A ceremony was held in the southwestern city of Gwangju Wednesday morning to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising.

The event held at the May 18th National Cemetery was hosted by the bereaved families of victims and attended by civic group members and local government officials who laid flowers and burned incense to pay respects to those who died in the bloody crackdown in 1980.

One family representative said the Gwangju Democratic Uprising represents a communal spirit of democracy and liberty and called for swift efforts to realize President Yoon Suk Yeol's promise to stipulate this spirit in the preamble of the nation's Constitution.

Gwangju mayor Kang Gi-jung also supported the move to protect the historical event from distortion or disparagement and proposed that a public referendum on the issue be held during next year's general election.

Chun Woo-won, the grandson of the late military dictator and former President Chun Doo-hwan whose military-led regime carried out the crackdown against Gwangju protesters, also attended the ceremony.