Chun Doo-hwan

Chun Doo-hwan 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 as a military dictator following a successful coup in December 1979, and the period of his presidency is known as the Fifth Republic of Korea. Born in Hapcheon County, Chun graduated from the Korea Military Academy in 1955 and rose to power after the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung Hee, orchestrating the 12 December 1979 military coup and the 17 May 1980 coup; he declared martial law and, after the June 1987 democratization movement, conceded to democratic elections won by his ally Roh Tae-woo. He was later convicted of treason and insurrection but pardoned in December 1997, and died in 2021 without apologizing for his role in the Gwangju Uprising.