MPVA Did You Know (DYK) Series #10:
DID YOU KNOW that a German journalist risked everything to document Korea's fight for democracy?
In May 1980, as citizens of Gwangju rose against martial law, the South Korean military launched a brutal crackdown. The city was sealed off, domestic media silenced, and the truth suppressed. But one man—Jürgen Hinzpeter, a German correspondent for ARD-NDR—refused to let the story remain hidden.
With the help of a courageous local taxi driver, Hinzpeter infiltrated the besieged city. His camera captured the unfolding tragedy: unarmed citizens gunned down, students defending their neighborhoods, and hospitals overwhelmed with casualties. In a daring move, he smuggled his footage out of Korea inside a biscuit tin and broadcast it worldwide—providing the only visual evidence that contradicted the military regime's false narrative.
Hinzpeter's reporting became a pivotal moment for South Korea's democracy movement. His footage shocked international audiences and gave the people of Gwangju something invaluable: a witness to their suffering and resistance. Years later, his story inspired the acclaimed film A Taxi Driver (2017), introducing his courage—and that of his unidentified driver—to a new generation of Koreans.
In May 2023, a deeply personal wish of Hinzpeter's was fulfilled when his nail clippings and hair, entrusted to the May 18 Foundation, were buried beneath a memorial stone at Mangwol-dong Cemetery Park in Gwangju. This symbolic burial honored his desire to rest eternally in the city whose truth he had fought to protect.
His legacy continues through the Hinzpeter Award, established in 2021 to honor journalists who demonstrate exceptional courage in reporting truth under dangerous conditions.
As Korea commemorates the May 18 Democratization Movement, Hinzpeter is remembered not just as a journalist, but as a guardian of truth—his memory forever intertwined with Gwangju's soil and its enduring quest for justice.