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South Korean ex-dictator Chun Doo-hwan dies at 90: reports

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Former South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan, wearing a prison uniform, is escorted by police into the Seoul District Criminal Court where he is on trial facing corruption charges in this file photo taken in 1996. Reuters/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/11/23/20211123_chundoohwan.jpg"/><figcaption>Former South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan, wearing a prison uniform, is escorted by police into the Seoul District Criminal Court where he is on trial facing corruption charges in this file photo taken in 1996. <em>Reuters/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>SEOUL—South Korean ex-dictator Chun Doo-hwan, who brutally crushed opponents until mass demonstrations forced him out, died on Tuesday, according to media reports.</p><p>Chun died at his home in Seoul, South Korea&#x27;s Yonhap news agency reported. He was 90.</p><p>He oversaw the country&#x27;s economic rise and secured the 1988 Olympics for Seoul. He was the first South Korean president to hand over power peacefully.</p><p>Chun was a general who took power in a coup after the 1979 assassination of strongman Park Chung-hee.</p><p>He served as president from 1980 to 1988, ruling with an iron fist and brutally crushing his opponents.</p><p>Chun remains among South Korea&#x27;s most reviled figures.</p><p>He is known as the &quot;Butcher of Gwangju&quot; for ordering his troops to put down an uprising against his rule in the southwestern city.</p><p>In 1996, he was convicted of treason and condemned to death, in part over what happened at Gwangju, but his execution was commuted on appeal and he was released following a presidential pardon.</p><p>The official toll for the dead or missing at Gwangju is around 200 people, but activists say it may have been 3 times as high.</p><p>Chun and far-right politicians in South Korea dismissed it as a &quot;riot&quot;. The former dictator denied any direct involvement in the suppression of the uprising.</p><p>During his rule, he also survived an assassination attempt.</p><p>On a state visit to Myanmar in 1983, North Korean agents tried to kill him by bombing a memorial ceremony.</p><p>Chun had been mired in court battles until his death.</p><p>He was found guilty of defamation last year in connection with the Gwangju uprising.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/18/16/late-dictator-marcos-buried-at-libingan-ng-mga-bayani">Late dictator Marcos buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/18/21/marcos-burial-in-lnmb-should-never-have-happened-chel">Marcos burial in LNMB &#x27;should never have happened&#x27;: Diokno</a></li></ul><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong><br/> </div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1838665" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

South Korean ex-dictator Chun Doo-hwan, who brutally crushed opponents until mass demonstrations forced him out, died on Tuesday.