Why can't the South Korean president die of natural causes?

Since the founding of the Republic of Korea on August 5, 948, * * * has experienced 1 1 presidents. Almost none of the ten presidents before the current President park geun-hye had a happy ending in their political journey. On March 10, the Korean Constitutional Court announced that Park Geun-hye's impeachment case was passed. As the first female president of South Korea, park geun-hye also became the first president to be impeached and stepped down, adding another example to the historical pattern of how difficult it is for South Korean presidents to die a natural death.

Before park geun-hye, the fate of 10 Korean president was divided into two completely different trajectories by the democratization of 1988. 1988 before, the whole country fell into a "weak president was coup d' é tat by military strongman; "The strongman president was assassinated or exiled by the pro-democracy movement; After 1988, corruption became a stumbling block for every Korean president. Poor management of family members' cronies is the hardest hit area where the power of successive presidents broke out.

When park geun-hye came to power, he said, "I have no family to take care of and no children to inherit wealth. The people are my family, and making everyone happy is the only purpose of my participation in politics. " People thought that park geun-hye could reverse the "bad luck of the South Korean president" dragged down by the corruption of people around him, but people didn't expect that although park geun-hye had no family and children, he still let his girlfriends share power.

1. Li Chengwan (1948- 1960) was exiled in Hawaii during the April Revolution.

Li Chengwan, the first president of the Republic of Korea, was in office for 12 years. During his term of office, he amended the constitution twice and changed the indirect election to direct election once. On another occasion, the eight-year presidential term limit was lifted, so he was re-elected for three times. By the time of the fourth presidential election, Li Chengwan was stumped by public opinion.

In the presidential and vice presidential elections held on 1960, He Li was the candidate of the Liberal Party and Zhao He was the candidate of the Democratic Party. When Zhao died of a heart attack in the United States, people focused on the competition for vice president. In order to support vice presidential candidate Lee, the Liberal Party and the South Korean government used a lot of administrative and financial resources to manipulate the election, with campaign funds reaching 7 billion won. On March 15, Vice President Lee won 95% of the votes. The authorities considered this turnout "too high" and reduced it to 73%. The manipulated public opinion and election results ignited the public's anger, and thousands of citizens in Mashan City took to the streets to demonstrate.

Then, on April 1 1 day, the body of Jin Zhulie, a senior one student aged 17, floated to Mashan Bay, was shot dead by the police with tear gas and thrown into the sea, which triggered the second "uprising" in Mashan. What followed was a large-scale nationwide protest, which reached its peak in April 1960. Five cities including Seoul entered martial law and were suppressed by the military and police. According to the confession made by the martial law headquarters afterwards, 558 people were killed and injured in the whole country11,which is known as the "April 19th Revolution".

1960 on the morning of April 27th 10, Li Chengwan was forced to announce by radio that "the people will resign as president if they wish". On the morning of April 28th, Li's family shot themselves. Li Chengwan moved from Jingwutai to Lihua Village, fled South Korea after a month in exile in Hawaii, and died in a foreign land on July 9, 1965.

2. Bo Shanyun (1960- 1962) was a puppet president for two years.

After the "April 19th Revolution", Bo Shanyun was elected as the presidential candidate by the old faction in the Democratic Party and was elected president on August 1960.

However, when his term of office was less than one year, in the early morning of May, 196 1, park chung-hee, who was a soldier, staged a coup, took over the country, set up the Supreme Conference on National Reconstruction, and Bo Xilai became the puppet president. 1On March 6th, 962, the Supreme Law promulgated the Law on Purification of Political Activities to examine the qualifications for political activities. On March 22nd, Yin boycotted the Purification Law and announced his resignation. park chung-hee assumed the presidency.

1963 10 10/5, park chung-hee and Bo Shanyun confronted each other in the fifth presidential election, with 46.6% and 45. 1% of the votes respectively, and Bo Shanyun was defeated. He himself and his party, the People's Party, filed a lawsuit, arguing that the election was invalid and declared himself a "spiritual president", but failed. 1967, he ran again, lost again, and finally missed the presidency.

Bo Seon Yun died at the age of 94.

3. park chung-hee (1963- 1979) was assassinated in 2008.

Park chung-hee has been in this position for 16 years since he was officially elected president in 1963, and he has been in power for 18 years since the coup on 5/6. During this period, under his authoritarian rule, South Korea achieved economic take-off and created the "Hanjiang Miracle" step by step. However, all this ended at17: 00 pm on October 26th 1979.

That night, park chung-hee, Jin Zaigui, director of the Central Intelligence Department, Che Zhiche, director of the Presidential Guard Room, and Jin Guiyuan, director of the Presidential Secretarial Office, dined in the internal canteen of the Central Intelligence Department. During the dinner, Jin Zaigui argued with park chung-hee and Che Zhiche about the relationship between the anti-horse struggle and the New Democracy Party and the countermeasures. At 7: 50, Jin Zaigui took out his pistol and shot Che Zhiche and park chung-hee. Four other people from the Central Intelligence Department immediately shot and killed four guards of the President, and park chung-hee died on the spot.

4. Cui Guixia's dream of reform (1979- 1980) came to nothing.

On the night of park chung-hee's assassination, Jin Zaigui and Jin Guiyuan, secretary of the president's office, formed a "revolutionary committee" and tried to launch a coup, but they were quickly arrested and failed. 1979101at 2: 00 a.m. on October 27th, the Korean Provisional State Council decided that the prime minister should act as the president according to the proposal of Vice Premier Shen of the State Council and reform the constitution. On February 6th, 65438, Cui Guixia was officially elected president, and he also wanted to carry out constitutional democratic reform.

However, just six days after his election, Quan Douhuan, commander of the national security forces, launched a "coup against the military and political situation" (also known as1February 12 coup) and seized power. Cui Guixia became a figurehead president, and was officially replaced by Quan Doo-hwan eight months later.

Cui Guixia died of sudden cardiac insufficiency at 6: 00 am on October 22nd, 2006/KLOC-0, at the age of 88.

5. Quan Douhuan (1980- 1987) came to power and was sentenced to death after the coup.

Quan Douhuan, who came to power through a military coup, declared martial law nationwide on May 1980, and sent airborne troops to suppress the Gwangju democratization movement that broke out on May 18 of that year, arresting or expelling dissidents Kim Dae-jung and Jin Yongsan, further consolidating his power. 1987, under the pressure of domestic public opinion, Quan Douhuan announced that he would not run for the presidency, and his supporter Lu Taiyu ran for the presidency.

However, just after the expiration of President Lu Taiyu's term in 1992, Jin Yongsan, an opposition politician who had been suppressed by Quan Douhuan, was elected president and immediately liquidated Quan Douhuan after he took office. 1995165438+10/6, Quan Douhuan and Lu Taiyu were arrested for raising and misappropriating secret political funds. 1996, Quan Doo-hwan was sentenced to death by the Seoul District Court for the crimes of military rebellion, civil strife and bribery and corruption, and was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of 220.5 billion won by the Korean Grand Court 1997.

However, after Kim Dae-jung came to power, he announced an amnesty and Quan Douhuan was released.

6. Lu Taiyu (1988- 1993) was liquidated and sentenced by his successor.

19871987 February 16, Lu Taiyu won the vote with a relative majority of 36.64%, defeated other opponents and was elected president of the Republic of Korea, and officially took office on February 1988. However, as an old member of the military ruling system, he failed to retreat after the expiration of his presidency. Since Jin Yongsan came to power, Lu Taiyu and Jin Douhuan have been liquidated together. 1On August 26, 1996, the Seoul District Court sentenced Lu Taiyu to 22 years and 6 months' imprisonment for the crimes of military rebellion and civil strife, attempted murder of his boss and bribery, which was later commuted to 17, and was finally released by Kim Dae-jung.

7. Jin Yongsan (1993- 1998) The anti-corruption president has a corrupt son.

In the general election of 1992, Jin Yongsan became the first South Korean president who was born as a scholar in the 30 years since the coup in park chung-hee, calling himself a "civilian government" and setting off a storm of fighting corruption and promoting honesty. On the second day after the establishment of the new government, Jin Yongsan announced that the senior public officials of the country should carry out financial disclosure and "purification campaign". To this end, he took the lead in disclosing the personal property of himself and his family. In addition, he also implemented financial real-name registration system to combat corruption. By the end of 1993, Jin Yongsan had successively dismissed 1300 senior public officials, including the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Mayor of Seoul, the Minister of Construction and the Chief of Staff of the Navy. By1June 1994, 3,635 officials had been punished.

However, the president who is famous for fighting corruption has a corrupt son. 1997, the loan scandal of Hanbao Iron and Steel Company was exposed. Jin Yongsan's son Hyun Chol Kim was found to have accepted 6.6 billion won and evaded the gift tax of/kloc-0.4 billion won. The imprisonment of the president's son has cast a stain on Jin Yongsan's political career.

At the same time, when the Asian financial crisis broke out in 1997, South Korea's economy suffered heavy losses, and banks and enterprises closed down one after another, forcing South Korea to accept 58 billion yuan of emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was regarded as "national humiliation" in Korean society.

At the beginning of his administration, Jin Yongsan's national support rate was as high as 86% and he was awarded the title of "Mr. Honesty". However, three months before leaving office, Jin Yongsan's approval rate was only 8%, and he regretted leaving office.

20 1 1 year, Jin Yongsan "naked donated" about 5 billion won (about 29.4 million yuan) to the society, leaving no children. 1October 22nd, Jin Yongsan died at the age of 88.

8. Kim Dae-jung (1998-2003) gave a Nobel Peace Prize to three sons who took bribes.

Kim Dae-jung was a journalist when he was young. He, together with former President Jin Yongsan and Prime Minister Kim Jong-bi, is known as the "three golds" and is regarded as a fighter to promote the democratic process in South Korea. Before taking office in 1998, Kim Dae-jung had escaped 1 execution and 1 assassination, spent five years in prison, spent six years in solitary confinement, was banned and restricted from political activities in 16, and ran for the presidency three times.

In June 2000, at the peak of Kim Dae-jung's political career, he held a North-South summit meeting with Kim Jong Il, then the top leader of North Korea. This was the first meeting between the leaders of the two sides since the 55-year division of the ROK and the DPRK, and the historic Declaration on North-South Unification was signed, which greatly eased the relationship between the two sides and won Kim Dae-jung the Nobel Peace Prize.

However, Kim Dae-jung failed because his three sons were deeply involved in corruption cases. In his televised speech, Kim Dae-jung apologized to all the people of China for his son's alleged bribery 15 times, saying it was the greatest misfortune he experienced in his life. In 2002, Kim Hongjie, the youngest son of Kim Dae-jung, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended for three years and fined 200 million won for being accused of accepting bribes of 3.5 billion won. In 2003, Jin Hongye, the second son of Kim Dae-jung, was convicted of bribery and tax evasion, imprisoned for two years and fined 660 million won. In 2006, Jin Hongyi, the eldest son of Kim Dae-jung, was also sentenced to two years' imprisonment and suspended for three years on suspicion of accepting bribes.

On August 18, 2009, Kim Dae-jung died at the age of 83.

9. Roh Moo-hyun (2003- 2008) committed suicide by jumping off a cliff.

Roh Moo-hyun was born in a poor family and worked as a fisherman. Although he didn't go to college, he passed the Korean Judicial Examination and became a lawyer. He once claimed to be a candidate who raised money for the election by "piggy bank"; The day after winning the election, he also appeared in the public bathhouse-because there was no hot water at home.

But a year after he became president, Roh Moo-hyun faced impeachment. At that time, the opposition Democratic Party and the largest opposition Grand National Party used Roh Moo-hyun's problems in elections and political funds to impeach him. On March 12, 2004, the South Korean National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against President Roh Moo-hyun by more than two-thirds majority. However, on May 14 of the same year, the Korean Constitutional Court rejected the impeachment case proposed by the National Assembly, and Roh Moo-hyun returned to power.

In February 2008, Roh Moo-hyun retired and returned to his hometown of Xia Feng Village to farm. In June 5438+February of the same year, Park Won-ji, the boss of Guang Tai Industrial Company, a Korean shoe-making enterprise, was arrested on suspicion of tax evasion and bribery, and then many senior Korean officials, including Roh Moo-hyun, were involved in bribery cases. Roh Moo-hyun admitted that his wife Quan Liang Shu received $654.38 million+00,000 from Park Yuanji in 2007, and Roh Moo-hyun's nephew Yan Zhehao also admitted to receiving $5 million from Park Yuanji.

On May 23rd, 2009, Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide in Xia Feng Village, Jinhai City, South Gyeongsangnam-do, climbing the Owl Rock Cliff behind his home, leaving only a short suicide note. According to the contents of the suicide note published by the media, Roh Moo-hyun wrote: "I am really sorry for my son, daughter and all those who support me. I wanted to spend the rest of my life in the countryside after retiring, but I didn't expect to get it. What a pity. Although there are many criticisms about money, I can say that it is very clear. In the distant future, history will give me a fair evaluation. "

10. Lee Myung-bak (2008-20 13) was dragged down by his brother and confidant.

When he was young, Lee Myung-bak almost dropped out of school because of poverty and was admitted to Korea University. His skill and ability can be seen from a modern clerk in South Korea to the president, from the mayor of Seoul to the president of the Republic of Korea.

But if you are smart, you can't escape the influence of corruption of family cronies. His brother Sang-Duk Lee, a former member of the New World Party, was arrested on July 1 1, 2065438 on suspicion of accepting 760 million won of illegal funds from Korean banks and enterprises. Zhong, a confidant of Lee Myung-bak and former director of the First Affiliated Office of the Presidential Palace, was also arrested on July 24th on suspicion of corruption.

For a time, Lee Myung-bak's popular support rate fell to 18%. He bowed to the whole country and apologized on TV, saying, "The more I think about it, the more my heart aches. Who can I blame? " I can only blame myself for negligence. ".2013 In February, Lee Myung-bak resigned as president after his term expired.

1 1. park geun-hye's first female president (20 13-20 17) was finally impeached.

As the daughter of former President park chung-hee, before becoming the South Korean president, park geun-hye once galloped through the political arena with an unbeaten record and won a lot of public support that missed the early efficiency of the authoritarian government. Before the "nepotism" scandal broke out, park geun-hye wanted to push for constitutional amendment, change the current system that South Korean presidents can only serve for five years, and introduce a re-election system. However, in 20 16, Cui Shunshi, the daughter of park geun-hye's best friend, was admitted to Ewha Women's University in the form of "privilege" in the name of a special equestrian student, which triggered dozens of days of collective demonstrations by teachers and students of Ewha Women's University, and finally forced the principal of the school to take the blame and step down. This is only the first sign that the whole cronyism scandal in park geun-hye has been uncovered.

On October 20/61010/0/0/2 1 day, South Korean prosecutors launched an investigation against Cui Shunshi, accusing him of using his influence to ask for bribes from large enterprises. South Korea's "National Daily" disclosed earlier that the real power behind the Mir Consortium and the K Sports Consortium, which were established by a number of large Korean enterprises with a capital contribution of 80 billion won, was Cui Shunshi, and many funds of the consortium were suspected of flowing into Cui's personal company.

The landmark event that really caused a sensation among the government and the people began on June 24th of 10. South Korea's JTBC TV reported that more than 200 documents including 44 presidential speeches were found in the office computer entrusted by Cui Shunshi. JTBC TV said that the document was opened before the president's speech, and it is likely that Cui Shunshi, who has no official duties, reviewed and revised the speech.

10 year1October 25th, park geun-hye apologized to the Korean people by publishing a letter to the people. "For whatever reason, this has caused people's worry, surprise and sadness, and I feel guilty." Park geun-hye bowed deeply.

However, the apology did not calm the storm and the people did not buy it. 101On the evening of October 29th, more than 20,000 South Koreans gathered in Seoul Square to demonstrate and shouted slogans such as "park geun-hye steps down". Organizers said that from June 1 65438+1October1day to June 12, demonstrations were held in Seoul Square every night, demanding that park geun-hye step down and urging the government to find out the truth.

Corresponding to the demonstrations, park geun-hye's support rate plummeted. As of June 5438+065438+1 October1,the poll results show that park geun-hye's support rate has dropped from 34.2% in June 5438+1October to 9.2%, which is the first time that her support rate has fallen below 10% since she took office. South Korean politics has also begun to split. Although the opposition party has not publicly called for park geun-hye to step down, the criticism has intensified, and even party member of park geun-hye New World Party has called for her resignation.

Park geun-hye has taken a series of measures to appease public opinion and deal with the internal pressure of the government.

10 year 10 30th, the first batch of personnel adjustment began. Park geun-hye announced the reorganization of the Presidential Palace and accepted the resignations of eight core staff members, including the Chief Secretary of the Presidential Palace, the Chief Secretary of Civil Affairs and the Chief Secretary of Publicity.

165438+1On October 2nd, park geun-hye nominated the new Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Jin Bingzhun, director of the Policy Office of the Presidential Palace during Roh Moo-hyun's government, was nominated as the Prime Minister-designate to replace the current Prime Minister Jing Anhuan.

165438+1October 4th, park geun-hye apologized again for the cronies scandal, saying that he was ready to be investigated by the prosecution if necessary.

165438+1On October 20th, South Korean prosecutors prosecuted three key figures in the "cronyism" incident, found that President park geun-hye and Cui Shunshi were suspected of conspiracy, and placed park geun-hye on file for investigation.

20 16 On the afternoon of February 9th, 16, the South Korean National Assembly passed the impeachment motion of President park geun-hye with 234 votes in favor, 56 votes against, 2 abstentions and 7 invalid votes, far exceeding the quorum of 200 votes.

2065438+March 6th, 2007, South Korea's "confidant door" independent inspection team (hereinafter referred to as the independent inspection team) announced the final investigation results, and found that park geun-hye and Cui Shunshi, the core figure involved in the case, conspired to accept huge bribes from Samsung Group, and also increased the number of criminal suspects applicable to park geun-hye from the initial 8 to 13.

On March 2017 10, the acting president of the Korean constitutional court, Lee Jin-mei, announced that the constitutional court ruled that the impeachment case against park geun-hye by the South Korean National Assembly was valid and that park geun-hye must be removed immediately. As the first female president of South Korea, park geun-hye eventually became the first president to be dismissed through impeachment procedure since the founding of the People's Republic of Korea. Park geun-hye, who stepped down due to impeachment, will lose the privilege of immunity from prosecution that she enjoyed as the current president, in addition to the benefits that the outgoing president should have enjoyed, such as retirement pension, funds to support commemorative projects, personal office and secretary security. The crimes involved will also face a series of investigations. Park geun-hye won the Korean presidential election at the end of 20 12 with 510.5% of the votes, and has been in power since February 20 13. His original presidency should end in February 20 18.