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K 12 December 1979 coup

History

Dated history of 12 December 1979 coup (12 December 1979 (night of the seizure; 17 May 1980 and Gwangju follow)) in Seoul: Army HQ, Hanahoe networks, after Park Chung-hee's assassination.

Educational history. Casualty figures are documented ranges. This is not operational advice, a ranking of nations, or a how-to for weapons or coups.

At a glance
Timeline

Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.

1979-10-26 Park assassinated1979-10-27+ Choi government1979-12-12 The night1979-12-13+ New military centre1980-05-17 Expansion1980-05-18-27 Gwangju1980-08 Chun as president1987-06 June Struggle1995-96 Trials2010s-20s Cinema / civic memory
  1. Park assassinated
  2. Choi government
  3. The night
  4. New military centre
  5. Expansion
  6. Gwangju
  7. Chun as president
  8. June Struggle
  9. Trials
  10. Cinema / civic memory
Score intensity

Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.

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Quick answers

Are the scores a ranking of nations or armies?

No. Scores are browsing aids inside an era-bounded atlas — not live league tables of countries.

How many died on 12.12?

Shooting in Seoul that night was limited; it was not a battle like 1950. The large death ledger is Gwangju in May 1980 -- hundreds in official counts, higher in civic estimates.

Who was Hanahoe?

A secret fraternity of officers, many from the 11th class of the Korea Military Academy, including Chun and Roh Tae-woo. It operated inside the formal army.

What was 10.26?

The 26 October 1979 assassination of President Park by Kim Jae-gyu, his intelligence chief -- the vacuum 12.12 filled.

How does Gwangju connect?

17 May 1980 expanded the new military's control; Gwangju resisted and was crushed. 12.12 is the December preface to May.

Were Chun and Roh tried?

Yes, in the mid-1990s, for mutiny and for Gwangju. Sentences were later remitted -- a legal and political afterlife.

Start with this section - History

Start on 26 October, not only on 12 December. The assassination is the vacuum.

Yushin's late Park years are the longer preface of a politicised army.

Timeline

  1. Park assassinated

    Kim Jae-gyu; a vacuum.

  2. Choi government

    A weak acting presidency; Chun at DSC investigates.

  3. The night

    Jeong seized; Hanahoe units move in Seoul.

  4. New military centre

    Chun's circle holds the guns.

  5. Expansion

    Political shutdown; martial widening.

  6. Gwangju

    Uprising and crackdown -- the sequel dead.

  7. Chun as president

    The 12.12 cohort takes the Blue House path.

  8. June Struggle

    Direct election forced.

  9. Trials

    Chun and Roh convicted.

  10. Cinema / civic memory

    A new generation's 12.12 and 5.18.

Eras

Vacuum

Assassination; investigation politics.

The night

Hanahoe seizes the army centre.

Gwangju

The civic sequel.

Fifth Republic

Chun years; 1987 break.

Trials and film

Legal and cultural afterlife.

Milestones

Faction captured the chain of command

The 12.12 fact.

Gwangju as sequel

May 1980 is why December matters civically.

Later convictions

A rare coup-in-the-dock afterlife.

If the story stops on 13 December it is an officers' anecdote. Gwangju makes it a civic history.

1987 and the 1990s trials are the incomplete democratic reply.

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