Blue House Curse Haunted Presidents

South Korea’s former presidents have faced such a long pattern of coups, assassinations, impeachment, imprisonment, and corruption scandals that the trend became known as the “Blue House curse.” Syngman Rhee (1948–1960) fled into exile after election fraud protests, Park Chung-hee (1963–1979) was assassinated, and military rulers Chun Doo-hwan (1980–1988) and Roh Tae-woo (1988–1993) later went to prison for corruption, mutiny, and related crimes. In the democratic era, Roh Moo-hyun (2003–2008) died by suicide during a bribery investigation, while Lee Myung-bak (2008–2013) and Park Geun-hye (2013–2017) were both imprisoned for corruption. The pattern made South Korea’s presidency infamous for leaders who often left office only to face disgrace, prosecution, or worse.

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