- Born:
- December 4, 1932, near Daegu, Korea [now in South Korea]
- Died:
- October 26, 2021, Seoul, South Korea (aged 88)
- Title / Office:
- president (1988-1993), South Korea
Roh Tae-Woo
-
Who was Roh Tae-Woo?
Roh Tae-Woo was a South Korean military officer and politician who served as president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. Born near Daegu, Korea, on December 4, 1932, he died in Seoul on October 26, 2021.
Roh and Chun Doo-Hwan, a fellow student and friend, both attended the Korean Military Academy, where they graduated in 1955. Roh rose through the military ranks and became a general by 1979. In 1979, after President Park Chung-Hee was assassinated, Roh played a crucial role in supporting Chun's coup against the civilian government. He later held ministerial posts before being chosen as the Democratic Justice Party's presidential candidate in 1987.
Roh's presidency focused on democratization, cultivating international ties, and addressing corruption.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
When did Roh Tae-Woo serve as president of South Korea?
Roh Tae-Woo served as president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. He was a military officer and politician who instituted democratic reforms during his time as president. Roh made a historic speech in 1987, proposing democratic reforms that led to a new constitution and direct presidential elections. In the 1987 election, Roh won due to a split opposition vote. As president, he focused on democratizing South Korean politics and cultivating foreign relations with countries such as the Soviet Union and China.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How did Roh Tae-Woo become president?
Roh Tae-woo's path to the presidency in South Korea involved a mix of political maneuvering and democratic reforms. Chosen in 1985 by President Chun Doo-hwan as chairman of the ruling Democratic Justice Party (DJP), Roh became the party's presidential candidate in June 1987. This initially triggered widespread unrest, as it seemed to guarantee his win under the existing constitution.
In response to the unrest, Roh proposed a program of democratic reforms in a historic speech on June 29, 1987, which led to a new constitution that provided for direct presidential elections. In the December 1987 election, Roh won due to the opposition vote being split between Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung. He assumed office on February 25, 1988, marking South Korea's first peaceful transfer of power.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What major events happened in South Korea during his presidency?
Roh Tae-Woo, president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993, oversaw key events and reforms. In response to widespread unrest, Roh proposed democratic reforms in 1987, leading to a new constitution that allowed direct presidential elections.
As president, Roh focused on democratizing South Korean politics. His party, however, failed to win a majority in the National Assembly in 1988. In 1990, it merged with two opposition parties to form the Democratic Liberal Party.
In foreign affairs, Roh's government established ties with the Soviet Union and China, secured South Korea's admission to the United Nations in 1991, and signed a nonaggression pact with North Korea the same year.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How did Roh Tae-Woo help change South Korean society or government?
Roh Tae-woo, as president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993, initiated key democratic reforms. In response to widespread unrest, Roh proposed a program of reforms in a historic speech on June 29, 1987, leading to a new constitution that allowed direct presidential elections.
Roh's commitment to democratization faced challenges when his party failed to win a majority in the National Assembly in April 1988. However, in 1990, he led his party to merge with two opposition parties, forming a new majority party.
In foreign affairs, Roh's government fostered relationships with the Soviet Union and China, secured South Korea's admission to the United Nations in 1991, and signed a nonaggression pact with North Korea.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is Roh Tae-Woo most remembered for as a leader of South Korea?
Roh Tae-woo, president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993, is most remembered for instituting democratic reforms. In response to widespread unrest ignited by the existing constitution that practically guaranteed his win, Roh proposed a broad program of democratic reforms in a historic speech on June 29, 1987, which led to a new constitution that provided for direct presidential elections. As president, Roh committed himself to the democratization of South Korean politics and cultivated new ties with the Soviet Union and China.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Roh Tae-Woo (born December 4, 1932, near Daegu, Korea [now in South Korea]—died October 26, 2021, Seoul, South Korea) was a Korean military officer and politician who, as president of South Korea (1988–93), instituted democratic reforms.
While a high-school student in Daegu, Roh became friends with a fellow student, Chun Doo-Hwan. Following the outbreak of the Korean War (1950–53), Roh joined the South Korean army and with Chun attended the Korean Military Academy, where they both graduated in 1955. Roh rose steadily through the ranks thereafter, becoming a general by 1979.
In October 1979 Pres. Park Chung-Hee was assassinated, and in December Chun and some fellow officers launched a coup against the civilian government; Roh, who was then an army division commander, gave them crucial support. Roh was a member of the Chun-led junta that ordered the brutal suppression of demonstrators in Gwangju in May 1980. Chun became president in August of that year. Roh resigned from the military in 1981 and held a series of ministerial posts in Chun’s government, including minister of political affairs (1981), sports (1982), and home affairs (1982). As head of the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee from 1983 to 1986, he oversaw South Korea’s preparations for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games held in Seoul.
In 1985 Chun chose Roh to become the new chairman of Chun’s ruling political party, the Democratic Justice Party (DJP), and in June 1987 Chun chose Roh to be the candidate of the DJP in the upcoming presidential elections. Under the country’s existing constitution, Roh was thus practically guaranteed to win the presidency, and this prospect ignited widespread popular unrest. In response, on June 29, 1987, Roh made a historic speech in which he proposed a broad program of democratic reforms, which led to the drafting of a new constitution (approved in October 1987). Chief among its provisions was the direct election of the president by popular vote.
In the December 1987 election, both major opposition candidates, Kim Young-Sam and Kim Dae-Jung, ran against Roh, splitting the opposition vote and thus enabling Roh’s victory. He began his five-year term as president on February 25, 1988.
As president, the moderate and conciliatory Roh committed himself to the democratization of South Korean politics. Partly as a result of Roh’s reforms, the DJP failed to gain a majority of seats in the National Assembly in elections in April 1988, but in 1990 the party, under Roh’s leadership, merged with two moderate opposition parties to form a new majority party called the Democratic Liberal Party. In foreign affairs, Roh’s government cultivated new ties with the Soviet Union (and later Russia) and China, obtained South Korea’s admission (1991) to the United Nations, and signed an agreement (1991) with North Korea calling for nonaggression between the two Koreas. In February 1993 he was succeeded by Kim Young-Sam, whose subsequent anticorruption reforms targeted Roh and Chun.
In October 1995 Roh publicly apologized for having illegally amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in secret political donations during his term as president. He subsequently was indicted and tried for corruption as well as for mutiny and sedition for his involvement in the 1979 coup (charges that had been leveled in 1994 but not pursued at that time). In August 1996 he was convicted on all counts; he was sentenced to 221/2 years in prison, which was later reduced to 17 years, and was fined about $300 million, a sum equivalent to the amount he was convicted of having taken illegally. Roh received a pardon in December 1997 from outgoing president Kim Young-Sam and President-elect Kim Dae-Jung.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
