Show runs Thursday through March 28 at former South Jeolla Provincial Office

Exhibition features footage, photos and personal effects including passport and typewriter

A promotional image for the special exhibition "The Record Goes On — A Blue-Eyed Witness: The Legacy of Hintzpeter." [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]
A promotional image for the special exhibition "The Record Goes On — A Blue-Eyed Witness: The Legacy of Hintzpeter." [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

A special exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of the death of Jürgen Hintzpeter (1937–2016), the German journalist who brought the truth of the May 18 Democratic Uprising to the world, will open Thursday at the former South Jeolla Provincial Office in Gwangju. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Former South Jeolla Provincial Office Restoration Task Force and the May 18 Memorial Foundation will host the show — titled "The Record Goes On — A Blue-Eyed Witness: The Legacy of Hintzpeter" — in the building's special exhibition hall through March 28.

Hintzpeter was a Japan-based correspondent for NDR, a broadcaster under Germany's public network ARD, when he slipped past martial law troops to enter Gwangju in May 1980 and document the new military regime's violent crackdown on civilians. He left for South Korea on May 19, 1980, and the following day entered Gwangju with the help of taxi driver Kim Sa-bok, capturing the military's suppression of protesters on camera.

His footage was broadcast around the world through German television. At a time when the new military regime's media controls kept the atrocities in Gwangju largely hidden, Hintzpeter's reporting became a crucial record that brought the truth of May 18 to the international community. He is widely known as the real-life model for the foreign journalist depicted in the film "A Taxi Driver."

The exhibition was organized to illuminate his life as a journalist who documented events on the ground and conveyed the truth through the photographs, footage and personal effects he left behind.

The first section, "Reviving May," introduces how Hintzpeter evaded martial law controls to enter Gwangju, along with photographs and footage he shot at the time. Visitors can examine the urgency of his reporting through his press album, expense reports and a reconstructed map tracing his route.

The second section, "Seeing the World," highlights Hintzpeter's work documenting historic scenes across the globe, including Gwangju. It recreates his living space and displays personal effects — his passport, notebook, typewriter, recording tapes and books from his collection.

The third section, "Continuing May," uses awards, mementos and materials related to the Hintzpeter International Reporting Award to explore the journalistic spirit he embodied and its enduring legacy.

Following the opening ceremony, the May 18 Memorial Foundation will hold the 2026 Hintzpeter International Reporting Award ceremony in a conference room at the former South Jeolla Provincial Office.

On the same day, an academic forum titled "Memory and Practice of the May 18 Democratic Uprising and Korea's Democracy Movement: The Value of Intangible Heritage and Its Transmission and Application" will also be held at Jeonnil Building 245.

"We hope this special exhibition and academic forum will serve as an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the records that brought the truth of the May 18 Democratic Uprising to the world, and to reexamine the value of democracy that citizens have upheld," an official from the Former South Jeolla Provincial Office Restoration Task Force said.


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