Students Guarded Kim Gwi-jeong’s Body as 1,500 Police Surrounded Hospital

More than 1,500 police officers surrounded a hospital at 5 a.m. as students stood guard over the body of Kim Gwi-jeong, a 26-year-old Sungkyunkwan University student who died during a rally in 1991. SBS’s The story of the day when the tail was bitten will revisit her death and the students who formed the Kim Gwi-jeong Defense Group, many of whom had never spoken to her.

The episode, directed by Ahn Yoon-tae, Lee Keun-byeol and Moon Chi-young, follows the events of May 25, 1991. A note reading “Kim Gwi-jeong, Class of ’88, French Language and Literature, dead” appeared on a bulletin board at a bookstore entrance near Sungkyunkwan University. Students who saw it hurried to Paik Hospital in Myeongdong, where Kim’s body lay after she had attended a rally hours earlier.

Students barricaded the hospital and formed a human wall around the body, creating the Kim Gwi-jeong Defense Group. Their numbers grew as the night wore on, eventually reaching about 1,000. Most had never exchanged a word with Kim. The program asks why they joined the effort and whom they were trying to keep from her body. It will also present testimony from people who were at the scene with Kim and those who investigated the circumstances of her death, which had been regarded as a simple accident.

At some point while the group was keeping watch, the funeral hall received a mysterious phone call. The defense group leader who answered recalled a warning: “Something will happen tonight. Someone really could die!”

At 5 a.m., about 1,500 police officers from 12 companies filled the alley. Tear gas and stones flew toward the students, and water cannons were brought in. The hospital entrance descended into chaos as students held their ground and police surrounded them, with Kim’s body between them. The program asks whether the students managed to protect her until the end.

Actor Jo Jae-yoon, appearing for the first time as Jang Hyun-sung’s guest, said he was a devoted fan of the show and had applied to appear. “It took six months,” he said. After the long wait, he followed the case closely and showed a sharp eye for its details.

TEN, who released the single album OUTWEST last month, joined Jang Sung-kyu as a guest. He called the show his “traveling companion” and said he was interested in Korean history. TEN was moved by the story and expressed sympathy as he considered the feelings behind a decision Kim’s mother made in front of the defense group to protect her daughter’s body.

Former SBS anchor Park Sun-young joined Jang Do-yeon as a guest for her fifth appearance on the show. She said the story of Kim and the students who tried to protect her moved her deeply. Park became tearful over the group’s 35-year story and said: “It made me look back on myself and think about where our passion for something has gone.”

The episode, titled “Protecting Gwi-jeong: 35 Years of Keeping Watch,” airs on SBS at 10:20 p.m. on Thursday, October 15.

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