This week in 1979, US-backed South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee declared martial law in Busan & Masan, deploying elite airborne troops to crush huge pro-democracy protests. The troops opened fire, arrested, beat & tortured over 1,000 students & workers; killing 100 ppl. 
The protesters were calling for democracy, basic rights, and an end to the U.S.-backed military dictatorship of the Park regime. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the uprising known as the Busan-Masan Democratic Protests.
The protests started w/ Busan University students but soon grew to tens of thousands protesting across the Southern region of South Korea. The Park regime's harsh crackdown included mass torture, live fire, and beatings that left protesters heads smashed in.
Those arrested were stripped naked & subjected to torture that left their clothing blood-soaked. Witnesses describe how the wails of the tortured filled Masan police station.
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Military vehicles, tanks and soldiers filled the streets arresting opposition leaders who were stripped naked and held for days in cold basements.
Disagreements within the regime of how to respond to the uprising led to Park Chung-hee’s assassination by his security chief on October 26, 1979, which may have been done with US approval. pmpress.org/content/articl…… …
The Busan-Masan democratic uprising helped inspire the May 18 1980 uprising in Gwangju and other major protests, which eventually ended the US-backed military rule of South Korea and transformed the country into an electoral democracy.
