(Pusan National University Foundation for Buma Democratic Struggle) Collection includes 2 items and 114 pieces of the “Buma Democratic Struggle Democratic Struggle Declaration and Reporting Manuscripts,” featuring reporting manuscripts and photographs by the late reporter Kim Taek-yong, former Busan Ilbo Masan correspondent.

The Busan Metropolitan City Government (Mayor Jeon Jae-su) announced that the “Buma Democratic Struggle Democratic Struggle Declaration” and the “Buma Democratic Struggle Kim Taek-yong Reporting Manuscripts” have been selected as preliminary cultural heritage items by the National Heritage Administration.

The Buma Democratic Struggle was a landmark democratization movement initiated by citizens and students in the Busan and Masan regions in October 1979 against the Yushin dictatorship. The newly selected archival materials, housed by the Buma Democratic Struggle Foundation, serve as primary historical records directly proving the outbreak and progression of the uprising, carrying profound historical significance in the history of Korea’s democratization.

Preliminary Cultural Heritage: A designation system that identifies modern and contemporary cultural heritage items created or formed less than 50 years ago to encourage voluntary preservation by the private sector and pass them down to future generations.

The 'Buma Democratic Struggle Democratic Struggle Declaration'

The “Buma Democratic Struggle Democratic Struggle Declaration” is one of three declarations distributed at the time, mimeographed and circulated on October 15, 1979, by Shin Jae-shik, then a student at Pusan National University.

The declaration embodies the conviction of Pusan National University students resisting the Yushin dictatorship, calling for the abolition of the Yushin Constitution and the overthrow of dictatorship. It holds immense value as the sole surviving original copy discovered to date.
Particularly given the historical climate where merely distributing handbills could lead to arrest, its survival as a physical record has been recognized for its field authenticity in democracy and historical rarity, leading to its preliminary cultural heritage designation.

The 'Buma Democratic Struggle Kim Taek-yong Reporting Manuscripts'

The “Buma Democratic Struggle Kim Taek-yong Reporting Manuscripts” were written by the late Kim Taek-yong, the Masan correspondent for the Busan Ilbo, to transmit the protest situation in the Masan region to the head office between October 18 and 21, 1979.

Amid strict press censorship under emergency martial law and garrison decrees, an active-duty journalist took risks to personally author these documents, endowing them with substantial historical significance and rarity.
These manuscripts offer vivid insights not only into the progression of protests in the Masan area but also into the perspective of a reporter who witnessed the scenes firsthand, making them highly valuable historical field records.
Cho Yu-jang, Director of Busan’s Culture Bureau, stated, “The Buma Democratic Struggle archives selected as preliminary cultural heritage are vivid proof of a historical event that played a decisive role in the history of South Korea's democratic movement. In alignment with the government's policy stance of highlighting democratization movements, we plan to actively discover related records, such as those from Busan’s June Democratic Struggle.”

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