Though I am not an expert on the Kwangju events, I hope that observations with respect to East Timor and issues of a more universal nature might be relevant with regard to Kwangju. Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975. In fact, it is widely believed by scholars that only a small handful of military men were responsible for the initial moves to launch the invasion of East Timor. Even many years later, most Indonesian leaders, even sympathetic members of civil society organizations, showed little awareness of what had actually taken in East Timor at any time. Therefore, the free spread of information is a vital element in building democracy and respect for the right of peoples.
Free media can make it impossible for certain brutal actions to continue.
For example, it is useful to examine the difference between world notice of the terrible events in East Timor of 1999 and those of much of 1976 through 1979. Worldwide media coverage of the atrocities of August and September 1999 in East Timor, when Indonesian forces and militias under their control unleashed a bloody reign of terror, helped lead to the deployment of an international peace keeping force, however belatedly, which rescued my people from an even worse fate than they would have endured otherwise. Many lives might have been saved had the light of media coverage, both in Indonesia and abroad, focussed its attention on East Timor during those fateful years. There are lessons to be learned for those interested in the power of democratic institutions. Events like those in East Timor, where the news media have either played a crucial role or for some other reason have not managed to report on certain events, illustrate the point that shining light on a situation, as the great American jurist Louis Brandeis once wrote, is an indispensable element of democracy.