Elections in South Korea
Encyclopedia
Elections in South Korea are held on national level to select the President
President of South Korea
The President of the Republic of Korea is, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, chief executive of the government, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the head of state of the Republic of Korea...

 and the National Assembly
National Assembly of South Korea
The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea is a 299-member unicameral legislature. The latest general elections were held on April 9, 2008. Single-member constituencies comprise 245 of the National Assembly's seats, while the remaining 54 are allocated by proportional representation...

.

The president is directly elected for a single five-year term by plurality
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...

 vote. The National Assembly has 299 members elected for a four-year term, 245 in single-seat constituencies and 54 members by proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

. Each individual party willing to represent its policies in the National Assembly must be qualified on the legislative (general) election that: i) if the national party-vote reaches over 3.00% on proportional contest or ii) if more than 5 members of their party that has been elected in each of their first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...

 election constituencies.

South Korea has a multi-party system, with numerous parties.

The next elections will be for the National Assembly in April 2012, and a Presidential election in December 2012.

2008 legislative election

2004 legislative election

2007 Presidential election

1948 legislative election

The election was held on May 10, 1948.

1948 presidential election

Under the original constitution of South Korea, the president was elected indirectly by the National Assembly. The only such election was held on July 20, 1948. Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the...

 received 182 of 199 votes (92%), thus defeating the two independent candidates Kim Koo(who received 13 votes, despite not participating in the process) and An Jae-hong , who received 2 votes. Rhee thus became the Republic of Korea's first president.

The vice-president was elected separately at the same legislative session. Under the rules of the first constitution, a candidate had to receive 2/3 of the votes in order to prevail; however, in the first round, no vice-presidential candidate was able to do so. Lee Si-hyeong received only a simple majority with 113 votes, Kim Koo 65, Cho Man-sik
Cho Man-sik
Cho Man-sik was an activist in Korea's independence movement. He became involved in the power struggle that enveloped North Korea in the months following the Japanese surrender after World War II, but was eventually forced from power by the Soviet-backed communists in the north...

 10, Oh Se-Chang 5, Jang Taek-sang
Jang Taek-sang
Jang Taek-sang was a South Korean politician. He was the third prime minister of South Korea.Jang held this position during the Korean War. He attended Edinburgh University in the U.K. earlier in his life. Jang became head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade from August 15 - December 24,...

 3, and Seo Sang-in 1. A runoff was therefore held between Kim and Yi, in which Yi took in 133 votes and gained the vice-presidency.

Less than a year after the election, on June 26, 1949, Kim was assassinated by 2nd lieutenant and Korean Independence Party member An Du-hui , whom a bus driver killed in Incheon on October 23, 1996.

1952 presidential election

In May 1952, Rhee pushed through constitutional amendments which made the presidency a directly elected position after having jailed members of parliament whom he expected to vote against it. In the same month, elections were held.

Election held during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 on May 8, 1952. Turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

: 88.09 %. Result: Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the...

 (이승만; 74.62 %; Liberal Party [자유당]) wins over Cho Bong-am (조봉암; 11.36 %), Lee Si-yeong (이시영; 10,89 %; vice president of 1948) and Sin Heung-u (신흥우; 3,13 %), thus being elected into his second term in office. He then pushes through another amendment to exempt himself from the presidential eight-year term limit. Other candidates: none. Votes deemed invalid: 3,51 %

1956 presidential election

President Rhee has become less popular, but the opposition's main candidate for presidency Shin Ik-hee (신익희) suddenly dies while campaigning.

Election held on May 15, 1956. Turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

: 94.38 %. Result: Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the...

 (이승만; 69.99 %; Liberal Party [자유당]) wins over Cho Bong-am (조봉암; 30.01 %; Progressive Party), thus being elected into his third term in office. Other candidates: none. Votes deemed invalid: 20,48 %

March 1960 presidential election

The opposition's only candidate for presidency Cho Byeong-ok
Cho Byeong-ok
Cho Byeong-ok was a South Korean politician. He ran against incumbent president Syngman Rhee in the 1960 Presidential Elections but died just days before the election. Rhee received 90% of the vote....

 (조병옥) dies on February 15, 1960. The only living candidate Rhee Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the...

 (이승만; Liberal Party [자유당]) gets 100% of the vote. Other candidates: none.

Vice president is elected separately, with Rhee's favourite Lee Gi-bung (이기붕) being declared victor. Opposition claims election was rigged and declares it invalid.

Public pressure topples Rhee's regime: The president resigns on April 26, 1960 and is evacuated from Korea by the United States' CIA two days later. In response to his government's authoritarian excesses, the state changes to a parliamentary system, in which the president wields no power.

August 1960 presidential election

On August 12, 1960, the newly elected parliament
National Assembly of South Korea
The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea is a 299-member unicameral legislature. The latest general elections were held on April 9, 2008. Single-member constituencies comprise 245 of the National Assembly's seats, while the remaining 54 are allocated by proportional representation...

 elects a new president. Yun Po Sun, whom Rhee had appointed mayor of Seoul in 1948 and minister in 1949, but who soon opposed him and in 1960 eventually founded the Democratic Party (민주당), is elected president (82%) and appoints Chang Myeon (장면) prime minister. Chang leaves the Democratic Party to form the New Democratic Party (신민당).

In 1961, Major-General Park Chung Hee successfully leads a military coup and takes over power, leaving Yun in office. Yun resigns on March 22, 1962.

Under pressure from the Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

 administration in the United States, Park has to restore civilian government, but closely wins the following elections:

1963 presidential election

Election held on October 15, 1963. Turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

: 84.99 %. Result: Park Chung Hee (박정희; 46.65 %; Democratic Republican Party [민주공화당]; president 1963 to 1979) wins over Yun Po Sun (윤보선; 45.1 %; Democratic Party [민주당]; president 1960 to 1962) and Oh Jae-yeong (오재영; 4.05 %; Autumn Wind Club [추풍회]). Other candidates (2): 4,2 %. Votes deemed invalid: 8.65 %.
The difference between Park and Yun is only 156,026 votes or 1.5477 % of valid votes.

1967 presidential election

Election held on May 3, 1967. Turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

: 83.57 %. Result: Park Chung Hee (박정희; 51.44 %; Democratic Republican Party (민주공화당); president 1963 to 1979) wins over Yun Po Sun (윤보선; 40.93 %; New People's party [신민당] president 1960 to 1962), Oh Jae-yeong (오재영; 2.39 %; Unified Korea Party [통한당]), Kim Jun-yeon (2.25 %; Democratic Party [민주당]) and Jun Jin-han (2.1 %; Korean Independence Party [한국독립당]) and Lee Se-jin (0.89 %; Justice Party [정의당]). Other candidates: none. Votes deemed invalid: 5.04 %. The difference between Park and Yun is 1,162,125 votes or 10.5087 % of valid votes.

1971 presidential election

Park wins against later president Kim Dae-jung by a margin of 8 % of valid votes and in 1972 establishes the Yusin Constitution.

1972 presidential election

Indirect presidential election controlled by Park's incumbent regime.

1978 presidential election

Indirect presidential election controlled by Park's incumbent regime.

1979 presidential election

Kim Jae-kyu, chief of the KCIA, assassinates Park on October 26, 1979. Prime minister Choe Gyuha
Choe Gyuha
Choi Kyu-hah was the President of South Korea between 1979 and 1980. He was born in Wonju, Gangwon Province. He served as foreign minister from 1967 to 1971 and as prime minister from 1975 to 1979.After the assassination of Park Chung-hee in 1979, then Prime Minister Choi assumed power...

 becomes acting president under the Yusin Constitution and shortly after is elected president by the National Conference for Unification, an electoral college set up as part of the Yusin system. Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan was a ROK Army general and the President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Chun was sentenced to death in 1996 for his heavy-handed response to the Gwangju Democratization Movement, but later pardoned by President Kim Young-sam with the advice of then President-elect Kim Dae-jung,...

 curbs his power in a military coup in December 1979; Choe resigns after the Gwangju massacre
Gwangju massacre
The Gwangju Democratization Movement refers to a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea from May 18 to May 27, 1980. During this period, citizens rose up against Chun Doo-hwan's military dictatorship and took control of the city...

 of 1980.

1980 presidential election

Indirect presidential election controlled by General Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan was a ROK Army general and the President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Chun was sentenced to death in 1996 for his heavy-handed response to the Gwangju Democratization Movement, but later pardoned by President Kim Young-sam with the advice of then President-elect Kim Dae-jung,...

.

1981 presidential election

Indirect presidential election controlled by Chun's incumbent regime under the new 1980 Constitution. It was the last indirect presidential election.

October 26, 2005 by-election

By-election held on October 26, 2005 in Bucheon
Bucheon
Bucheon is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is sandwiched between Incheon and Seoul. Manufacturing operations are located in the city.Bucheon promotes itself as the cultural centre of the Seoul Metropolitan Area...

, Daegu
Daegu
Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...

, Gwangju
Gwangju
Gwangju is the sixth largest city in South Korea. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister...

 and Ulsan
Ulsan
Ulsan , officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh largest metropolis with a population of over 1.1 million. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring Busan to the south and facing Gyeongju to the north and the Sea of Japan to the east.Ulsan is the...

 districts.
See the external links section for a comment on the by-election's outcome and aftermath.

See also

  • History of South Korea
    History of South Korea
    The history of South Korea formally begins with the establishment of South Korea on 15 August 1948, although Syngman Rhee had declared the establishment in Seoul on 13 August....

  • Constitution of the Republic of Korea
    Constitution of the Republic of Korea
    The Constitution of the Republic of Korea is its basic law. It was promulgated on July 17, 1948, and last revised in 1987.- History :...

  • Electoral calendar
  • Electoral system
  • List of Korea-related topics

External links

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