At the ceremony the speakers said that the uprisers brought dictator Syngman Rhee to ruin, not yielding to the suppression at the point of bayonet, and made shouts of slogans for democracy and peaceful reunification resound forth all over south Korea.

But dictator Park Chung-Hee staged the May 16 military coup, quelling the desire of the people for democracy and ushering in the dark period of the "yusin" dictatorship, they deplored, and went on:

The people are now worried about the fact that the present "government" is following in the footsteps of the Lee Myung Bak regime that brought democracy, people's living and inter-Korean relations to a collapse.

They called for putting an end to war and achieving national reunification by the efforts of the people, noting that the spirit of the April 19 popular uprising for independence, democracy and reunification is enshrined in their hearts thanks to the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration.