Introduction

1. Gwangju Youth Democracy Forum (GYDF) is a joint initiative by the May 18 Memorial Foundation and Asia Democracy Network (ADN) to promote and strengthen youth participation and leadership for democracy in accordance with the May 18 Democratic Spirit as illustrated during the people’s uprising and struggle for democracy and human rights against the martial law by the military in May 1980.

2. The GYDF will take place for 3 days from 18 to 20 May 2022 as part of the Gwangju Democracy Forum (GDF) which is an annual international forum organized by the May 18 Memorial Foundation in cooperation with many partner organizations to commemorate and practice the May 18 Democracy Spirit in the context of the current global challenges and opportunities for democracy in the world.

3. The target participants are foreign resident students of any nationalities at the higher educational institutions in South Korea studying the subject related to peace, democracy, human rights, and civil society who are interested to learn about the Gwangju May 18 democracy movement in 1980 and its impacts on the democracy movement and development since then.

4. There will also be sessions organized specifically for GYDF participants in order to share participants’ experiences and discuss common challenges to democracy and civic space in different regions and countries to build international solidarity among participants.

5. Participants will join the GRAS-Net and be active together for global democracy, human rights, and peace with the May 18 Memorial Foundation.