Her husband, Seon Jong-cheol (46 years old), was the village chief of Jiwon-dong who, when the martial law enforcement troops appeared, urged the townspeople to go home. However, he was mistakenly identified as a protest leader and was shot and killed by the troops. After his death, his body was moved to the Commercial Hall, where he was tagged with Number 30 instead of his name.

Her husband, Kim Un-gi, was expelled from Chosun University for his involvement with the anti-Yusin student movement. While preparing for readmission, he was caught in the military regime’s surveillance dragnet and imprisoned in an advance crackdown on May 17, 1980. The torture he suffered during his imprisonment has left him struggling with trauma to this day.

On May 18, 1980, her husband, Hong Un-seok, was on a delivery run near the Catholic Center when he stopped to assist students who were being assaulted by the martial law enforcement troops. The soldiers beat him savagely, leaving him battling the aftermath of his injuries for over 20 years until his death.

Her husband, Gi Jong-do, who was a well-known opposition activist, treated and prepared the overflowing injured and dead at the Provincial Hall during May 18. He was arrested in June 1980 and was released by a special August 15 amnesty in 1981, but died from the aftereffects of the torture he suffered while in custody.

Her son, Hwang Seong-min, was a high school student studying art when he was arrested by the martial law enforcement troops on his way home by bicycle. The beating he suffered left him with aftereffects that plagued him until his death. Her second son was also shot near the Red Cross Hospital in 1980 and lives with a debilitating injury to this day.

Her husband, Jeong Gi-bong, was arrested at an intense protest in 1980 and tortured by the martial law enforcement troops, leaving him with internal injuries all over his body and severe trauma resulting in symptoms of mental illness. He died after three painful years of illness.

Her brother, Park Gwan-hyeon, was the Chonnam National University student council president, imprisoned for leading the Mass Assembly for Democracy. He went on a hunger strike in April 1982 for 40 days (a long-term fast, calling for an investigation into May 18 and for the improved treatment of inmates, and died from the resulting acute pulmonary edema.

Her son, Kim Gyeong-cheol, was a 29-year-old head of family with an only daughter who was just over 100 days old and a wife. He was going home from his job at the Gukje Shoe Store on Chungjang-ro Avenue when he was arrested by the martial law enforcement troops on May 18 and died on May 19, 1980, at 3 a.m. from the beating he suffered. He was the first victim during the May 18 Pro-democracy Movement.

Her son was a freshman at Gwangju Commercial High School when he was killed at the old Chonnam Provincial Hall. His parents went to the Provincial Hall trying to bring him home, but backed down when he said, “How can I run home to save my own life when my friend is dead?” That was the last time they saw him.

Her mother-in-law, Park Yeon-ok, was on her way to her youngest son, who was hiding at her second son’s home. Catching sight of martial law enforcement troops near Songam-dong, she was moving to hide in the sewers below the road when she was spotted and was shot and killed along with a university student hiding in the same place. After a complicated series of events, she was put to rest at the May 18 graveyard.

During the struggle, she mistook a deceased young man whose face was damaged as the remains of her son. As a result, her son, the late Gwon Ho-yeong, was put to rest at the district graveyard for 22 years as a missing person; a genetic test when he was moved to the new graveyard in 2002 confirmed their relationship. Since then, Yi Geun-rye has been working on healing her trauma by participating in Songs from the Mothers of May in the process of restoring the old Chonnam Provincial Hall and by restoring her lost son’s living image.

During the struggle, her husband, Cho Sa-cheon, objected to the indiscriminate beating of students by the martial law enforcement troops during the stand-off between citizens and troops. He joined the protesters and was fighting when he was shot and killed by the troops shooting into the crowd in front of the Jeonil Building on May 21, 1980, around 1 p.m.

Her son, Jang Jae-cheol, unable to walk past the protest scene ignoring what was happening, was gathering up the injured and the bodies in a white gown. He was shot in the face and abdomen by the martial law enforcement troops and died of his injuries. Kim Jeom-rye was looking for her son, who had not come home but did not recognize his face before she realized it was him.

Her husband, Kim Yeong-bong, was a member of the citizen militia during the May 18 incident, when he was arrested by the martial law enforcement troops and detained in the Commercial Hall cells. The savage torture he suffered in custody has left him with severe trauma and serious aftereffects that continue to require long-term care. The whole family is now healing from the trauma. Currently, Chu Hye-seong is active as an Old Chonnam City Hall Restoration Guardian Mother.

Her husband, Jeong Dong-nyeon, was accused of being a principal of the so-called Kim Dae-jung treason conspiracy during the May 18 incident and served time after being sentenced to capital punishment. The torture he suffered during imprisonment required long-term care. He was a long-time spiritual pillar of the prodemocracy movement (he served as the Chairman of the May 18 Memorial Foundation, among other positions) before he died of a heart attack after the 42nd memorial of the May 18 Democracy Movement.