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Former president couple as match formed in heaven

Posted May. 18, 2016 07:21,   

Updated May. 18, 2016 07:38

한국어

Former President Chun Doo-hwan who served as Korea’s 11th and 12th president first met with his wife Lee Soon-ja when he was a cadet of the Korean Military Academy. The president of the academy, which was then in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province at the time, was Lee’s father, General Lee Kyu-dong. Chun, who was the captain and goalie of the academy’s soccer team, had outgoing personality since young. Since the country was in a state of war at the time, even cadets of the academy could not afford to eat food as much as they wanted. After finishing soccer game on Sunday mornings, Chun would bring his colleagues to the residence of the academy’s president, and eat lunch heartedly. When he was in his junior year, Chun encountered Lee, who was then a second grader at Jinhae Girls’ Middle School.

Lee graduated from Kyunggi Girls’ Middle School and Kyunggi Girls’ High School. When young, she had the nickname "Philippine Princess" due to her dark skin and fairly pretty look. When she was a third grader at Kyunggi Girls’ High School, Lee reunited with Chun, then lieutenant, and fell in love with him. She would often be caught while reading love letters from Chun she then called "gentleman," and scolded at the principal’s office before bursting into tears. She entered Ewha Womans University College of medicine, but gave up study to marry Chun, acquired hairdresser’s license, and mastered knitting skills to make ends meet.

Chun, who took strong pride as member of the official Military Academy’s Class 1 (Class 11), felt pitiful about officers who stole foodstuffs and gasoline to hold a drinking party. He would invite his senior military generals to a drinking party. When the attendees felt somewhat intoxicated after drinks, he would rob senior generals of wallets, take out cash, and hand it to junior officers. Not only generals who were senior to him but his men would respect and follow Chun who was seen broad-minded. When business people brought envelopes with money to him while he was serving as the commander of the Defense Security Command, he would show the envelope in the presence of his men, and would say “This guy is not generous. Just 5 million won (4,250 dollars),” and distributed the money to his staff officers.

Chun would say “I was not talented and nor was I better than others. As I took good care of my men, I was able to become even the president.” In an interview with Chun Doo-hwan featured in the June issue of the monthly Shin Dong-A released on Tuesday, Lee confessed her emotion about their exile to Baekdam-sa Buddhist Temple, by saying, “I felt afraid rather than angry,” and criticized Chun’s successor, former President Roh Tae-woo. Recently, Chun played golf with his former staff from the military in Taeneung, Seoul. As they moved to the office of the Military Academy’s president to have a drinking party after golf rounding, Chun said, “The biggest mistake in my whole life was to make Roh Tae-woo the president. The couple is truly a match made in heaven.



최영훈 tao4@donga.com