Choi Kyu-hah

His Excellency Choi Kyu-hah
최규하 崔圭夏
4th President of South Korea
In office October 26, 1979 – August 16, 1980 Acting to December 6, 1979
Prime Minister	Shin Hyun-hwak Park Choong-hoon
Preceded by	Park Chung-hee
Succeeded by	Chun Doo-hwan
Prime Minister of South Korea
In office December 18, 1975 – December 12, 1979
President	Park Chung-hee
Preceded by	Kim Jong-pil
Succeeded by	Shin Hyun-hwak
Personal details
Born	(1919-07-16)July 16, 1919 Genshū-men, Genshū-gun, Kōgen-dō, Chōsen
Died	October 22, 2006(2006-10-22) (aged 87) Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Resting place	Daejeon National Cemetery
Nationality	South Korean
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Hong Gi ​ (m. 1935)​
Alma mater	University of Tsukuba
Signature
Korean name
Hangul	최규하
Hanja	崔圭夏
Revised Romanization	Choe Gyu-ha
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oe Kyuha
Pen name
Hangul	현석
Hanja	玄石
Revised Romanization	Hyeonseok
McCune–Reischauer	Hyŏnsŏk
Courtesy name
Hangul	서옥
Hanja	瑞玉
Revised Romanization	Seook
McCune–Reischauer	Sŏok

Choi Kyu-hah (Korean: 최규하; Hanja: 崔圭夏; Korean pronunciation: [tɕʰø.ɡju.ɦa] or [tɕʰø] [kju.ɦa]; July 16, 1919 – October 22, 2006), also spelled Choi Kyu-ha or Choi Gyu-ha, was a South Korean politician who served as President of South Korea between 1979 and 1980.

Early life[]

Choi was born in Genshū-men, Genshū-gun, Kōgen-dō, Chōsen. This area today is part of South Korea. Choi was born into a Yangban family; his grandfather had been a scholar at the Sungkyunkwan. During the period of Japanese rule, Choi used the name Umehara Keiichi (梅原圭一).

After graduating from Keiki High School and the Tokyo Higher Normal School [ja] (today Tokyo University of Education [ja]) with diplomas in English language and literature, Choi briefly worked as a teacher at the Taikyū Public Junior High School, before moving to Manchukuo for studies at the  [ja]. Choi graduated in 1943; two years later he became a professor at the Keijō Normal School.

Political career[]

Choi served as Ambassador to Malaysia from 1964 to 1967, foreign minister from 1967 to 1971; and as prime minister from 1975 to 1979.

After the assassination of Park Chung-hee in 1979, Choi became acting president; the prime minister stood next in line for the presidency under Article 48 of the Yushin Constitution. Due to the unrest resulting from Park's authoritarian rule, Choi promised democratic elections, as under Park elections had been widely seen as rigged. Choi also promised a new constitution to replace the highly authoritarian Yushin Constitution. Choi was the sole candidate in an election on 6 December for the balance of Park's term, becoming the country's fourth president.

Coup and resignation[]

In December 1979, Major General Chun Doo-hwan and close allies within the military staged a coup d'état against Choi's government. They quickly removed the army chief of staff and virtually controlled the government by early 1980.

In April 1980, due to increasing pressure from Chun and other politicians, Choi appointed Chun head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. In May, Chun declared martial law and dropped all pretense of civilian government, becoming the de facto ruler of the country. By then, student protests were escalating in Seoul and Gwangju. The protests in Gwangju resulted in the Gwangju uprising in which about 987 civilians were killed within a five-day period by Chun's military.

Choi was forced to resign soon after the uprising. Prime Minister Park Chung-hoon became acting president, until Chun's election as President on September 1, 1980.

Later life[]

After his resignation, Choi lived quietly out of the public eye and died on October 22, 2006. Choi was buried in Daejeon National Cemetery on October 26, 2006.^[1]

See also[]

• Index of Korea-related articles
• Gangneung Choi clan

References[]

External links[]

• President Choi Kyu-ha
• Nils M. Solsvik Jr. (Oct 23, 2006). "Choi Kyu-hah". South Korean President. Find a Grave. Retrieved Aug 19, 2011.