The Gwangju Uprising, alternatively called the May 18 Democratic Uprising by UNESCO, and also known as May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980. Estimates suggest that around 2,000 people have died. During this period, Gwangju citizens took up arms when local Chonnam University students who were demonstrating against the martial law government were fired upon, killed, raped and beaten by government troops. The event is sometimes called 5·18, in reference to the date the movement began.
Support or denial of the Gwangju Uprising has long acted as a litmus test between conservative and far right groups and beliefs, and mainstream and progressive sectors of the population. The far right groups have sought to discredit the uprising.