金泳三
Roh Tae-woo became president for the 13th presidential term in the first direct presidential election in 16 years. Although Roh was from a military background and one of the leaders of Chun's coup d'état, the inability of the opposition leaders Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam to agree on a unified candidacy, led to him being elected. The first female presidential candidate, Hong Sook-ja, even withdrew from the race in order to back Kim Young-sam against Roh.