Chun Doo-hwan Timeline of Events

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Chun Doo-hwan

Chun Doo-hwan was a ROK Army general and the President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Chun was sentenced to death in 1996 for his heavy-handed response to the Gwangju Democratization Movement, but later pardoned by President Kim Young-sam with the advice of then President-elect Kim Dae-jung, whom Chun himself had sentenced to death some 20 years...

Timeline of Events

1979

12.12.1979

Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.

1980

5.17.1980

General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.

9.1.1980

Major General Chun Doo-hwan becomes president of South Korea, following the resignation of Choi Kyu-hah.

1983

10.9.1983

Rangoon bombing: attempted assassination of South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan during an official visit to Rangoon, Burma. Chun survives but the blast kills 17 of his entourage, including four cabinet ministers, and injures 17 others. Four Burmese officials also die in the blast.