sentences:  The idea for South Korea to place a bid for the 1988 Games emerged during the last days of the Park Chung-hee administration in the late 1970s.After President Park's assassination in 1979, Chun Doo-hwan, his successor, submitted Korea's bid to the IOC in September 1981, in hopes that the increased international exposure brought by the Olympics would legitimize his authoritarian regime amidst increasing political pressure for democratization, provide protection from increasing threats from North Korea, and showcase the Korean economic miracle to the world community.South Korea was awarded the bid on 30 September 1981, becoming the 20th host nation (16th in the Summer Olympics), as well as the second Asian nation (following Japan in the 1964 Summer Olympics) and the first mainland Asian nation.