The troubled history of South Korean presidents

SEOUL: South Korean President Eun Suk-yeol now faces impeachment after a shock bid to suspend civilian rule.
But he is far from the first South Korean president to see his rule descend into acrimony and scandal.
Here’s a recap of the fall of previous South Korean leaders.
– 2016: Park impeached, jailed –
In December 2016, Park Geun-hye, president since 2013, was impeached by parliament in a decision confirmed by the Constitutional Court in March 2017, leading to her conviction and prison sentence.
The daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee, she was South Korea’s first female president and presented herself as indestructible.
But she was accused of receiving or soliciting millions of dollars from conglomerates including Samsung.
Additional charges include sharing classified documents, putting artists who criticize her policies on a “blacklist” and firing officials who oppose her.
Park was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2021 and fined heavily.
But she was pardoned by her successor Moon Jae-in later that year.
Yun, the current president, was the Seoul prosecutor at the time and played a key role in her dismissal and subsequent imprisonment.
– Lee Myung-bak: 15 years in prison –
In power from 2008 to 2013, Park’s conservative predecessor Lee Myung-bak was sentenced to 15 years in prison in October 2018 for corruption.
Most notably, he was convicted of taking bribes from Samsung in exchange for favors from the conglomerate’s then-chairman Lee Kun-hee, who had been convicted of tax evasion.
The former leader was pardoned by President Yun in December 2022.
– Roh Moo-hyun: Suicide –
Liberal Roh Moo-hyun, president from 2003 to 2008 and a strong supporter of relations with North Korea, committed suicide by throwing himself off a cliff in May 2009.
He found himself the target of an investigation by a wealthy shoe manufacturer into the payment of one million dollars to his wife and five million to the husband of one of his nieces.
– 1987: Dictator Chun retires –
Military strongman Chun Do-hwan, known as the “Butcher of Gwangju” for ordering his troops to revolt against his rule in the southwestern city, agreed to step down in 1987 in the face of mass demonstrations.
He handed over power to his protégé Roh Tae-woo.
Roh and Chun had been close for decades, first meeting as classmates at a military academy during the Korean War.
In 1996 both men were convicted of treason for the 1979 coup, the 1980 Gwangju uprising, corruption and other crimes.
Roh was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison, which was reduced to 17, while Chun was sentenced to death, commuted to life in prison.
He was later pardoned in 1998 and spent only two years behind bars.
– 1979: Assassination of Dictator Park –
Park Chung-hee was assassinated during a private dinner by her own spy chief in October 1979.
The events of that night have long been the subject of heated debate in South Korea, particularly over whether the assassination was premeditated.
Chun Do-hwan and Roh Tae-woo were army chiefs at the time and took advantage of the political confusion to plot a coup in December 1979.
– 1961: Yun is overthrown in a coup –
President Yun Po-sun was overthrown in 1961 by a coup led by military officer Park Chung-hee.
Park kept Yun in his position but effectively took control of the government and then succeeded him after winning the election in 1963.
– 1960: Exile of first President –
South Korea’s first president, Syngman Rhee, elected in 1948, was forced to resign in 1960 after a popular student-led coup attempted to extend his term through rigged elections.
Rhee was forced into exile in Hawaii, where he died in 1965.