Forty years ago today, a pro-democracy protest erupted in South Korea that saw more than 160 citizens killed by the country’s military government. On May 18, 1980, over a thousand students took to the streets in the southwestern city of Gwangju, calling for democratic reform and an end to martial law. 

Chun Doo-hwan, who had seized control of the nation’s armed forces in a coup the previous year, demanded that the uprising be immediately suppressed, sending in troops, tanks and helicopter gunships. Over the next two days, as the numbers of protesters grew to tens of thousands, hundreds were attacked, beaten and shot dead. 

The story of the Gwangju Uprising is widely recognized as a brutal episode in the country’s history, yet conspiracy theorists believe that demonstrators were acting on the orders of military officers from communist North Korea. The rumor continues to circulate to this day. 

Lee Kang-gap was 23 years old, working at a furniture factory when the massacre took place. He joined the demonstrators after witnessing innocent people being brutalized and killed by the government’s troops.