Events from the year 1981 in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

: Chun Doo-hwan *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Nam Duck-woo Nam Duck-woo (22 April 1924 – 18 May 2013) was the 12th Prime Minister of South Korea from 1980 to 1982. Nam received his PhD in economics from Oklahoma State University. He served as finance minister from 1969 to 1974 under the Presidency of ...

Events

* September 30 - The

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

awards the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

to the city of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Births

* 10 January - Brian Joo, singer-songwriter, actor and TV host * 14 January - Jung Woo, actor * 18 January -

Gang Dong-won Gang Dong-won (born January 18, 1981) is a South Korean actor. Early life Gang Dong-won was born January 18, 1981, in Busan, and grew up in Changwon of Gyeongsangnam-do. His father, Gang Cheol-woo, was an engineer and later vice president ...

, actor * 21 January -

Andy Lee Andy Lee may refer to: __NOTOC__ Sportspeople * Andy Lee (American football) (born 1982), American football punter * Andy Lee (boxer) (born 1984), Irish boxer * Andy Lee (footballer, born 1982), English footballer for Bradford City * Andy Lee (footb ...

, singer * 28 January - Lee Yu-ri, actress * 5 February - Lee Eon, actor and model (d. 2008) * 6 February - Shim Eun-jin, singer and actress * 10 February -

Cho Yeo-jeong Cho Yeo-jeong (born February 10, 1981) is a South Korean actress. She is best known internationally for her role in the film ''Parasite'' (2019), which won four Academy Awards and became the first non-English language film to win the award for Be ...

, actress * 14 February - Kim Hwan-sung, singer ( NRG) (d. 2000) * 26 February - Song Hye-kyo, actress * 3 March **

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

, singer and actress **

Sung Yu-ri Sung Yu-ri (born March 3, 1981) is a South Korean actress and singer. She made her entertainment debut in 1998 as a member of the now-defunct K-pop group Fin.K.L. Sung turned to acting in 2002, starring in television dramas such as ''Thousand ...

, singer and actress * 18 March -

Jang Na-ra Jang Na-ra (; born March 18, 1981) is a South Korean singer and actress active in both the South Korean and Chinese entertainment industries since 2001. She rose to prominence with her hit studio album ''Sweet Dream'' in 2002, and starred in wel ...

, singer and actress * 19 March -

Kim Rae-won Kim Rae-won (Korean: 김래원; born 19 March 1981) is a South Korean actor. He first rose to fame with his appearances in the 2003 romantic comedy series ''Cats on the Roof'', and movies such as ''My Little Bride'' (2004), ''Sunflower'' (2006), ...

, actor * 1 April - Yeon Woo, singer * 8 April - Gummy, singer * 3 May -

U;Nee Lee Hye-ryeon (이혜련), later name changed to Heo Yun (허윤), (May 3, 1981 – January 21, 2007) best known by her stage name as U;Nee () was a South Korean singer, rapper, dancer and actress. U;Nee committed suicide on January 21, 2007 ...

, singer, rapper, dancer and actress (d.

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

) * 9 May - Kim Ji-hoon, actor * 12 May - Kim Tae-woo, singer * 28 July - Zo In-sung, actor * 15 August **

Lee Sang-yoon Lee Sang-yoon (; born August 15, 1981) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his starring roles in ''My Daughter Seo-young'' (2012), '' Angel Eyes'' (2014), ''Liar Game'' (2014), ''On the Way to the Airport'' (2016), ''Whisper'' (2017), ...

, actor **

Song Ji-hyo Cheon Soo-yeon (born Cheon Seong-im on 15 August 1981), professionally known by her stage name Song Ji-hyo, is a South Korean actress and model. Song is one of the regular cast members of the South Korean variety show '' Running Man'' since 201 ...

, actress, model and TV host * 22 August -

Jang Hyun-kyu Jang Hyun-Kyu ( ko, 장현규; 22 August 1981 – 16 August 2012) was a South Korean footballer. He was involved in the 2011 South Korean football betting scandal. He died of a suspected heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), c ...

, footballer (d.

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

) * 9 September -

Jung Jong-kwan Jung Jong-Kwan ( ko, 정종관; 9 September 1981 – 30 May 2011) was a South Korean footballer. He was involved in the 2011 South Korean football betting scandal. He was found dead of a suspected suicide by hanging himself at his hotel ...

, footballer (d.

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

) * 16 September - Lee Jin-wook, actor * 18 September -

Han Ye-seul Han Ye-seul (Hangul: 한예슬; born Leslie Kim on September 18, 1981) is an American-born South Korean actress. She made her acting debut in the sitcom '' Nonstop 4'' (2003), and has since played leading roles in television dramas such as ''Co ...

, actress * 29 September - Nam Hyun-hee, fencer * 23 October - Shoo, singer and actress * 30 October - Jun Ji-hyun, actress and model * 6 November - Lee Dong-wook, actor, TV host and model * 25 December - Lee Young Hyun, singer ( Big Mama) * 26 December -

Seorak Seorak Park (; born December 26, 1981), also known by her stage name SeoRock, is a South Korean singer and former VJ for MTV Korea. She currently lives in Manhattan, New York and studies law. Seorak is one of the first Korean singers to success ...

, singer and VJ * 30 December -

K.Will Kim Hyung-soo (; born December 30, 1981), better known by his stage name K.Will (), is a South Korean singer. The name is a combination of the first letter 'K' of his last name 'Kim' and the English word 'Will', which means will. He debuted in ...

, singer

References

Years of the 20th century in South Korea 1980s in South Korea

{{Asia-year-stub

Incumbents

Events

Births

See also

References