Hanahoe was an unofficial private group and secret society of military officers in South Korea headed by Chun Doo-hwan, who later became the South Korean president during the Fifth Republic era.

History

An article in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture traces the group's origins to the private group Chilsonghoe in 1958 that was formed by seven people, including Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, and Chung Ho-yong. The group was an expansion of the group Osunghoe, formed in 1951, which had five members-Roh, Chun, Kim Bok-dong, Choi Sung-taek, Park Byung-ha, and Chilsonghoe included two more members-Jung Ho-yong and Kwon Yik-hyon. Initially formed by graduates of the eleventh class of the Korea Military Academy in 1955, Hanahoe built up its ranks by recruiting three to four members per subsequent classes of the KMA, mostly from Gyeongsang Province. Hanahoe formed the core of the group that eventually took control of the presidency and government from Choi Kyu-hah in the December 12, 1979 and the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, 1980, ending the Fourth Republic. Subsequently, Hanahoe also played an instrumental role in violent suppression of the Gwangju Uprising. After its initial seizure of power, Hanahoe maintained great influence in South Korean politics throughout the 1980s, but was later disbanded by force in 1993 upon inauguration of Kim Young-sam. Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-Woo, together with other members of Hanahoe, were convicted for their role in the two coups and Gwangju Massacre.

In popular culture