President Lee Jae Myung: Spirit of Busan-Masan Uprising and May 18 Must Be Enshrined in Constitution's Preamble

Speaking at a ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of the Busan-Masan Democratic Uprising held at Busan City Hall on the 16th, President Lee Jae Myung said the spirit of the uprising and the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement should be enshrined in the preamble of the Constitution — the opening section that sets out the nation's fundamental values. He also called on the National Assembly to swiftly begin gathering public opinion and holding rational discussions on constitutional revision. "Including the Busan-Masan Democratic Uprising and the Gwangju Democratization Movement in the Constitution's preamble is the bare minimum needed to safeguard South Korea's democracy and popular sovereignty, and to ensure our people's history written in blood is never forgotten," the president said in his commemorative address. He emphasized, "Calls to enshrine the spirit of May 18 and the Busan-Masan Uprising in the preamble were once made by everyone, regardless of party. The time has now come to act, not just talk."

In his address, President Lee looked back on the uprising that broke out in Busan and Masan 47 years earlier. "The calls to abolish the Yushin regime and bring down the dictatorship began on the campus of Pusan National University and grew louder with the solidarity of citizens," he recalled. "Though the government declared martial law and tried to silence citizens with tanks and guns, the cries spread like wildfire from Busan to Masan. Those voices of protest, which seemed like throwing eggs at a rock, eventually cracked the massive wall of the Yushin dictatorship," he said.

President Lee underscored the historic significance of the uprising. "The voices and spirit of Busan and Masan flowed into Gwangju in May 1980, then into the June Democratic Uprising of 1987, and on through the Candlelight Revolution and the Revolution of Light," he said, describing the uprising as "an indispensable name in Korean history and a great milestone of our democracy."

Toward the end of his speech, the president paused briefly as he mentioned the victims, closing his address by saying, "I offer my deep respect and gratitude to the honored participants of the uprising and to their bereaved families." At the conclusion of the event, President Lee and the first lady, along with attendees, sang "Morning Dew" together — a song banned under the Yushin regime.