The former military dictator of South Korea, Chun Doo-hwan, has been given a suspended prison sentence of eight months for libel in a case related to his memoirs about the 1980 Gwangju Pro-Democracy Movement.
Chun was convicted in the Gwangju District Court of defaming the late activist Catholic priest Cho Cheol-hyeon by calling him a liar regarding Cho’s claims to have seen soldiers shooting at civilians from helicopters during the Gwangju protests.
Chun Doo-hwan, now 89 years old, was president from from 1980 to 1988.
According to official data, the military under Chun killed more than 200 people in Gwangju and wounded 1,800 others.