Dictator who ruled South Korea with an iron fist after a military coup in 1979, Chun Doo-hwan died this Tuesday (23) aged 90, disclosed his former press officer.
Chun had multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, which was in remission. Recently, however, his health has taken a turn for the worse, according to his former press secretary, Min Chung-ki. He died at his home in Seoul early in the morning (Monday night in Brazil), and his body will be transferred to a hospital for a funeral later in the day.
A military commander, Chun presided over the 1980 massacre of pro-democracy protesters by the Gwangju army. Thousands of students are believed to have been killed, according to testimony from survivors, ex-military and investigators.
Chun was born on March 6, 1931, in Yulgok-myeon, a poor agricultural town, during Japanese rule over Korea.
He joined the army shortly after high school, rising through the ranks until he was named commander in 1979. Taking charge of the investigation into the assassination of President Park Chung-hee that year, Chun courted key military allies and took control of the intelligence agencies of the country. South Korea to spearhead a coup.
“In front of the most powerful organizations under Park Chung-hee’s chairmanship, I was amazed at how easily Chun gained control of them and how deftly he took advantage of circumstances. In an instant, he seemed to have become a giant,” he said. Park Jun-kwang, Chun’s subordinate during the coup, to journalist Cho Gab-je.
Chun’s eight-year rule in the presidential Blue House was characterized by brutality and political repression. However, it was also marked by growing economic prosperity. Chun resigned from office amid a student-led democratic movement across the country in 1987, demanding a direct electoral system.
In 1995, he was charged with mutiny, treason and was arrested after refusing to appear before the Public Ministry and fleeing to his hometown. In what local media called the “trial of the century,” he and his co-conspirator, his successor Roh Tae-Woo, were found guilty of mutiny, treason and bribery. In their verdict, the judges said Chun’s rise to power came “by illegal means that inflicted enormous harm on the people.”
During his trial, the former South Korean leader defended the coup as necessary to save the country from a political crisis and denied sending troops to Gwangju. “I am sure that I would take the same attitude if the same situation were to arise,” he told the court.
Roh was sentenced to a long prison term while Chun was sentenced to death. However, they were granted amnesty by the Seoul Superior Court in recognition of Chun’s role in the accelerated economic development of the Asian tiger economy and the peaceful 1988 transfer of the presidency to Roh — who died about a month ago, aged 88.
The two were then released from prison in 1997 by President Kim Young-sam in what he called an effort to promote “national unity”.
Chun has made several returns to the spotlight. He caused a national furor in 2003 when he claimed total assets of 291,000 won (R$1,37 thousand at the current rate) in cash, two dogs and some household appliances — while he owed about 220.5 billion won. billion) in fines. His four children and other relatives were later appointed to own large tracts of land in Seoul and luxurious properties in the United States.
In 2013, Chun’s family promised to pay most of their debt, but their unpaid fines still totaled about 100 billion won (BRL 470 million) in December 2020.
In 2020, Chun was found guilty and given an eight-month suspended sentence for defaming a democracy activist and Catholic priest in his 2017 memoirs. Prosecutors have appealed, and Chun would go on trial next week.
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