Exhibition honors German journalist who documented Gwangju Massacre

A special exhibition honoring German journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter will open in Gwangju on Thursday, marking the 10th anniversary of his passing. Running through March 28, 2027, at the former South Jeolla Provincial Office, it traces his journey into Gwangju during the 1980 crackdown and his reporting career and legacy. The program also includes the 2026 Hinzpeter International News Award ceremony and an academic forum on civic participation and democracy.

The exhibition is co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Restoration Project Team and the May 18 Memorial Foundation.

Its three sections are titled Reviving May, Viewing the World and Connecting May.

The exhibition will display Hinzpeter’s photo albums, broadcast footage, travel expense receipts, reconstructed route maps, passport, reporting notebooks, typewriter, video tapes, books, awards and commemorative materials.

The academic forum, titled Citizens’ Participation, Continuing Democracy, will be held at Jeonil Building 245.

Scholars and researchers will discuss the intangible heritage value of the 1980 pro-democracy movement and ways to pass its democratic ideals to future generations.

Published Nov 3, 2026 12:11 pm KST

Rare photos, video tapes, personal items of Jürgen Hinzpeter on display

German journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter documents pro-democracy rallies in Gwangju in May 1980 / Korea Times file

A special exhibition honoring the late German journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter (1937-2016) will open in Gwangju on Thursday, marking the 10th anniversary of his passing.

Titled "Records Live On — The Blue-Eyed Witness, Hinzpeter's Legacy," the exhibition will run through March 28, 2027, at the former South Jeolla Provincial Office. The event is co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Restoration Project Team and the May 18 Memorial Foundation.

Hinzpeter is widely remembered in Korea and abroad as the real-life foreign correspondent portrayed in the hit 2017 feature film "A Taxi Driver." In May 1980, Korea's military dictatorship unleashed a violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in the southwestern city — an uprising now remembered as the Gwangju Massacre.

As martial law authorities surrounded the city, cut off communications and enforced a strict media blackout while troops killed hundreds of innocent citizens, Hinzpeter risked his life to sneak past military checkpoints into the blockaded city. His haunting video footage and photography provided the global community with its first undeniable visual evidence of the atrocities, effectively shattering the regime's official state propaganda.

The upcoming exhibition is organized into three comprehensive sections.

Part 1, titled "Reviving May," details his high-risk journey into Gwangju alongside his original photo albums, broadcast footage, travel expense receipts and reconstructed route maps. Part 2, "Viewing the World," broadens the focus to showcase his lifelong reporting career across various global conflict zones. This section includes a meticulous recreation of his personal workspace featuring his original passport, reporting notebooks, typewriter, video tapes and personal book collection.

Part 3, "Connecting May," examines his enduring journalistic legacy through his personal awards and commemorative materials related to the Hinzpeter International News Awards.

Following the exhibition’s opening ceremony, the 2026 Hinzpeter International News Award ceremony will take place in the conference room of the former provincial office.

Alongside the opening, an academic forum titled "Citizens' Participation, Continuing Democracy" will be held at Jeonil Building 245. Scholars and researchers will gather to discuss the intangible heritage value of the 1980 pro-democracy movement, emphasizing civic solidarity and exploring practical ways to pass these democratic ideals down to future generations, according to the ministry.

"This special exhibition and academic forum will offer a vital opportunity to reflect on the historical power of record-keeping and to shine a renewed light on the democratic values defended by citizens," an official from the restoration team said.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.

为纪念德国记者于尔根·欣茨彼得逝世十周年，一场特别展览将于周四在光州开幕。展览将在原全罗南道政府大楼举行，展期至2027年3月28日。展览追溯了欣茨彼得在20世纪80年代镇压期间前往光州的经历，以及他的新闻报道生涯和留下的宝贵遗产。展览活动还包括2026年欣茨彼得国际新闻奖颁奖典礼和一场关于公民参与和民主的学术论坛。

本次展览由文化体育观光部修复工程组和5·18纪念基金会联合主办。

它分为三个部分，标题分别为“复兴五月”、“放眼世界”和“连接五月”。

展览将展出欣茨彼得的相册、广播录像、差旅费收据、重建的路线图、护照、报道笔记本、打字机、录像带、书籍、奖项和纪念材料。

题为“公民参与，延续民主”的学术论坛将在全日大厦 245 号举行。

学者和研究人员将探讨 1980 年代民主运动的非物质文化遗产价值，以及如何将民主理念传承给后代。

发布于2026年11月3日下午12:11（韩国标准时间）

展出尤尔根·欣茨彼得的珍贵照片、录像带和个人物品

德国记者于尔根·欣茨彼得记录了1980年5月在光州举行的支持民主的集会 / 《韩国时报》档案

为纪念已故德国记者于尔根·欣茨彼得（1937-2016）逝世 10 周年，将于周四在光州举办一场特别展览。

名为“记录永存——蓝眼睛的见证者，欣茨彼得的遗产”的展览将于2027年3月28日前在原全罗南道政府大楼举行。本次展览由文化体育观光部修复工程组和5·18纪念基金会联合主办。

欣茨彼得在韩国和海外广为人知，他是2017年热门电影《出租车司机》中描绘的现实生活中的外国记者。1980年5月，韩国军政府对西南部城市光州的民主示威者进行了暴力镇压——这场起义如今被称为光州惨案。

在戒严当局包围城市、切断通讯、实施严格的媒体封锁，并屠杀数百名无辜平民之际，欣茨彼得冒着生命危险潜入被封锁的城市，绕过军事检查站。他拍摄的令人震撼的视频和照片，为国际社会提供了这些暴行的第一份无可辩驳的视觉证据，有效地粉碎了该政权的官方宣传。

即将举办的展览分为三个主要部分。

第一部分题为“重拾五月”，详细记录了他前往光州的冒险之旅，并展出了他的原始相册、广播录像、差旅费收据和复原的路线图。第二部分“放眼世界”则拓展了视角，展现了他毕生在全球各地冲突地区从事新闻报道的职业生涯。本部分精心复原了他的个人工作空间，包括他的原始护照、报道笔记本、打字机、录像带和个人藏书。

第三部分“连接梅”通过他获得的个人奖项和与欣茨彼得国际新闻奖相关的纪念材料，探讨了他持久的新闻遗产。

展览开幕式结束后，2026 年欣茨彼得国际新闻奖颁奖典礼将在原省政府会议室举行。

在开幕式的同时，将在全日大厦245号举办题为“公民参与，延续民主”的学术论坛。据文化部称，学者和研究人员将齐聚一堂，探讨1980年代民主运动的非物质文化遗产价值，强调公民团结，并探索将这些民主理念传承给子孙后代的切实可行的方法。

“这次特别展览和学术论坛将提供一个重要的机会，让我们反思档案保存的历史力量，并重新审视公民所捍卫的民主价值观，”修复团队的一位官员说。

本文由生成式人工智能协助发布，并由《韩国时报》编辑。