South Korean dictator’s widow issues apology for husband’s brutal regime
The widow of South Korea’s last military dictator has issued a brief apology over the “pains and scars” caused by her husband’s brutal rule as dozens of relatives and former aides gathered at a Seoul hospital to pay their final respects to Chun Doo-hwan.
Chun, who took power in a 1979 coup and violently crushed pro-democracy protests a year later before being jailed for treason in the 1990s, died at his Seoul home on Tuesday at the age of 90.
On the final day of a five-day funeral procession, his family held a funeral service at the capital's Severance Hospital before taking his remains to a memorial park for cremation.
Chun's widow, Lee Soon-ja, said during the service at the hospital that her husband had wished to be cremated and that his ashes be spread in border areas near North Korea.
“As we wrap up the funeral procession today, I would like to offer a deep apology on behalf of our family toward the people who suffered pains and scars during my husband's time in office,” said Ms Lee.
Chun never apologised for his atrocities, which included overseeing a massacre of hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in the southern city of Gwangju in 1980, one of the darkest moments in the country'smodernhistorythat came as he attempted to solidify his rule following the coup.
Cho Jin-tae, a senior official at a foundation representing Gwangju victims, said Ms Lee's vague expression of remorse rang hollow and called for Chun’s family to back her words with action, including co-operating with truthfinding efforts into Chun's major wrongdoings.
"I don't think anyone will be consoled by Lee Soon-ja's comments today," Cho said.
Lee Jae-myung, the South Korean governing party's candidate for the presidential election in March next year, said the comments by Chun's widow “insulted the citizens of Gwangju and our people”.
He questioned whether Lee
Soon-ja deliberately excluded Gwang ju victims from her apology by explicitly referring to Chun's time in office. While Chun's coup was in 1979, it was not until September 1980 that he formally made himself head of state, months after the killings in Gwangju in May.
Chun was an army major general when he seized power in December 1979 with military allies including Roh Tae-woo, who later succeeded Chun as president after winning the country's first direct election in nearly two decades in 1987. The two former leaders died nearly a month apart, with Roh's death coming on October 26.
Aside from the bloody crackdown in Gwangju, Chun's government imprisoned tens of thousands of other dissidents during the 1980s.
Desperate to gain international legitimacy, Chun's government successfully pushed a bid to host the 1988 Olympics, a process that was accompanied by round-ups of homeless people.
Public anger over his dictatorship eventually fuelled massive nationwide protests in 1987, forcing Chun to accept a constitutional revision to introduce direct presidential elections, which were considered as the start of South Korea's transition to democracy.