South Korea’s ex-president Chun Doo-hwan, who presided over Gwangju massacre, dies age 90
- Chun had multiple myeloma, a blood cancer which was in remission, and passed away at his Seoul home
- A former military commander, Chun presided over the 1980 Gwangju army massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators, a crime for which he was later convicted and received a commuted death sentence
Former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan, whose iron-fisted rule of the country following a 1979 military coup sparked massive democracy protests, died on Tuesday at the age of 90, the Yonhap news agency said.
Chun had multiple myeloma, a blood cancer which was in remission, and passed away at his Seoul home, Yonhap said.
A former military commander, Chun is known as the “Butcher of Gwangju” for presiding over the 1980 army massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators against his rule in the southwestern city, a crime for which he was later convicted and received a commuted death sentence.
An aloof, ramrod-straight Chun during his mid-1990s trial defended the coup as necessary to save the nation from a political crisis and denied sending troops into Gwangju.
“I am sure that I would take the same action, if the same situation arose,” Chun told the court.
Chun was born on March 6, 1931, in Yulgok-myeon, a poor farming town in the southeastern county of Hapcheon, during Japanese rule over Korea.