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[The Gwangju Civil Society for Solidarity’s Statement to Commemorate the 34th Anniversary of the 8888 Uprising in Myanmar]

Gwangju Cheers for the Never-ending Myanmar Democratic Uprising!

As of 2022, events similar to May 18 are happening all over the world. May 18 is a tragic reality that should not be repeated, but today, people still have to fight against injustice.

In February 2021, the Myanmar military launched a coup, crushing the people’s hopes for Myanmar’s democratization. One year and six months have passed since then.
In the meantime, many people in Myanmar have had to sacrifice themselves. The military has killed more than 2,000 civilians, arrested and detained 14,000 people, and sentenced more than 100 people to death for fighting against the military’s violence.
The international community has been paying close attention to the military’s attitude, warning that if the Myanmar military executes people, it would face irreversible criticism from the international community.
However, it is reported that the Myanmar military did not care about the international community’s concern and executed four people on July 25 and six pro-democracy figures on July 30.
How many sacrifices will it take for Myanmar to achieve democracy?
It is a grim and wretched reality, but our belief that we must prevent further sacrifice is growing stronger.

August 8, 2022, is the 34th anniversary of the 8888 Uprising, the Myanmar Democratization Movement, led by university students in the capital, Yangon, in which Buddhist monks and citizens participated in large numbers on August, 1988.
In the 8888 Uprising in Myanmar, as was the case with Gwangju, the agents could not avoid defeat due to the military’s oppression. However, the history of restoration of victims’ honor achieved by Gwangju has become a spark of new hope for the people of Myanmar. The memory of the May 18 Democratic Uprising lived until Gwangju restored their honor in May 1980. The 8888 Uprising in Myanmar is an unfinished movement for Myanmar’s democracy.
The National Unity Government of Myanmar is fighting against the Myanmar military, and many people in the country are continuing their disobedience movement in their living spaces. The struggle of the Myanmar people who do not give up continues.
The international community’s interest, support, solidarity and cooperation are necessary so that the Myanmar people will no longer fight alone.
Under Putin, Russia opposes the adoption of a recent UN Security Council statement calling for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Myanmar and is strengthening cooperation with the Myanmar military in the fields of energy and defense. This effort contradicts the international community’s wishes, for which we can’t repress our anger. Myanmar’s military is using lethal weapons imported from Russia to massacre its own citizens, including the People’s Defense Force, women, children and ethnic minorities. This is why the people of Myanmar, risking their lives, continue to denounce Russia’s relationship with the Myanmar military and the invasion of Ukraine.

We pay tribute to the Myanmar people again and again for their sacrifice and courage in seeking democratization and freedom.
When Gwangju struggled, citizens of the world helped it.
As a global citizen, Gwangju will take the lead in defending democracy and human rights against the military and authoritarian forces that threaten peace, demanding an end to the military coup in Myanmar and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

Today, in commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the 8888 Uprising in Myanmar, we, together with the civil society of Gwangju, strongly demand the following:

The Myanmar military must immediately stop its coup and the massacre of its own people!
Companies that cooperate with the Myanmar military, a crime group against humanity, must break that connection!
The Korean government should implement a principled response at the government level to restore democracy in Myanmar!
Putin’s Russian government must immediately stop collusion with the Myanmar military and aggression in Ukraine!
The international community, including the United Nations and Association of South East Asian Nations, should immediately take appropriate measures against the Myanmar military’s anti-humanitarian actions!

Gwangju cheers for Myanmar’s never-ending struggle for democracy! Gwangju is with you!

August 7, 2022
The Spring Myanmar Youth Association, the Gwangju Solidarity Opposing the Military Coup and Supporting for Democracy in Myanmar (Myanmar-Gwangju Solidarity), the Gwangju Association to Pray for Peace in Ukraine