The Gwangju Uprising is seen as a pivotal moment in the South Korean struggle for democracy, but media coverage during the first days of the uprising was almost non-existent in the United States, due to the eruption of the volcano Mount St. Helens and the death of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis on the same date.

The violent suppression of the uprising in Gwangju from May 18 to May 27, 1980, was preceded by different events. After the Coup d’état of December 12, 1979, General Chun Doo-hwan, declared martial law on May 17 to suppress student demonstrations around the country. The next day, students in Gwangju protested at the gate of Chonnam National University against the closing of the school. The students were joined by the citizens of Gwangju and the growing crowd was confronted by the use of extreme force that caused fatalities. By May 21, around 300,000 people had joined the protest. On May 22, 1980, the U.S. Carter administration approved further use of force to retake the city and agreed to provide short-term support to Chun if he agreed to long-term political change. According to U.S. government documents, the Carter administration approved South Korean plans to use military troops against pro-democracy demonstrations ten days before May 17, 1980. On May 27, airborne and army troops from five divisions were inserted and defeated the civil militias in the downtown area of Gwangju in 90 minutes.