Person1931 – 2021

Chun Doo-hwan

11th–12th President (1980–1988), leading figure of the new military group that seized control in the December 12 incident; tried in 1996 over 12 December and 18 May

As head of the Defense Security Command he led the joint investigation headquarters into the October 26 Incident, and at the head of the new military centred on the Hanahoe clique he carried out the December 12 Incident. After the nationwide extension of martial law on 17 May 1980 and the suppression of the May 18 Democratic Uprising, he set up the Special Committee for National Security Measures, which forced press mergers and ran the Samcheong re-education camps. The National Conference for Unification elected him president, and after the 8th Amendment (a single seven-year term, indirectly elected) he was elected again in 1981. He pursued conciliatory measures such as lifting the night curfew and freeing school uniforms, and the economy boomed on the "three lows". His April 13 decision in 1987 to keep the existing constitution provoked the June Democratic Struggle. In 1997 the Supreme Court upheld a life sentence for insurrection and other charges over the December 12 Incident and May 18, and he received a special pardon that December.

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5 related events

1
1979December 12 Incidentleader
On 12 December 1979 Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo and the "new military" group forcibly detained the martial-law commander and took control of the army.
2
1980May 18 Democratic Uprisingrelated figure
From 18 to 27 May 1980, in Gwangju, martial-law troops used force against citizens demanding an end to martial law and to the new military group, and many citizens were killed.
3
1980Chun Doo-hwan Government and the 8th Amendmentleader
The new military group took power through the Special Committee for National Security Measures and amended the constitution to a single seven-year term chosen by an electoral college.
4
1987June Democratic Strugglerelated figure
Protests against the torture death of Park Jong-chul and the April 13 decision to keep the constitution spread nationwide from 10 June 1987 under the slogan "Abolish the constitution-protection measure, down with dictatorship", winning direct presidential elections.
5
1993Real-Name Financial Systemrelated figure
The Kim Young-sam government required by emergency decree that all financial transactions be made under real names.

People who appear alongside

Roh Tae-woo1932 – 2021
13th President (1988–1993). Announced the June 29 Declaration, became the first president directly elected under the 1987 constitution, and pursued Nordpolitik
Choi Kyu-hah1919 – 2006
10th President (1979–1980). Acting president after 26 October 1979, then elected by the National Conference for Unification; resigned in August 1980
Kim Dae-jung1924 – 2009
15th President (1998–2003), the first transfer of power to the opposition by election. Steered recovery from the currency crisis and held the first inter-Korean summit; Nobel Peace Prize 2000
Park Jong-chul1965 – 1987
Seoul National University student who died under police torture in January 1987, a trigger of the June Democratic Struggle
Lee Han-yeol1966 – 1987
Yonsei University student struck by a tear-gas canister at a protest on 9 June 1987; died on 5 July
Kim Young-sam1927 – 2015
14th President (1993–1998). Introduced the real-name financial system and full local autonomy; the 1997 currency crisis came at the end of his term

Themes this person appears in

Printing and Documentary HeritageAD 751 – 2011
From the Dharani Sutra to the May 18 archives — woodblock and metal-type printing, and the records inscribed on the Memory of the World
Seoul18 BC – 1988
From Hanseong Baekje to the June Democratic Struggle — the Han River land every kingdom fought for, and Joseon’s capital for five centuries
GwangjuAD 685 – 1980
Mujinju, where Gyeon Hwon first rose — city of the 1929 student independence movement and the May 18 Democratic Uprising