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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo, a major player in a 1979 coup who later became president in a landmark democratic election before ending his tumultuous political career in prison, died in hospital on Tuesday in the capital of Seoul.
Nov 23, 2021 · He later handpicked his friend Roh Tae-woo, also a former general, as his successor. Mr. Roh, president from 1988 to 1993, died in October. Image. Mr. Chun in 1978. Unapologetic to the end, he was ...
Oct 26, 2021 · SEOUL (BLOOMBERG) - Mr Roh Tae-woo, a former South Korean general who became the country's first democratically elected president after being forced by massive street protests to hold open polls ...
Oct 26, 2021 · Roh Tae-woo was born in Daegu, Korea, on Dec. 4, 1932. He was 7 when his father, a local government official, died in a car accident. He attended the Korean Military Academy, where he became a ...
On June 29th, Roh Tae-woo announced a program of reform. This included direct presidential elections, restoration of banned politicians including Kim Dae-jung, and other liberalizing measures. This won Roh instant popularity, and he was elected as the next president of South Korea. It later became known that Chun was responsible for this plan.
Roh Tae-woo worked hard to dissociate himself from the widely unpopular Chun Doo-hwan. Roh promised continued democratization and economic reforms, while emphasizing stability. The ruling DJP's support base came from the rural areas, the farming population which made up 20 percent of the total population, while in urban areas, Roh attracted conservative middle-class voters and less-educated, low-income workers.
In the 16 December 1987 presidential election, Roh Tae-woo won the election with a plurality, the first free and fair national elections of any sort held in the country in two decades, after opposition candidates Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung split the popular vote.
