South Korea's democratization

In June 1987 millions of South Koreans took to the streets and forced the military-backed government of President Chun Doo-hwan to agree to direct presidential elections. Protests peaked after two deaths: the torture death of student Park Jong-chul in January, and the wounding of student Lee Han-yeol by a tear gas canister in June, from which he died in July. On June 29, Roh Tae-woo, Chun's chosen successor, announced an eight-point reform package that included direct elections, press freedom and the release of political prisoners.²⁴

South Korea had been ruled by generals for most of its modern history. Park Chung-hee seized power in 1961 and drove the export-led industrialization that turned a poor country into an industrial one, but he also jailed critics. After his assassination in 1979, Chun took control in a coup and crushed the Gwangju uprising in May 1980, killing hundreds. Economic growth had created a large, educated middle class of office workers, who joined students and the churches in demanding the right to choose their president.¹²³

A new constitution was approved by referendum in October, and in the December 1987 election Roh won with about 36 percent of the vote because the two main opposition leaders, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, both ran and split the opposition. Even so, the transition held, and later elections brought genuine alternation of power. Kim Young-sam, a civilian, was elected in 1992, and Kim Dae-jung won in 1997. In the 1990s, both Chun and Roh were tried and convicted for their roles in the 1979 coup and the Gwangju killings.⁴⁵