South Korea hosted an official ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of a key popular uprising that played an instrumental part in transforming the country into a liberal democracy, amid on-going squabbles over the status of a controversial song used at the event.

On May 18, 1980, more than 200,000 citizens of Gwangju, 329 kilometers south of Seoul, rose up against the military junta led by Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, who took power following the turmoil left by the assassination of then-President Park Chung-hee the previous year. The late president had ruled the country for 18 years before his death and is the father of incumbent President Park Geun-hye, while Chun went onto to become a South Korean president as well.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and officials from the ruling and opposition parties all gathered in Gwangju to express their condolences to the victims’ families.

"We have struggled to establish a liberal and righteous country under the democracy built on the spirit of the May 18 movement,"

Hwang said, adding the government will make efforts to generate jobs and lend support to the livelihood of the people based on such achievements.

"We will also root out corruption and unreasonable customs that harm the trust and unity of the public. By building a fair and transparent society that does not tolerate privileges and violations, we will continue to support the spirit of the democracy movement," he added.

As announced earlier, the organizer did not obligate all attendees to sing the song that commemorates the uprising that resulted in a large number of deaths.

Since 1997, the uprising's signature song "March for the Beloved" had been officially sung by attendees of the national ceremony every year, but the government of former President Lee Myung-bak decided in 2009 to have a choir perform the song.

People could sing along if they wished, but the choice to do so was left to each individual.

This practice set by the conservative president was continued by the Park administration despite strong urging to alter it by liberals.

The government's stance sparked controversy here, with some claiming that the decision has damaged the spirit of the democracy uprising.

Reflecting the heated debate, Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Park Sung-choon, whose office manages the event, was barred from taking part in the event by relatives of those killed in the democracy movement. The minister, citing the need to be even-handed and respect conservative elements of society, made a decision to not switch back to the old system of all participants singing the song.

The controversy around the song derives from a wider public debate over the uprising, which conservatives downplay as an illegal armed revolt against the government.

Some conservative South Koreans express discontent against the music as local labor unions and workers often play or sing the song when they stage protest rallies, even in events not related to the democracy movement.

The president, meanwhile, did not participate in the event. She participated in the annual ceremony only in her first year of office in 2013. (Yonhap)