On this day in 1987, 22 year old student Lee Han-yeol died after being struck by a tear gas canister during anti-government protests against right-wing South Korean military leader Chun Doo-hwan. 1.6 million people attended his funeral.

Lee's death took place in the context of widespread uprisings against the right-wing military government, a movement known as the June Democratic Struggle. At the time, South Korea was ruled by the unelected, anti-democratic, and anti-communist military leader Chun Doo-hwan.

In the 1980s, many student activists in universities initiated democratic struggles against Chun Doo-hwan's dictatorship, particularly after the Gwangju Massacre, in which local, armed citizens clashed with soldiers and police of the South Korean government, for which Chun Doo-hwan was later sentenced to death.

On June 10th, 1987, Chun Doo-hwan's government announced its choice of Roh Tae-woo as South Korea's president, triggering massive protests from the population.

Lee had been fatally struck by the canister the day prior, when students in Yonsei University demonstrated against the state on June 9th. The photograph of Lee being carried away quickly became a symbol of the subsequent protests, and he languished in critical condition over the following month.

When Lee finally died of his wounds on July 5th, after the government had capitulated to the people's demands, more than 1.6 million people participated in his national funeral on July 9th.

Today, Lee's memory is honored by the Lee Han Yeol Memorial Museum in Seoul.