5·18 민주화운동 당시 전남 경찰의 업무수행에 대한 현행법적 해석

Current Legal Interpretation on the Performance of the Jeonnam Police during the May 18 Democratic Movement

This paper classifies data on the work performance of Jeonnam police by time during the May 18 Democratic Movement and examines whether it was legal in light of the current law related to the duties of police officials at the time. To this end, based on testimony from the Jeonnam Provincial Police report produced in 2017, this research analyzes how the Jeonnam police suppressed protests before the mass firing happening on May 21, 1980, decided to evacuate weapons, and how they performed their duties in the process of unit dissolution and return after the mass firing. As a result, it can be seen whether the Jeonnam police had limitations due to martial law in performing their duties at the time of May 18, but they actually set an example for the exercise of just public power to prioritize the safety of the sovereign people in a passive way of refraining from violence such as weapon evacuation and unit dissolution.