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On January 14, 1987, the end of the Chun Doo-hwan regime, the police illegally arrested Park Jong-chul, a linguistics student at Seoul National University, to question him on the whereabouts of Park Jong-un, a man wanted in relation to the Incident of the Committee for the Promotion of Democracy in Seoul National University. The police took Park Jong-chul to interrogation room no. 509 in the Namyeong-dong branch of the Anti-communist Investigation Bureau under the National Security Headquarters, and Park died after being brutally beaten and tortured by the police with water and electricity. At the time, the police said that Park died of shock. Five days later, as questions arose in the press and as an autopsy physician reported contradictory findings, they acknowledged that the young man had been tortured with water. Two investigators, Cho Han-gyeong and Kang Jin-gyu, were arrested on charge of violation of the "Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes"(torture causing death). Non-governmental organizations and religious groups issued statements of condemnation and started sit-in protests demanding the truth. In addition, the Preparatory Committee for the National Memorial Service for Park Jong-chul, composed of more than 9,000 people from all walks of life, was established and held a memorial service on February 7, 1987. Also, 24 civic groups, including the People’s Movement Coalition for Democracy and Reunification (PMCDR) held the Anti-Torture Great National March of Peace for Democracy on March 3, 1987, in major cities across the country to commemorate the 49th day of Park’s death.
This leaflet was produced by the Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do Joint Council to Stop Torture (chaired by Jeon Ju-won, an advisor to the PMCDR and a priest) to inform the public of the peaceful march, which was held near the Daegu Department Store in Daegu. According to the leaflet, the march was planned to start at the Daegu Department Store at 2 p.m. and end at the February 28 Democratic Movement Memorial Monument in the Myeongdeok rotary. The leaflet cover features a slogan that says “Let’s remove the torturing regime and establish a democratic government,” with contents that encouraged people’s participation in overthrowing the military dictatorship, which was attempting a prolonged one-man rule, and demanded that the government immediately release about 2,000 illegally taken and imprisoned people. |
