Gwangju: Penguin Village, Culture Village, Democratization Movement Archives 518
First, there are two cities of Gwangju in South Korea. Today we have a tour of Greater Gwangju (or, "so big that it is not part of any province, the metropolitan city of Gwangju).
(For those interested, the second Gwangju is part of Gyeonggi Province.)
Depending on the day of the week and the program, at the end of the tour, a pleasant surprise may await us - a traditional performance at the Gwangju Cultural and Art Center (concerts are not held every day, the guide will clarify during the tour whether the concert will be included in our program).
What's included
Experience on This Tour
Experiences
It's time to rest. Take a break from the temples-dolmens-palaces ... In the village (of course, this is an area in the "Greater Gwangju", just by tradition, areas in cities in Korea are called "village") you will find, of course, penguin murals (and you will recognize , what do they have to do with it, in fact), a statue of a dog in large quantities, a lot of artistically recycled garbage. Preserved and culturally processed Korea of the 70-80s of the 20th century!
Penguin Village is actually part of the vast pedestrian area of Gwangju, which is pompously called the Historical and Cultural Village (again, a district of the city, of course) Yangnim.
Here we will get acquainted with the history of the Protestant church, missionary work in Korea, the architecture of the early 20th century, both traditional and European.
Gwangju - city of art; therefore, we will meet on the road and galleries small exhibition halls of modern trendsetters in the artistic fashion of Korea!
In the city of Gwangju in May 1980, terrible events took place. The government of Chon Duhwan, which would be more correctly called the junta, sent troops to suppress the popular uprising in Gwangju ...
Eyewitness accounts of the events, photographs, are collected in this archive. For Koreans, two numbers - 5, 18 (meaning May 18, 1980) - instantly awaken a whole cultural, historical layer in the soul. Without these tragic events of the already distant 1980, it is impossible to imagine the modern Republic of Korea...