June Uprisings from Korea to California
June is a great month for uprisings.
As we witness the uprisings and resistance in Los Angeles, as well as around the United States Empire, I wanted to bring in some history from Korea in what is now known as the June Uprisings.
On this day in 1987, students around south Korea gathered in preparation for mass nationwide protests and something happened that would change the entire course of history of Korea.
Two weeks prior, university students occupied the United States Information Services cultural center building in Seoul.
They were demanding reparations and an apology from the United States and south Korean governments for their role in the 1980 Gwangju Massacre. They were also demanding an end to the U.S.-supported authoritarian dictatorship of Chun Doo Hwan.
This type of image should be familiar to you by now; students taking over buildings to demand accountability from their government’s atrocious actions.
Two weeks after that building takeover on June 9, 1987, students were met with Chun Doo Hwan’s brutal military forces. A 21-year-old student from Yonsei University named Lee Han Yeol, was struck in the head with a tear gas canister.
That June would later be known as the June Uprisings or the June Democracy Movement.
This is an image from that June in 1987 in the streets of Korea:
But we are witnessing images just like this happening in the U.S. Empire right now, and have been for some time.
That image of Lee Han Yeol collapsed, bleeding, and held by a fellow student, captured the hearts and spirits of the Korean movement fighting for democracy and against authoritarianism and the dictatorship.
While he was hospitalized during those June uprisings, the students often raised him up as a symbol of the cause.
A few days after the regime capitulated to the people's demands in July, Lee Han Yeol died of the attack wounds. 1.6 million people showed up to his national funeral.
It was those June uprisings from June 10th to 29th in 1987, that changed the entire way that Korea's political system functions. The people’s uprisings forced an end to the military regime and moved to establish the current Republic of Korea (ROK) we have today, with a direct presidential election system. This is the very same election system that was used this past June in 2025 to elect the new president Lee Jae Myung after Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration and impeachment.
That is the power of protest and resistance by the people.
The June uprisings. Korea is still fighting off U.S. imperialism and occupation. Those inside of the United Stated are doing the same right now, too.
Support the people's protest and resistance. Be a part of the people's protest and resistance. We can change the entire course of history and literally bring down regimes.