← 1978 1977 1976 1979 in South Korea → 1980 1981 1982
Centuries:	20th 21st
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events in 1979 Years in South Korea Timeline of Korean history 1979 in North Korea

Events from the year 1979 in South Korea.

Incumbents

• President: Park Chung-hee (until 26 October), Choi Kyu-hah (starting 6 December)
• Prime Minister: Choi Kyu-hah (until 6 December), Shin Hyun-hwak (starting 12 December)

Events

• October 3 - Security chief Kim Jae-kyu meets democrat politician Kim Young-sam to discuss the country's future.
• December 6 - 1979 South Korean presidential election, confirms former prime minister Choi Kyu-hah as the new president.^[1]
• December 12 - Coup d'état of December Twelfth: Lieutenant General Chun Doo-hwan, commander of the Security Command,^[2][3] orders the arrest of General Jeong Seung-hwa, ROK Army Chief of Staff, on allegations of involvement in the assassination of President Park Chung Hee. A shoot-out at the Army Headquarters and the Ministry of Defense results in Chun and his fellow eleventh class military academy graduates such as Major General Roh Tae-woo and Major General Jeong Ho-yong taking control of the Korean military.

Films

• The Genealogy
• Police Story
• The Rain at Night
• Water Lady

Births

• 7 January - Ha Jae-sook, actress
• 12 January - Lee Bo-young.
• 20 January - Choo Ja-hyun, actress
• 21 January - Byung-hyun Kim, baseball player
• 30 January - Nam Hyun-joon.
• 31 January - Kim E-Z.
• 8 February - MC Sniper.
• 16 February - Eric Mun.
• 21 February - Lee Hee-jin.
• 11 March - Jung Yong-hoon.
• 29 March - Park Si-yeon.
• 6 April - H-Eugene.
• 10 May - Lee Hyori.
• 10 July - Gong Yoo.
• 13 July - Lee Jaijin.
• 28 July - Lee Min-woo.
• 7 August - Kim Jaeduck.
• 4 September - MC Mong.
• 10 September - MayBee.
• 24 September - Kim Jong-min.
• 10 October - Kangta.
• 2 November - Skull.
• 21 November - Kim Dong-wan.
• 27 November - Shin Hye-sung.
• 28 November - Daniel Henney.

Deaths

• October 26 - President Park Chung-hee, 61 (assassinated)