Chronology of late former President Chun Doo-hwan

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- The following is a chronology of major events related to former President Chun Doo-hwan, who died Tuesday due to chronic illness.

-- Jan. 18, 1931: Born in Hapcheon County, South Gyeongsang Province
-- 1955: Graduates from Korea Military Academy, commissioned as an Army second lieutenant
-- 1959: Marries Lee Soon-ja
-- 1973: Promoted to brigadier general
-- 1977: Promoted to major general
-- 1979: Stages a military coup
-- 1980: Announces nationwide expansion of emergency martial law and shuts down National Assembly; Orders brutal crackdown of civil uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju
-- 1980: Retired as Army General, named the country's 11th president by a hand-picked electoral college
-- 1981: Inaugurated as the chairman of the Democratic Justice Party, takes office as the country's 12th president by a hand-picked electoral college
-- 1983: Survives North Korea's bomb attack at the Martyr's Mausoleum in Rangoon, Burma, now called Myanmar, where 17 South Korean officials are killed
-- 1988: Completes his presidential term as his military colleague, Roh Tae-woo, is elected president. Retires to Baekdam Temple on Mount Seorak, Gangwon Province, following public criticism over his involvement in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising and irregularities during his term
-- 1990: Returns home in Seoul from Baekdam Temple
-- 1995: Indicted on corruption charges, as well as for his role in the 1980 coup
-- 1996: Sentenced to death for treason and other charges, later reduced to life in prison with 220.5 billion won (US$185.3 million) penalty
-- 1997: Receives special pardon, released from prison
-- 2003: Says he only has 290,000 won in bank account
-- 2013: Prosecution forms task force to collect Chun's unpaid penalty of 167.2 billion won
-- 2018: Indicted for defaming a deceased Catholic priest and other victims in his 2017 memoir, rejects court summon orders twice, saying he has Alzheimer's disease
-- 2019: Appears in court trial for defamation charges
-- 2020: Sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, for defamation
-- Aug. 9, 2021: Attends an appellate court hearing on a defamation case
-- Nov. 23, 2021: Dies at his home

kdon@yna.co.kr
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