A close lackey of Chun Doo Hwan when interviewed by Yonhap News on April 21 said the May 18 incident is widely known wrong as Chun Doo Hwan was not holding a post of the commanding system and was not directly involved in declaration of the "martial law" because he was just the security commander at that time.

This stunning news triggered off denunciation from public bodies and personages related to the May 18 incident and other south Koreans.

The chairman of the Society of Those Wounded for the May 18 Movement for Democracy, the chairman of the May 18 Council of Bereaved Families of Men of Merits for Democracy and the permanent councilor of the Foundation for Commemorating May 18 Incident denounced Chun Doo Hwan, saying that it is a historical fact he engineered a rebellion to grab power and murdered many people.