Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Südkorea aus strafrechtlicher Perspektive. Die Strafverfahren gegen zwei ehemalige Staatspräsidenten

Abstract

After the Japanese occupation the Korean people lived under military dictatorship for decades. When General Chun Doo-Hwan organized a putsch in the late 70s, another era of military dictatorship followed. After the demonstrations for democracy in Kwangju-city were crushed in May 1980, Chun Doo-Hwan and Roh Tae-Woo were presidents of the country in the next 13 years. Only the discovery of a huge corruption scandal revealed the country’s need for analysis of its past. This article tries to explain the legal difficulties in prosecuting the former Presidents of Korea. The principal problems involved the question of prescription and the success of high treason in 1979/80. The author thinks that the prosecution and condemnation of the two former Presidents was justified by the idea of justice as already formulated in the constitution of Korea.