On April 18, 2023, Korea University (KU) hosted a series of events to commemorate the 4.18 (April 18) KU Student Protest’s 63rd anniversary. At 10:30 A.M., representatives of KU, including President Kim Dong-One and Student President Park Sung-gun, led the flower-laying ceremony at the 4.18 Memorial in memory of students that passed during the protests. Student President Park commented during the event, “The noble sacrifices of our seniors 63 years ago were the light that brightened that dark April month. We will strive to continue the legacy of our seniors so that the future can be even brighter.” The ceremony was followed by a commemorative march, where KU students trekked from campus to the April 19th National Cemetery.

The 4.18 KU Student Protest was the precursor to South Korea’s April Revolution of 1960, a nation-wide democratic movement against then-President Rhee Syng-man. A group of students from KU were attacked by political mobs after organizing a peaceful rally against election frauds by President Lee. The next day, a city-wide march joined by thousands of students and citizens was held in Seoul but was brutally suppressed by the police. The commemoration acts to recognize the importance of the April Revolution in the history of Korea’s democratization and student activism.