biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1931– )
|
| biography:
| South Korean soldier and president (1980–8), born in Taegu, SE South Korea. He trained at the Korean military academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the South Korean army in 1955. After President Park Chung Hee's assassination in 1979, he took charge of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) and led the investigation into Park's murder. He assumed control of the army and the government following a coup in 1979. After becoming president he retired from the army to head the newly formed Democratic Justice Party. Under his rule, the country's ‘economic miracle’ continued, but popular opposition to the authoritarian nature of the regime mounted, forcing his retirement. He was found guilty of treason and corruption in 1996, and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment), but released in 1997. |
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