Description

In 1960 tens of thousands of middle school, high school, and university students took to the streets in cities throughout South Korea to force the resignation of the country’s first president, Syngman Rhee. What became known as the April Revolution went on to earn archetypal status as the explosive antigovernment protests that presaged the youth-driven movements of the subsequent three decades – and, ultimately, the democratic transition of 1987. This presentation turns to the eve of the Revolution in order to examine the statist production of students as a nationwide social organization of youths well-versed in nationalist discourse and conversant in patriotic practices. Throughout the heady weeks of 1960, South Korean youths drew on elements of this ideological training in unlikely fashion to employ them in protests against the state. In doing so, April Revolutionaries catapulted idealistic student protest to a position of newfound importance in South Korea’s emerging political landscape.

Charles Kim (Ph.D., Columbia University) is a historian of twentieth-century Korean culture and society. In his recent dissertation, he explores the cultural origins of South Korea’s April Revolution (1960). His research interests include nationalist discourse, cross-cultural perceptions, social relations, and historical methodology. He is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for the Study of Korea and will next year take up a position as Assistant Professor, University of Madison – Wisconsin.