THIS MONTH IN KOREAN HISTORY - DEC. 2024
By Eun Byoul Oh
Hanahoe, the unofficial secret private group in the Korean Miltary that led the coupd d’etat of December 12, 1979. Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae Woo are seated next to each other in the front line, 4th and 5th seat from the left.
The coup d'état of December 12, 1979 was a military coup led by Chun Doo Hwan and Singunbu (신군부, the New Military Faction) to overthrow Choi Kyu-hah government, which succeeded the Park Chung Hee regime after Park’s Assassination.
On October 26, 1979 Park Chung Hee, the 18-year long dictator of Korea, was assassinated by Kim Jae Gyu, the head of KCIA.
Chun Doo Hwan, along with his cronies Roh Tae Woo and Hanahoe, captured power by arresting Jeong Seung-Hwa, who was then Republic of Korea Army Chief of Staff, without authorization from Choi Kyu Ha.
Hanahoe was an unofficial private group and secret society of military officers led by Chun Doo Hwan, and the members of the secret society followed the orders of Chun during the coup to mobilize different infantry divisions, including the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade and 9th Infantry Division.
The mobilization of the different divisions led to a serious threat to the national security of South Korea, especially due to the presence of North Korea, led by Kim Il Sung, the first leader of North Korea and Kim Jung Eun’s grandfather.
There were attempts to quell the coup by those who followed Jeong Seung Hwa’s orders. However, Major General Jang Tae Wan, the Commander of Army Capital Security Command), and Major General Jeong Byeong-ju (Commander of Army Special Warfare Command), ultimately failed in their attempts to end the coup.
In the end, the coup led to the rise of Chun Doo Hwan, who then staged another coup on May 17th, 1980, which extended martial law nationwide. The expanded martial law banned political activities and closed universities to prevent student protests.
Multiple student protests happened in reaction to the coup d'état of December 12th and the following coup d'état of May 17th Among those protests was the Gwangju Uprising, which ended in a massacre of the people.
The coup d'état of December 12th was portrayed in the movie 12.12 the Day, which can be watched on Viki and Youtube. The movie used different names for the characters, and does not follow the factual incident in all of its details. However, it is informative for us to watch the movie, in light of the 2024 12.3 Self-Coup
