 'Daegu 2/28 Democracy Movement'.
Inspired by this, on March 1, a leaflet titled “Hold a fair election!” was distributed in Seoul under the name of the “National University Student Struggle Committee.”
The protests spread like wildfire across the country, starting in Seoul on March 5, Busan on March 7, Daejeon on March 8, and Suwon on March 10.
The "freedom of schools" slogan voluntarily chanted by high school students in the Daegu area spread nationwide and developed into a democratization movement calling for "fair elections" against the Syngman Rhee regime.
High school students planted the seeds of democracy that even adults could not.
--- pp.96-97

Citizens and students from Masan, Gyeongnam Province, who could not stand to see the fraudulent and violent election on March 15th, were the first to protest.
At 10:30 AM, during the election season, the Democratic Party of Masan City also took to the streets, declaring the election invalid and exposing election fraud.
At 7:30 p.m., 10,000 students and citizens flocked to City Hall where votes were being counted.
Police fired rifles and fired tear gas at the protesters.
In the end, eight people were killed by police bullets and hundreds were arrested.
There were also people who went missing.
--- p.102

The April 19 Revolution began on February 28th with high school students in the Daegu area, and continued through the March 15th Masan Uprising in Seoul.
College students responded, and citizens and faculty joined in to complete it.
However, the political world, including the opposition party, just watched from the back and then took over the government.
The politicians were completely unprepared.
Because of those incompetent politicians, the tragedy of our nation has arisen again.
--- p.119

The Democratic Republican Party used votes obtained through fraudulent elections to pass the '3rd term constitutional amendment' that allowed Park Chung-hee to serve as president for one more term, and issued an order to close all universities nationwide to prevent student protests.
However, as schools that had been closed reopened, student protests began again.
As these protests continued, an incident occurred that starkly revealed the working conditions in South Korea.
This is the 'Jeon Tae-il self-immolation incident'.

--- p.142

The May 18th Democratization Movement lasted for ten days, from May 18th to May 27th, 1980.
But that period was only a period in which soldiers suppressed good democratic citizens with guns and swords.
The emergence of Chun Doo-hwan and the new military junta, who attempted to seize power in the same way as Park Chung-hee, and the new military junta's lies in spreading the news that "Kim Dae-jung was behind the Gwangju Uprising" hurt the pride of Gwangju citizens and led to the civil uprising.
--- p.174

In a national referendum held on October 22, 1980, the Chun Doo-hwan regime's 'constitutional amendment' passed with a voter turnout of 95.5 percent and 91.6 percent in favor.
The pro-democracy movement could not hide its bewilderment at the overwhelming approval rating, but under martial law, the intervention of the military, police, and neighborhood chiefs in the election was expected.
In accordance with the 'revised constitution', Chun Doo-hwan dissolved the National Assembly and political parties, and created an absurd legislative body called the 'National Security Legislative Council', which functioned as a legislative body in place of the National Assembly for 156 days.

-- p.185

Even the most brutal Chun Doo-hwan regime could not have fought against Myeongdong Cathedral, the headquarters of Korean Catholicism.
The police retreated.
About 1,000 college students who supported and supported the Myeongdong Cathedral sit-in protested at Namdaemun Market.
The Sanggye-dong evictees living in tents inside the cathedral provided food to the protesters.
The National Convention, originally scheduled for one day on June 10th, evolved into the 'June 10th Democracy Movement', which was difficult for the National Headquarters leadership to handle.

--- p.214