However, in the Korean political and cultural context, "the public" is not an adequate translation, and "the people" carries a communist connotation that makes its use dangerous in anti-communist South Korea.
For Koreans, minjung are those who are oppressed politically, exploited economically, marginalized sociologically, despised culturally, and condemned religiously.
In other words, the concept of minjung functions as a type of worldview that offers the categories in which social reality is organized and comprehended.
The idea of Minjung can be traced back to the late Joseon dynasty's Silhak movement through the works of Jeong Yak-yong and Yi Hwang.
Afterwards, a group of military officers led by General Park Chung Hee seized power in South Korea through a coup d'état, and declared himself chairman of supreme council.
Under pressure by the United States, Park finally resign his post and narrowly won the Presidential election in October 1963.
The five-year plan gave priority to the following things: Park ran for reelection in 1967, and became the president of the Third and Fourth Republic of Korea; he served for 16 years.
The citizens of Gwangju, seeking the abolition of martial law and the resignation of General Chun Doo-hwan, initiated the movement.
[5] As a result of this chaos, Chun took it upon himself to isolate about 37,000 journalists, students, teachers, labor organizers, and civil servants in condemned and confined camps up in the mountain areas to promote "a time of cleansing their minds and spirits."
He said he was setting up these boot camps for those "who would see the error of their ways after lots of push-ups, marathon running, small-group criticism and self-criticism, and ideological exhortation.
These circumstances worldwide bear resemblance with the fall of the Chun regime, and the revolutions are akin to the Gwangju incident (albeit the discrepancies in human casualties).
[8] The United States' supposed involvement in the Gwangju Democratization Struggle triggered the rapid spread of anti-Americanism sentiments.
He was awakened by a late-night telephone call by the ROK president, informing him that the Twentieth had been removed from their positions along the DMZ—thus creating a huge gap in the defensive line in the event of large-scale infiltration from the North—and sent south to Gwangju.
Nevertheless, because the U.S. Command was nominally in control of joint forces, the urban legend persists that the United States was responsible for the forcible repression of the uprising by military means.
Because of this, the US took a portion of the blame: Initially, before Gwangju, there were negative attitudes towards the United States growing because of their support of Chun Doo-hwan.
The Liberal Party did end up winning the election; Syngman Rhee and Yi Kibung (Vice President) officially won.
"[10] In reaction to the Liberal Party's rigged victory, the outraged citizens and students of all ages protested through street demonstrations.
As a declaration indicting the government's abuse of power, on April 19, 1960, Yi Sujong expressed: "We want to plant the seeds of reason, truth, freedom, and the spirit of the university in the barren soil of our country.
Listen, in these hours of darkness, as we proudly toll the bell of freedom, just as our fathers and elder brothers did under the iron yoke of the Japanese imperialist".
[11] This was a new type of movement to which Korea was not accustomed which would be a key instrument in allowing students to begin to voice their opinions and fight for their rights.
In the 1960s, Park Chung Hee saw normalization of relations with Japan as a way to gain start-up capital for industrial development.
[12] Following the model of Liberation Theology established in the Latin American states, the Korean Catholic church became a haven for those opposing Park Chung Hee's policies.
Participation in anti-government activities, resulted in his multiple arrests which granted him the time to write a satire in experimental pan'sori form, "Five Bandits" (Korean: 오적; RR: Ojeok; MR: Ochŏk).
"The poem condemned the five core power groups of the Pak regime - business tycoons, members of the National Assembly of South Korea (legislature), senior government officials, generals, and cabinet ministers - as 'five bandits' who had brazenly acquired wealth by illicit means.
With significant efforts from Minjung, "a mass movement for democracy, embracing students, workers, and many in the middle class, finally brought a democratic breakthrough in Korea.
Kim Dae-jung admits that because of Korean's history and culture which was heavily influenced by Buddhism and Confucianism, it is difficult for South Korea to adapt to Democracy.
Foreign reserves were diminishing and economic issues such as high cost and low efficiency were threatening South Korea's investors.