Gwangju Uprising
Despite his involvement in the 12 December 1979 Coup d'état against then-President Choi Kyu-hah and the bloody military crackdown of dissidents in the Gwangju Uprising of 18-27 May 1980 and with an eye on the Blue House in the upcoming 1987 Presidential Elections, Roh began working to distance himself from the unpopular Chun government. The reason is that Roh worked to carry out his own agenda for democratic reform. By agreeing to meeting the demands of the political opposition in terms of political reforms with his eight-point proposal including direct election of the President, Roh successfully upstaged Chun and boosted his own image as a reformer.