Chun Doo-hwan (Korean: 전두환; pronounced [tɕʌn duβwan]; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean army general and politician who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. A member of the Democratic Justice Party, he ruled the country as a military dictator following a successful coup in December 1979. The period encompassing his presidency is known as the Fifth Republic of Korea.
Born in Hapcheon County, Korea, Empire of Japan, Chun graduated from Korea Military Academy in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in science. He usurped power after the 1979 assassination of president Park Chung Hee, who was himself a military dictator who had ruled since 1961. Chun orchestrated the 12 December 1979 military coup, then cemented his military rule in the 17 May 1980 military coup in which he declared martial law and later set up a concentration camp for "purificatory education". He established the Fifth Republic of Korea on 3 March 1981. He governed under a constitution somewhat less authoritarian than Park's Fourth Republic, but still held very broad executive power, and used extreme violence to maintain it. During his tenure, South Korea's economy grew at its highest rate ever, achieving the country's first trade surplus in 1986. After the June Struggle democratization movement of 1987, Chun conceded to allowing the December 1987 presidential election to be free and open. It was won by his close friend and ally Roh Tae-woo, who continued many of Chun's policies during his own rule into the 1990s.
In 1996, Chun was convicted by the Seoul High Court on multiple charges, including treason and insurrection, for orchestrating the 1979 coup d'état and unlawfully declaring martial law to subdue the National Assembly and suppress the Gwangju Uprising. The conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court in April of the following year; however, in December, President Kim Young-sam, on the advice of the incoming President-elect Kim Dae-jung—whom Chun's administration had sentenced to death two decades earlier—pardoned both Chun and Roh, the latter having been sentenced to 17 years. Chun and Roh were fined $203 million and $248 million respectively, amounts that were embezzled through corruption during their regimes, which were mostly never paid.
In his final years, Chun was criticized for his unapologetic stance and the lack of remorse for his actions as a dictator and his wider regime. Chun died on 23 November 2021 at the age of 90 after a relapse of myeloma.
Chun was born on 18 January 1931 in Yulgok-myeon, a poor farming town in Hapcheon County, Korea, Empire of Japan. Chun's family is from the Wansan Jeon clan. Chun was the fourth son out of ten children to Jeon Sang-u (전상우) and Kim Jeong-mun (김정문). Chun's oldest two brothers, Yeol-hwan (열환) and Gyu-gon (규곤), died in an accident when he was an infant. Chun grew up knowing his remaining older brother Gi-hwan (기환) and his younger brother Gyeong-hwan.
Around 1936, Chun's family moved to Daegu, where he began attending Horan Elementary School. Chun's father had run-ins with the kempeitai in the past; in the winter of 1939 he murdered a police captain. Their family immediately fled to Jilin, Manchukuo, where they stayed in hiding for two years before returning. When Chun finally started attending elementary school again, he was two years behind his original classmates.
In 1947, Chun began attending Daegu Vocational Middle School, located nearly 25 km from his home. Chun moved on to Daegu Vocational High School.
In 1950, Chun fought in the Korean War as the part of the Student Volunteer Forces.
After graduating from high school in 1951, Chun gained entry into the Korea Military Academy (KMA). While there, he made several key friends among the students who would later play instrumental roles in helping Chun seize control of the country. He graduated in February 1955 with a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the 11th class of the KMA. He later trained in the United States, specializing in guerilla tactics and psychological warfare, and married Lee Soon-ja, the daughter of the KMA's commandant at the time of his attendance, in 1958.
Chun, then a captain, led a demonstration at the KMA to show support for the May 16 coup in 1961 led by Park Chung Hee. Chun was subsequently made secretary to the commander of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, placing him directly under Park. Chun was quickly promoted to major in 1962, while continuing to make powerful friends and acquaintances. As a major, Chun was the deputy chief of operations for the Special Warfare Command's battle headquarters, and later worked for the Supreme Council for Reconstruction again as the Chief Civil Affairs Officer. In 1963, Chun was given a position in the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) as Personnel Director. By 1969, he was senior advisor to the Army Chief of Staff.
In 1970, holding the rank of colonel, Chun became the commander of the 29th Regiment, South Korean 9th Infantry Division, and participated in the Vietnam War. Upon returning to Korea in 1971, he was given command of the 1st Special Forces Brigade (Airborne) and later promoted to brigadier general. In 1976 he worked as the deputy chief of the Presidential Security Service and was promoted to the rank of major general during his time there. In 1978 he became the commanding officer of the 1st Infantry Division. According to The New York Times, President Park was said to have favored him over other military men of his age and to have treated him much like godson.
Finally, in 1979, he was appointed commander of Security Command, his highest position yet.
Chun formed Hanahoe as a secret military clique shortly after his promotion to general officer. It was predominantly composed of his fellow graduates from the 11th class of the KMA, as well as other friends and supporters. Membership was predominantly restricted to officers from the Gyeongsang Province with just a token membership reserved for a Cholla Province officer. Hanahoe's existence within a highly regimented and rigid hierarchical organization of the army was only possible because it was under the patronage of then President Park.
Assassination of Park Chung Hee
On 26 October 1979, Park was assassinated by Kim Jae-kyu, Director of the KCIA, while at a dinner party. Secretly, Kim had invited General Jeong Seung-hwa, Army Chief of Staff, and Kim Jeong-seop, Vice-Deputy Director of the KCIA, to dinner in another room that night as well. Although Jeong Seung-hwa was neither present during nor involved in the shooting of Park, his presence at the scene later proved crucial to his downfall. In the chaos that followed, Kim Jae-kyu was not arrested for many hours, as details of the incident were initially unclear.
After some confusion over the constitutional procedures for presidential succession, Prime Minister Choi Kyu-ha finally ascended to the position of Acting President. Soon after, Jeong named Chun's Security Command to head up the investigation into the assassination. Chun immediately ordered his subordinates to draw up plans for the creation of an all-powerful "Joint Investigation Headquarters".
On 27 October, Chun called for a meeting in his commander's office. Invited were four key individuals now responsible for all intelligence collection nationwide: KCIA Deputy Chief of Foreign Affairs, KCIA Deputy Chief of Domestic Affairs, Attorney General, and Chief of the National Police. Chun had each person searched at the door on his way in, before having them seated and informing them of the President's death. Chun declared the KCIA held full responsibility for Park's assassination, and its organization was therefore under investigation for the crime. Chun stated that the KCIA would no longer be allowed to exercise its own budget:
For the KCIA "to continue exercising full discretion of their budget is unacceptable. Therefore, they are only allowed to execute their duties upon receiving authorization from the Joint Investigation Headquarters."