He said that “fake news” about the Gwangju crackdown has been fed by Chun’s refusal to fully acknowledge what happened.
Jang added that South Koreans remain divided over the legacy of their past military rulers.
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Jang said it was “very regrettable” that both leaders died without apologizing and disclosing the full details of the crackdown.
Chun and Roh were the only two people who could have brought a historic closure to such pains,” said Jang Seung-Jin, a professor at Seoul’s Kookmin University. “Gwangju is truly a huge pain in our country’s modern history. Roh never directly apologized over the crackdown too. Last month, Chun’s army friend and another ex-President Roh Tae-woo, who played a key role in the 1979 coup, died at the age of 88. Chun never apologized and refused to acknowledge he was behind orders to fire on demonstrators in Gwangju. Many conservatives still view Park as a hero who pulled the country up from poverty, but for most people Chun is a highly negative figure, mainly because of the Gwangju crackdown. The Olympics were held after Chun left office. South Korea also won the rights to host the 1988 Summer Olympics, which were seen as celebrating the country’s economic rise. He introduced several liberalizing measures, including an end to a Korean War-era curfew and an easing of restrictions on overseas trips. Kim later became president and won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote democracy in South Korea and reconcile with rival North Korea.ĭespite political oppression, South Korea’s economy boomed during Chun’s tenure. After the United States intervened, Kim’s sentence was reduced and he was eventually freed. Chun’s government also imprisoned tens of thousands of others, saying it was rooting out social evils.Ĭhun’s military tribunal arrested prominent opposition leader Kim Dae-jung and sentenced him to death for allegedly fomenting the Gwangju uprising. Government records show about 200 died due to the crackdown, but activists say the death toll was much higher. Tanks and troops rolled into Seoul in a coup that came less than two months after Park was assassinated by his own intelligence chief during a late-night drinking party after a harsh 18-year rule.Ĭhun quickly consolidated his power by launching a bloody crackdown on a civil uprising in Gwangju.
During their back-to-back dictatorships, South Koreans suffered huge human rights abuses but the country’s economy grew dramatically from the ruins of the 1950-53 Korean War.Ĭhun was an army major general when he seized power in December 1979 with his military cronies. Chun’s coup extended military-backed rule of the country, after the assassination of his mentor and former army general, Park Chung-hee, who had held power since 1961. He was 90.Ĭhun, who suffered in recent years from Alzheimer’s disease and a blood cancer, was declared dead after a heart attack at his Seoul home, police and emergency officials said.Ĭhun’s rule lasted until 1988 and remains for many South Koreans a time marked both by severe political repression, as well as rapid social and economic changes.