Gwangju Uprising

When General Chun Doo-hwan extended martial law in May 1980, students in Gwangju protested and paratroopers beat and shot them. Citizens armed themselves and drove the army out of the city, which governed itself for several days until troops retook it on 27 May. Hundreds were killed. Long suppressed, its memory fuelled the protests that brought democracy to South Korea in 1987.