Coup d'état of May Seventeenth

The Coup d'état of May Seventeenth (Korean: 5.17 내란; Hanja: 五一七內亂) was a military coup d'état staged by General Chun Doo-hwan on 17 May 1980 against the civilian government of President Choi Kyu-hah in South Korea.

On May 17, 1980, Chun forced the Cabinet to extend martial law to the whole nation, which had previously not applied to Jeju Province. The expanded martial law closed universities, banned political activities and further curtailed the press. To enforce the martial law, troops were dispatched to various parts of the nation. On the same day, the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) raided a national conference of student union leaders from 55 universities. About 2,700 people, including 26 politicians, were also arrested. On May 18, 1980, citizens of Gwangju rose up against Chun's military dictatorship and took control of the city. In the course of the 9-day uprising, citizens took up arms to defend themselves but were ultimately violently crushed by the army.

In June 1980, Chun and Roh Tae-woo ordered the National Assembly and the respective political parties to be dissolved by deploying troops in the National Assembly. Chun subsequently created the National Defense Emergency Policy Committee and installed himself as the head of command. In mid-August 1980, President Choi Kyu-hah was forced to resign as president to give way to Chun, who took power in September 1980.