Sixth Republic of South Korea
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The Sixth Republic of South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

is the country's present-day government. It began in 1987, with the transfer of power from the authoritarian Fifth Republic
Fifth Republic of South Korea
The Fifth Republic of South Korea was the government of South Korea from 1979 to 1987, replacing the Fourth Republic of South Korea. Throughout this period, the government was controlled by Chun Doo-hwan, a military colleague of the assassinated president Park Chung-hee. This period saw extensive...

 of 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,...

.

In 1987, Roh Tae-woo
Roh Tae-woo
Roh Tae-woo , is a former ROK Army general and politician. He was the 13th president of South Korea .Roh befriended Chun Doo-hwan while in high school in Daegu. In his younger life, Roh was a keen rugby union player....

, one of Chun's colleagues in the 1979 coup, was elected president by popular vote.

In 1992, Kim Young-sam
Kim Young-sam
Kim Young-sam was a South Korean politician and democratic activist. From 1961, he spent 30 years as South Korea's leader of the opposition, and one of Park Chung-hee's most powerful rivals....

 was elected president. He was the country's first civilian president in 30 years.

In 1997, the nation suffered a severe financial crisis, from which it has now fully recovered. South Korea has also democratized
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 its political processes. This was the first transfer of the government between parties by peaceful means. Kim Dae-jung pursued a "Sunshine Policy
Sunshine policy
The Sunshine Policy was the foreign policy of South Korea towards North Korea until Lee Myung-bak's election to presidency in 2008. Since its articulation in 1998 by South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, the policy resulted in greater political contact between the two nations and some historical...

" to reconcile with North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

, culminating in the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim born 16 February 1941 or 16 February 1942 , is the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea...

, for which Kim Dae-Jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

 in 2000. However, the efficacy of the Sunshine Policy was brought into question amid allegations of corruption.

Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun GOM GCB was the 16th President of South Korea .Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. His electoral career later expanded to a focus on overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his...

 was elected to the presidency in 2002. On 12 March 2004, the South Korean National Assembly (Parliament) voted to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun GOM GCB was the 16th President of South Korea .Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. His electoral career later expanded to a focus on overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his...

 on charges of corruption and political patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...

. The Uri Party
Uri Party
The Yeollin Uri Party , generally abbreviated to Uri Party , was the briefly ruling political party in South Korea with a centrist political ideology...

, which solely supported the President, angrily boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...

ed the vote. This motion clearly affected the outcome of the parliamentary election
South Korean parliamentary election, 2004
Legislative elections were held in the Republic of Korea on April 15, 2004. The newly formed Uri Party and other parties supporting President Roh Moo-hyun, who was impeached by the outgoing National Assembly, won a majority of seats...

 held on 15 April 2004, in which the Uri Party won 152 seats from the total of 299 seats in the National Assembly.

For the first time in 18 years the ruling party became the majority in the House. This was arguably the first time in more than 40 years that a liberal party has held a majority in the Assembly. However, the Uri Party suffered several electoral setbacks thereafter.

Division into the government in Sixth Republic

  1. Roh Tae-woo government (was officially called the Sixth Republic) (1988–1993)
  2. Civilian government (1993–1998)
  3. Government of Nation (1998–2003)
  4. Participation government (2003–2008)
  5. Lee Myung-bak government
    Lee Myung-bak government
    The Lee Myung-bak government is sixth consecutive government of the Sixth Republic of South Korea. It was officially launched on February 25th, 2008, under Lee Myung-bak's victory in the 2007 presidential election...

     (2008 – present)

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....

  • History of Korea
    History of Korea
    The Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began...

  • List of Korea-related topics
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