Roh Tae-woo

President of South Korea from 1988 to 1993

Source-basedFalling

Lived 1932–2021, aged 89South Korea

South Korea PoliticiansPolitician

Fame34.5
Momentum3.9
South Korea rank#5
Wikipedia20.7K

Wikipedia
53 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in South Korea
#5
Politicians
Era
1932–2021
Aged 89

Summary

Updated 2026-05-29

South Korea's sixth president (1988-93) who pulled off the first direct election under the country's post-military democratic constitution. Roh's ascent marked a rare pivot away from the indirect voting that had locked in military rule since 1972.

Biography

About

Roh Tae-woo was a South Korean army general and politician who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. In 1987, he became the first president to be directly elected under the current democratic constitution, which was promulgated after a lengthy period of indirect elections under military governments following the advent of the Yushin Constitution in 1972.

Profile