Participants of the 2008 Gwangju Asian Human Rights Folk School were welcomed by the The May 18 Memorial Foundation Chairman Mr. Kwang Jang Yoon in the opening ceremony held at Chosun University, Gwangju, ROK. Fourteen countries are represented in this year's folk school.

The participants will be introduced particularly to the pivotal role of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, both through theoretical and practical experiences such as seminars, discussions and field trips to the sites of democratization movements in Korea. Selected speakers will be giving lecture and facilitate discussions for the next two weeks. Most of them were former student activists who are now recognized as important civil society leaders and at the same time important people in the academe here in South Korea.

Below is the complete opening remarks made by Mr. Kang Jang Yoon:

First of all, we would like to welcome all the Asian Human Rights activists from 14 countries. We also would like to show our appreciation for all the guests who are here for the opening ceremony. We are pleased to see you all here in Gwangju, the sacred place of democracy.

Gwangju Asian Human Rights Folk School, which has been held since 2004 has been recognized as one of the significant Human Rights training programme not only in domestic  NGOs, but also in Asia. We are glad to hold Gwangju Asian Human Rights Folks School as a product of International Cooperation Programmes which has been

designed since year 2000.

Meanwhile, it is very inspiring to see a growing number of participants of the Human Rights Folk School become  our fellows and missionaries to promote the spirit of May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.

I fully desire all of you to play a significant role as bridge between Gwangju and Asia through the folk school. Also we hope this is an opportune time to understand different communities and respect for diversity.

Thank you very much.