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He was born in 1931 in Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do, in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula during the Japanese colonial rule. His father treated the villagers with folk remedies. It was the family of both groups that were the rulers in the Joseon era, but it was economically down.
Born as the 4th son of 6 boys and 4 girls, he moved to Daegu in the central part of the peninsula at the age of five. There was a time when the family moved to Manchuria, but there is an anecdote that his father's private medical business failed in Manchuria and he returned to Daegu at the age of 10 in 1941.
In 1945, Japan lost the war and the peninsula became independent, but South Korea and North Korea were established and confronted in the north and south, and the Korean War broke out in 1950. He enrolled in the Army Officer's School for the 11th term during the Korean War and became friends with fellow student Roh Tae-woo (13th president).
In 1960, the first president, Syngman Rhee, went into exile in the United States in an election fraud, and South Korea was involved in turmoil with demonstrations of demands for democratization. In 1961, when Park Chung-hee, a senior at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy (2nd term), started a coup d'etat, demonstrating the support of the students of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy.
In 1963, he was appointed as the secretary of the then power organization "Supreme Council for National Reconstruction" and after working as the chief of the personnel section of the Central Information Department (Korean CIA), he was dispatched to the Vietnam War from November 1970 as the commander of the Hakuba unit. And so on, he went on the path of elite as a soldier.
In 1979, Mr. Chung became a military security commander, but President Park Chung-hee was assassinated on October 26th. An emergency martial law was issued, and assassin Kim Jae-gyu stated that it was "for democratization." In response to the martial law commander's move in line with this, Mr. Chung launched a coup d'etat on December 12th, 1979 and took power.
After that, when the political turmoil continued, on May 17th, 1980, Kim Dae-jung (15th president) was the core person of the demand for democratization implemented measures to expand the emergency decree. He was arrested and placed under house arrest. In Gwangju, the land of Mr. Kim Dae-Jung, who was opposed to this, democratization demand demonstrations became fierce.
As the protests intensified, civilians and police were killed and troops were dispatched. A "civil army" was organized and the arsenal was robbed of firearms and grenades. Special forces of the army were put in to suppress it, a battle between the civilian army and the special forces broke out, and many deaths occurred on both sides. This is called the "5.18 Gwangju Uprising" or "Gwangju Democratization Movement," and is also depicted in Japan's famous movie "A Taxi Driver Promise Crosses the Sea."
In the 10-day Gwangju Uprising, 166 people were killed, 54 were missing, and 3,139 were injured. Among them, 23 were killed by military personnel and 4 were killed by police. Of the injured, 376 have been found dead due to sequelae.
In September 1980, Mr. Chung became the 11th president. The following year, in 1981, the constitution was amended to establish the "Fifth Republic" of South Korea, and Mr. Chung became the 12th president. With reference to the US system, the president became an "indirect election" system by voting by the "electoral college" elected. In addition, due to the long history of dictatorship, the term of office of the president was set to "7-year single-person system" as a device to prevent dictatorship.
In October 1980, North Korea's President Kim Il Sung proposed the establishment of the "Confederal Republic of Korea" as a reunification plan for the peninsula, but Mr. Chung refused. In 1981, he held control festivals such as "Gukpung 81". In 1982, the "curfew" since the Joseon Dynasty was lifted, a professional baseball league was introduced, and movie imports were activated. This was called "3S Policy (Political Use of Sports, Screen, Sex)" and was said to have tried to keep an eye on the people from the "Gwangju Uprising".
In 1983, during a visit to Myanmar, a "Rangoon bombing incident" occurred in which a North Korean agent aimed to assassinate Mr. Chung. President Chung was safe, but lost many ministers.
Mr. Chung asked Japan for $6 billion in financial assistance based on the theory that "South Korea's economic development is a breakwater against North Korea." In 1984, he visited Japan and participated in the emperor-sponsored banquet for the first time as the postwar president of South Korea. The Prime Minister of Japan at that time was Mr. Yasuhiro Nakasone, and the two became close.
He made great achievements such as economic development with the help of Japan, holding the Asian Games in 1986, and attracting the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
In 1987, Mr. Chung tried to retire due to his own "7-year single-person system". Mr. Chung's best friend No Tae-woo, who was the representative of the ruling party, was predicted to become the successor president by the "indirect election" scheduled for December 1987.
In January 1987, Park Jong-chul, a student at Seoul National University who was a student activist for democratization, was forcibly taken without a warrant and died. Police have announced that they died of a heart attack while being investigated for civil turmoil. However, a doctor from a former member of Seoul National University who had an autopsy made a "declaration of conscience" and leaked the fact of "water torture" to the media. As a result, a national democratization demonstration broke out.
In June 1987, during a demonstration, Lee Han-yul, a student at Yonsei University, was hit by a tear gas bullet and died. The main demand for the demonstration was a "direct election of the president" due to the constitutional amendment.
When the demonstration became fierce, on June 29th, 1987, with the consent of Mr. Chung, a close friend and presidential candidate Roh Tae-woo of the ruling party promised to hold a "direct election of the president" by reforming the constitution, and the nationwide demonstration calmed down. In October of the same year, the Constitution was amended to the current system of "direct election of the president" and "five-year single-person system".
In the president-elect direct election in December 1987, Mr. Roh Tae-woo, who is said to have made a "decision to prevent bloodshed," was elected as president-elect. Although there was a failure to "unify candidates" by Kim Dae-jung (15th president) and Kim Young-sam (14th president), North Korean operatives just before the election. Kim Hyon-hui (who later stated that he learned Japanese from Japanese abduction victim Megumi Yokota) and others caused a Korean aircraft bombing incident, and the North-South relations became tense. It is said to be one of the causes.
The following year, in 1988, the Seoul Olympics were held under the Roh Tae-woo administration, and following the Jeong Du-hwan administration, security stability and economic development continued. The relationship with Japan was also good.
After retiring, former President Chung had a move to set up a foundation himself and aim for "cloister rule", but Mr. Chung's younger brother was arrested after discovering the intervention of interests during his tenure. In November 1988, he devoted his private fortune and lived a secluded life at the temple "Hyakkaji" in Gangwon-do, eastern Korea.
In 1995, after President Roh Tae-woo retired, former President Chung was sentenced to death for taking responsibility for the Gwangju Uprising. The core issue was whether former President Chung issued a "firing order" in the Gwangju Uprising, but he consistently denied it and had no evidence. Later, after being commuted by the president's amnesty, he was released on pardon.
In 1995, the state of non-payment of the surcharge of the judgment was continued, and in 2013, the so-called "Chun Doo-hwan surcharge law" was enacted. At that time, he became famous, leaving behind the words of former President Chung, "My property is 290,000 won."
In 2017, he published a memoir "The Age of Chaos" and wrote about the Gwangju Uprising. At the time of the incident, he criticized the late Father Cho Bio, who had "witnessed the military helicopter shooting at the demonstrators" as "a liar that is so shameful that the word priest is vacant." He was accused of "defamation of the dead" at the will of the priest's bereaved family.
Former President Chung, who lived in Seoul, filed a judicial disqualification request but was rejected, saying that the trial in Gwangju, where the Gwangju Uprising occurred, was not fair. In November 2020, he was sentenced to eight months in prison and a two-year suspended sentence by the Gwangju District Court, but Mr. Chung opposed the sentence and appealed.
In August 2021, former President Chung suffered from dyspnea during the appeals trial. A few days after being admitted to Yonsei University Hospital, he was announced to have multiple myeloma.
Today, on the morning of November 23rd, 2021, former President Chung passed away at his home in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. 90 years old.
Twenty-eight days after the passing away of his best friend and comrade Roh Tae-woo, who had apologized for the Gwangju Uprising through his son. Former President Chung died without apologizing and without overturning his position that the Gwangju Uprising was a riot.
2021/11/25 21:15 KST
