Former army general Chun Doo-hwan was inaugurated as Korea’s 12th president on March 3, 1981, opening the era of the Fifth Republic. From the very beginning, the iron-fisted Fifth Republic put down people’s demands for democracy. The spark of democratization was re-ignited when a few universities in Seoul hosted memorial services on the first anniversary of the May 18th Democratic Uprising. Despite the government’s brutal crackdown on student activists, democratization movements continued, fueled by the tragic deaths of two young college students. Finally, in 1987 Roh Tae-woo, then-head of the Democratic Justice Party hand-picked by Chun for the next presidency, made an announcement promising a more democratic Constitution and a direct presidential election, opening a new era of democracy. Countless sacrifices and tireless fight against tyranny and injustice have turned Korea into a true democracy and history has proven that people, who champion freedom, human rights and democracy, always triumph.