Prosecutors are seeking an 18-month prison sentence for former President Chun Doo-hwan for allegedly defaming a late Catholic priest who criticized his bloody crackdown on the Gwangju pro-democracy uprising in 1980.

At a final court hearing in the libel case held at the Gwangju District Court on Monday, prosecutors asked for the prison term after completing closing arguments against the 89-year-old former Army general.

In his 2017 memoir, Chun labeled Catholic priest Cho Bi-oh as a "liar" and "Satan" for testifying that troops in helicopters fired machine guns at civilians during the uprising.

The ex-president, who was accused of posthumous defamation by the priest’s nephew and indicted in May 2018, has repeatedly denied allegations that he ordered troops in helicopters to fire at the protesters, stressing that he was not in a position to know about it.

The former president was sentenced to death in 1996 for both his roles in the massacre and the military coup he led, though his punishment was reduced to life imprisonment by an appeals court.

He was pardoned during former President Kim Young-sam's term after serving only two years behind bars.