On June 29, 2021, the National Assembly passed the Special Act on the Investigation of the Truth about the Yeosu-Suncheon October 19 Incident and Restoration of Honor of the Victims (hereinafter referred to as the “Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Special Act”).
This is a welcome development at both the local and national levels.
This has made it possible to shed light on the Yeosu-Suncheon October 19 Incident (hereinafter referred to as the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident) at a national level, and has made it possible to expect the restoration of local communities destroyed by the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident.

With the enactment of the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Special Act, efforts to uncover the truth about the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident are underway in earnest.
The 'Yeosu-Suncheon October 19 Incident Truth Finding and Honor Restoration Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Committee)' is taking the lead in activities to find the truth and restore honor.
On July 27, 2023, the Enforcement Decree of the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Special Act was revised, extending the period for filing claims for damages from the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident from January 20, 2023 to December 2023.

The Yeosu-Suncheon Incident occurred on October 19, 1948, when some soldiers from the 14th Regiment of the ROK Army stationed in Yeosu refused orders to suppress the Jeju April 3 Incident.
The Yeosu-Suncheon Incident was an incident that occurred from October 19, 1948, until April 1, 1955, when the ban on entering Jirisan was lifted, in which many victims occurred not only in the Yeosu-Suncheon area, but also in South Jeolla Province, North Jeolla Province, and South Gyeongsang Province.
Although it is difficult to determine the exact scale of the casualties at present, the statistics of victims at the time and the ongoing reports of damage from the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident show that there were large-scale casualties.
As of November 1949, when South Jeolla Province conducted a survey, the number of deaths was 11,131.
Additionally, the number of reports of damage from the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident received by the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Committee as of November 22, 2023 was 7,120.

As the 'Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Special Act' is enacted and damage reports and victim determinations are in progress, public interest in the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident is increasing.
Furthermore, there is a growing need to inform citizens about the Yeosun Incident in a way that is accessible to them, as they have had difficulty accessing proper information about it for the past 73 years.
Accordingly, although we are a small group of authors who have studied the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident and worked on the scene of the incident, we have decided to join forces and publish “Reading the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident with Citizens.”

This book covers the historical understanding of the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident and the process of enacting the ‘Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Special Act.’
Although research, fact-finding, and other investigations are being conducted on the Yeosun Incident, they are still insufficient and not properly organized.
Also, because the regions where the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident occurred were diverse and the forms of damage were complex, there are also diverse perspectives on the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident.
Therefore, in this book, we tried to capture the diverse perspectives of local citizens, local civic group activists, local researchers, reporters, and bereaved families working in various regions, including Yeosu, Suncheon, Gwangyang, and Gurye.