1980 in South Korea

← 1979 1978 1977 1980 in South Korea → 1981 1982 1983
Centuries:	20th 21st
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	Other events of 1980 Years in South Korea Timeline of Korean history 1980 in North Korea

Events from the year 1980 in South Korea.

Incumbents

• President: Choi Kyu-hah (until 16 August), Chun Doo-hwan (starting 1 September)
• Prime Minister:
  • until 22 May: Shin Hyun-hwak
  • 22 May-2 September: Pak Choong-hoon
  • starting 2 September: Nam Duck-woo

Events

• May 17 - Coup d'état of May Seventeenth: General Chun Doo-hwan forces the Cabinet to extend martial law to the whole nation.
• May 18–27 - Gwangju massacre: Up to 165 people are killed when a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju is crushed by the South Korean army.
• May 20 - Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo order the National Assembly of Korea to be dissolved, using troops to enforce the order.
• August 27 - Chun Doo-hwan is elected President of South Korea by the "National Conference for Unification".

Films

• Fine Windy Day
• The Hidden Hero
• Neumi
• Painful Maturity
• Son of Man
• The Last Witness

Births

• February 13 - Lee Sang-woo, actor
• March 4 - Jeong Da-bin, actress
• May 4 - Park Jong-Jin, footballer
• November 16 - Lee Eun-ju, actress (died 2005)

Deaths

• May 24 - Kim Jae-gyu, South Korean Army Lieutenant General, director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, and assassin of President Park Chung-hee (born 1926; executed by hanging)