On May 19 and 20, an academic conference was held in order to commemorate the 25th anniversary of May 18 and the 60th anniversary of liberation from the Japanese colonial rule. The conference was hosted by Korean Political Science Association and the May 18 Research Center at CNU, and it was sponsored by CNU, the May 18 Memorial Foundation, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Jeonnam Province, JoongAng Daily News, Gwangju Broadcasting Co., and Korea Research Foundation. At the conference, a total of 93 research papers on 21 different issues were presented. The issues include the spirit of the May 18 Movement and the democracy in Korea, current situations and problems of the May 18 compensation law, the disclosure of the truth of the May 18, democracy movements in Germany, information society and participatory democracy, human rights, the democratization processes in Latin America, South-East Asia, Eastern Europe, and South-West Asia, and the women’s role. The conference, titled “The Democracy of the 21st Century and the Politics in Korea,” was held at Yongbong Hall of the International Conference Building and Yongbong Cultural Center. The conference explicated the great changes in South Korea, which had gone from being one of the poorest nations to a proud member of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation while making the transition to democracy. The conference focuses on the geopolitical and cultural setting, historical evolution, institutional foundation, dynamics of political leadership, and political and administrative processes of Korean politics. Along with the issues, the May 18 Movement and the constitutional order in Korea were discussed. The ways to reform the system for the stability of democracy were sought at the conference.