President Yoon Suk Yeol's death may have been quick and shocking, but he is just the latest in a growing list of South Korean leaders who have seen their fortunes reverse after coming to power.
Although the country has elected only eight presidents since the country's fully democratic elections began in 1987, all but three have been imprisoned, impeached, or both. One committed suicide.
Here's a look back at the former heads of state and what happened to them.
Park took office in 2013 and became the country's first and only female president. She served for three years before being ousted in 2016. The Constitutional Court forcibly deposed her the following year. The conservative politician was later convicted of criminal charges including bribery, extortion and abuse of power.
She was pardoned by then-President Moon Jae-in in 2021 after serving five years of a 22-year prison sentence. While in prison, she was hospitalized several times for shoulder and back pain.
Her father was Park Chung-hee, the country's longest-serving president. Although he was a military dictator who seized power in a coup in 1961, he is also credited with modernizing the country before his assassination in 1979.
Lee was the country's fifth democratically elected president and served in that role from 2008 to 2013. Lee rose from poverty to become a director at Hyundai Engineering & Construction, becoming popular as a self-made man. His hard style earned him the nickname 'bulldozer'.
He entered politics in his 50s and became a member of parliament and mayor of Seoul. He focused on improving the quality of life in the capital by speeding up commutes and restoring a river in the city center. His presidency was also marked by mass protests and renewed tensions with North Korea.
After leaving office, he was jailed for corruption in 2018 after receiving a lengthy sentence. He was pardoned by Yoon in 2022.
The former human rights lawyer served as president from 2003 to 2008 and often boasted that his government was the cleanest in the country.
In 2004, he was impeached for electoral law violations and economic mismanagement, in the National Assembly's first attempt to depose a head of state. However, the constitutional court reinstated him about two months later.
Roh also made the ambitious move to try to move the country's capital away from Seoul, but faced strong opposition. Months after leaving office, he became embroiled in a bribery investigation and committed suicide by jumping off a cliff.
Roh never attended college. He studied independently to become a judge and then a lawyer. In 1978 he opened his own office and specialized in human rights cases. The 2013 film The Attorney was based on his life.
Korea's first democratically elected president led the country from 1988 to 1993. His presidency was marked by historic diplomatic achievements, including South Korea's accession to the United Nations. It was also marred by massive corruption that culminated in a criminal conviction three years after leaving office.
Roh was linked to the bloody military crackdown on anti-government protesters in Gwangju in 1980, when armed forces crushed a 10-day uprising that resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands. Roh, then a general, was the right-hand man of Chun Doo-hwan, a former general who became president in a military coup and was Roh's predecessor in office.
Chun chose Roh as his party's candidate for the 1987 presidential election, a move that was seen as a military transfer of power. In response, pro-democracy rallies spread in Seoul and across the country.
Roh bowed to pressure and allowed an open vote even though the prospects at the time were slim that he could win. He won despite receiving only 36.6% of the vote, after opposition leaders Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung both entered the race and split the progressive vote.
He and Chun were tried for corruption, mutiny and treason for their roles in the Gwangju murders and the coup that brought Chun to power. Chun was sentenced to death and Roh received a prison sentence of 22.5 years.
But they were released under presidential amnesty in 1997 and Roh largely disappeared from public view.
Roh died in 2021 at the age of 88. Chun died less than a month later at the age of 90.
With help from Sam Kim.
This article was generated from an automated feed from a news agency without any changes to the text.
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