This study examines the 1994 regional discourse surrounding the construction of the May 18 National Democratic Cemetery, as presented in Toward a Global Sanctuary of Democracy, a commemorative planning text published by Jeonnam Ilbo in Gwangju. Emerging before the cemetery's official institutionalization, this text reveals how local actors envisioned the site not only as a space of mourning, but also as a place for emotional empathy, healing, and ethical community building. The purpose of this research is to reinterpret the emotional-political structure embedded in the 1994 discourse, and to identify its relevance to the affective design and public function of the present-day cemetery. Rather than viewing the cemetery solely as a site of historical remembrance, this study explores how the space was originally imagined as one that facilitates empathy and enables restorative relationships among visitors. The study employs qualitative discourse analysis to examine the 1994 text, integrating theoretical frameworks from Pierre Nora’s lieux de mémoire, Judith Butler’s ethics of grief, and Zizi Papacharissi’s concept of affective publics. Through this approach, the study identifies how emotions are spatially configured and translated into public ethical practices. Findings show that the cemetery was initially designed not as a static site of ritual, but as a dynamic emotional space where the public could collectively process grief, share affective experiences, and engage in democratic solidarity. The 1994 local planning document serves as a prototype for emotional public space, anticipating contemporary discussions on empathy-based spatial politics. This research contributes to memory studies, spatial ethics, and democratic civic planning by demonstrating how regional narratives can shape nationally symbolic sites through affective imagination and social healing.