Chun Doo-Hwan - The road to power, Years in office, An embattled ex-President

South Korean soldier and president (1980–8), born in Taegu, SE South Korea. He trained at the Korean military academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the South Korean army in 1955. After President Park Chung Hee's assassination in 1979, he took charge of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) and led the investigation into Park's murder. He assumed control of the army and the government following a coup in 1979. After becoming president he retired from the army to head the newly formed Democratic Justice Party. Under his rule, the country's ‘economic miracle’ continued, but popular opposition to the authoritarian nature of the regime mounted, forcing his retirement. He was found guilty of treason and corruption in 1996, and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment), but released in 1997.

Chun Doo-hwan

11th-12th President of South Korea
In office 1980 – 1988
Preceded by	Choi Kyu-ha
Succeeded by	Roh Tae-woo
Born	January 18, 1931 Hapcheon, Gyeongsang

Korean name
Hangul:	전두환
Hanja:	全斗煥
Revised Romanization:	Jeon Duhwan
McCune-Reischauer:	Chŏn Tuhwan

Chun Doo-hwan (born 18 January 1931) was a Korean military officer and the President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Sentenced to death in 1996, Chun was later pardoned by President Kim Young-sam with the advice of then President-elect Kim Dae-jung, whom he himself had sentenced to death some 20 years earlier.

The road to power

Chun was a graduate of the eleventh class of the Korean Military Academy in 1955, and a member of Hanahoi, a powerful private group of military officials that supported his actions. By the next morning, Chun and his fellow eleventh class military academy graduates Roh Tae-woo and Jeong Ho-yong were in charge of the Korean military. Many politicians were arrested, including opposition politician Kim Dae-jung, who was later sentenced to death despite protests from the U.S. Later, Chun commuted Kim's sentence in return for U.S. support. In February 1981, Chun was elected president under a revised constitution as the candidate of the Democratic Justice Party (later renamed Democratic Republican Party), having resigned from the army after promoting himself to four-star general.

Years in office

As president, Chun promoted strong centralized government, and the rapid economic growth of the Park era continued.

By 1986, there was much public antipathy against Chun's regime due to the lack of political freedom and Chun's strongman tactics.

During Chun's visit to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) in 1983, a bomb exploded at a mausoleum he was about to visit, killing 21 people, including South Korean Cabinet members.

An embattled ex-President

After he stepped down, under the freer political atmosphere, much public scrutiny fell upon the faults of Chun's regime, including the massive corruption involving his family.

In 1996, former presidents Chun and Roh were jailed on charges of corruption.