Write May with Yong-jun Park’s Activists Newsletter Handwriting Style

Hee-jung Baek
The Executive Director of GWANGJURO

At a suggestion of a member of Gwangjuro, we decided to work on the development of a font based on the handwriting style of Yong-jun Park, a democratic activist. He was one of the activists who participated in the publication of the Activists Newsletter during the May 18 Democratic Uprising, and the suggestion was to create a digital font based on Park’s handwriting style and distribute the font for free of charge. Instead of getting a budget from a certain institution or group, the idea was to make a font based on funds raised by citizens, just the way that the Newsletter was copied by engraving letters with an stencil pen for 20 to 30 times repeated so as to make thousands of copies. In this region, it was the first time to develop a font.

There were several people who participated in the publication of the newsletter, but documents left to date are mainly those copied by Yong-jun Park. His handwriting style, clearly engraved letter by letter, is quite impressive.


Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising but the COVID-19 pandemic hit unexpectedly and was protracted. Civic groups had to defer or cancel programs prepared to commemorate the anniversary and were deeply concerned. We considered the possibility of making a font as part of our business plan for the next year. We reviewed development period and cost, and, most importantly, searched the newsletter copied by Yong-jun Park. After several inquiries to companies specialized in font development, the font project kicked off.

The media distorted facts and remained silent on truth amid strict media censorship during the May 18 Democratic Uprising, but the Activists Newsletter informed Gwangju citizens of the truth and urged them to participate in protests. The newsletter was made through the division of roles on drafting, writing, copying and distribution. It was copied on both sides of a sheet of paper and ten editions were produced. Unfortunately, the tenth edition was seized and discarded by the military even before distribution.

Back then, the Newsletter was the only reliable source of accurate information, such as status of damages, protest date and time, and citizens’ code of conduct. At a time when no one knew what was going to happen tomorrow, it served as a medium to let the citizens voluntarily create the Gwangju community and thus holds an important value. That is the reason why we were interested in the “Activists Newsletter” copied by Yong-jun Park.

Gwangju YWCA holds the “May Y Citizen Forum” every May and delivers the “Park Yong-jun Scholarship” to university students drawn from compensation for Park’s death as seed money. As an orphan, Park grew up in a welfare facility and started working at the Gwangju YWCA Credit Association when he was a sophomore in high school. There he met Young-cheol Kim, who also worked for the Association (the then head of the planning department for the militia) and became aware of social issues. Park was a young man who loved reading to get over poverty and loneliness. His encounter with Kim led him to passionate participation in the Wildfire Night School.

The font name is “Yong-jun Park’s Activists Newsletter Handwriting Style.” We received more attention than expected as words spread about the development of the font. Crowd-funding for font production will be conducted for seven weeks from April 9 ​​to May 27. May 27 was the date when he was shot to death by the military. Over 100 citizens took part in the fund-raising soon after it started. They expressed appreciation for the opportunity to participate in a great cause and cited various reasons why they chipped in.; “I feel indebted to Gwangju”, “I want to pay a tribute to the deceased”, “Since I was not in Gwangju at the time”, “I want to let my children know about the truth”. People from other areas such as Busan, Daegu, Seoul, Ansan, and Yangsan also heard the news and gave us calls to participate. We also have participants from abroad, such as the US.

I feel excited at the fact that more and more people are participating in this project we decided to start after a great deal of thoughts. The font-making project is one of a million things we can do to embrace the spirit of May. We can do so by appreciating the letters engraved by him with an stencil pen and all his energy to tell the truth and by understanding the fear and desperation he felt at that time. The spirit of May should not be something people cannot dare to talk about but be communicated through ‘emotions’ and connect from generation to generation. I hope seeing the handwriting style on the Activists Newsletter once again will be remembered as one of the most passionate moments in our lives. Let's become Yong-jun Parkwhen May comes around.