Chun, who suffered in recent years from Alzheimer's disease and a blood cancer, was declared dead after a heart attack at his Seoul home, police and emergency officials said.
Chun was an army major general when he seized power in December 1979 with his military cronies. Tanks and troops rolled into Seoul in a coup that came less than two months after Park was assassinated by his own intelligence chief during a late-night drinking party after a harsh 18-year rule.Government records show about 200 died due to the crackdown, but activists say the death toll was much higher.
South Korea also won the rights to host the 1988 Summer Olympics, which were seen as celebrating the country's economic rise. The Olympics were held after Chun left office. "Gwangju is truly a huge pain in our country's modern history. Chun and Roh were the only two people who could have brought a historic closure to such pains," said Jang Seung-Jin, a professor at Seoul's Kookmin University. Jang said it was "very regrettable" that both leaders died without apologizing and disclosing the full details of the crackdown.
In 1983, North Korean commandos triggered a bomb that targeted Chun during a visit to Myanmar. Chun narrowly escaped injury in the attack, which killed 21 people, including several South Korean government ministers. In 1987, North Korean agents bombed a South Korean airliner, killing all 115 people on board.
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