History of Korea

By mid-April of 1980, widespread campus demonstratons and labor strikes were rampant and calls for reforms exploded. There were also calls for the end of martial law and resignation of Gen. Chun Doo-whan. Opposition political leaders Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam got together one month later to urge students and in Kwangju, 35,000 students and citizens converged. However, Gen. Chun reasserted military, easing President Choe aside, and Nationwide martial law is declared. Effectively, opposition leaders were arrested and all political activities were banned. By the end of May of the same year, 50,000 Kwangju residents and students had gathered to protest martial law despite warnings and appealed to the U.S. government to help negotiate a truce. However, on 27th of May in 1980, thousands of martial law troops invaded Kwanju and many numbers of civilians were killed or arrested. Soon after, Chun assumed total control and was formally elected President by the National Conference on Unification, the South Korean electoral college. President Chun's Fourth Republic in April of 1981 created new constitution which retained much of the yushin-type policies. while allowing him for a single 7-year presidential term. Tragedies continued to strike hard for the Koreans that were not limited to domestic origins. On September of 1983, a Korean Air Lines jet was shot down when it strayed over Soviet territory and all 240 passengers and 29 crew members were killed. Less than a month later, 17 of President Chun's senior cabinet officers were killed by a bomb planted in Rangoon, Burma by North Korean commandos. Still, Chun's reign was not without some positive moments. Two years after being in the office, Chun was able to secure $4 billion in loan from Japan. Even more significantly, Seoul was designated the site for the 1988 summer olympic by the International Olympic Committee.

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