Take stock of the fate of previous South Korean presidents. What happened to all previous South Korean presidents in the end?
There has always been a joke on the Internet that the president of South Korea is a high-risk profession. Because for some reason, almost all South Korean presidents ended badly. It can be seen that since the founding of the Republic of Korea, the fate of every president of South Korea has been very sad. Some people speculate that the Blue House presidential palace has been cursed. This guess, which is somewhat of an urban legend, cannot be verified. But in fact, due to South Korea's special situation, it is difficult to maintain a good relationship with the United States and get along well with neighboring countries. This balance is really difficult to grasp.
Now, let’s take a look at the endings of previous South Korean presidents.
Syngman Rhee, who was in power from the first to the third term, was in power from 1948 to 1960. He was forced to step down by the people and was exiled abroad. He died miserably in Hawaii.
The fourth term was Yoon Bo-sun. After Syngman Rhee stepped down, he was elected as the presidential candidate by the old faction of the Democratic Party. After being elected president, from 1960 to 1962, he was replaced by Park Chung-hee in just two years. He was ousted from power in a coup and died of illness in 1990.
Park Chung-hee was the next president from the fifth to the ninth term. He was in power from 1963 to 1979. Originally, he wanted to continue to be re-elected, but at the dinner of the Ministry of Intelligence, he was rejected by the intelligence at that time. Minister Kim Jae-kyu was shot to death.
From 1979 to 1980, Choi Kyu-ha immediately served as the tenth president of South Korea. He was later ousted from power by Chun Doo-hwan's coup and died of illness.
The 11th and 12th terms were held by Chun Doo-hwan, who served as president from 1980 to 1988. In 1995, Chun Doo-hwan was arrested for raising and embezzling secret political funds. In 1996, Chun Doo-hwan was sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life imprisonment. He was released in early 1998, but his reputation was also ruined.
The 13th term was Roh Tae-woo, who served from 1988 to 1993. After leaving office, he was found to have raised and embezzled secret political funds and was arrested. In 1998, he received an amnesty from President Kim Dae-jung and was later released.
The fourteenth term was Kim Young-sam, who served from 1993 to 1998 and resigned in 2015.
The fifteenth term was Kim Dae-jung, who served from 1998 to 2003 and resigned in 2003. He died in Seoul, South Korea on August 18, 2009 at the age of 85 due to an illness that failed to save him.
The sixteenth term was Roh Moo-hyun, who served as president from 2003 to 2008. However, he was later involved in a scandal involving relatives and friends accepting bribes from the financial industry. On May 23, 2009, he committed suicide by jumping off a cliff.
The seventeenth term was Lee Myung-bak, who was in power from 2007 to 2013. After leaving office, he was suspected of corruption and bribery and sentenced to 17 years in prison. ?
The 18th term is Park Geun-hye, who was in power from 2013 to 2017. She is the eldest daughter of former President Park Chung-hee. She was impeached and stepped down in March 2017. On July 10, 2020, Park Geun-hye’s political interference case and The bribery case was retried and sentenced to 20 years in prison. ?