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South Korea Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on South Korea
Official Name: Republic of Korea
Capital: Seoul
Area: 99,020 square kilometres ( 38,232 square miles )
Major cities (Population)
Seoul 10,600,000 (1995 estimate)
Pusan 4,082,000 (1995 estimate)
Taegu 2,432,000 (1995 estimate)
Inchon 2,340,000 (1995 estimate)
Kwangju 1,424,000 (1995 estimate)
Population: 44,995,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 1 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Republic
Independence: 15 August 1948 (from Japan)
Constitution: 25 February 1988
Voting Rights: Universal at age 20
Government
South Korea has an elected president who serves one five-year term only. The president appoints a prime minister who is technically, but not in practice, head of government. The legislature is a 299-member national assembly, called the Kuk Hoe, elected for four-year terms. All citizens may vote at the age of 20.
Recent History
In 1910 Japan annexed Korea. After the end of World War II, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) entered Korea from the north, and the United States entered from the south by pre-arrangement to accept the surrender of Japanese troops. The peninsula was accordingly divided at the 38th parallel into two administrative zones. After attempts to hold nationwide elections failed, a pro-Western government was established in the south and Syngman Rhee became president. In June 1950 North Korean troops invaded South Korea, triggering a three-year war. The US and the United Nations (UN) sent troops to support South Korea. Concerned that war might spill into Chinese territory, China sent troops to aid North Korea. The war ravaged the peninsula and ended in a stalemate (a peace treaty has still not been signed) with the original border virtually unchanged. Violent border incidents have occurred over the years, and a monthly civil defence drill is still conducted in South Korea.
Rhee’s authoritarian regime laid the foundations for South Korea’s economic growth, but when demonstrations followed the rigged 1960 presidential election he fled to exile in Hawaii, where he died in 1965. Although elections were held the following year, General Park Chung Hee seized control of the government and was elected president two years later. He was assassinated in 1979 by the head of the South Korean intelligence agency. Park was succeeded by Choi Kyu Ha, who had been prime minister, but a military coup followed and in 1980 Chun Doo Hwan emerged as president. During the mid-1980s there were increasingly violent demonstrations against the military’s domination of politics, and in 1987 Chun agreed to, and the people voted for, a new constitution that established direct presidential elections and protection of human rights. Roh Tae Woo was elected president. It was not until 1992, however, that full, free elections were held without military involvement. After the presidential election the following year, Kim Young Sam became the first civilian to occupy the presidential mansion, called the Blue House, in more than 30 years.
In 1990 peace talks were held between the prime ministers of North and South Korea, the first such contact since the 1950s. Whilst the two did not reconcile their differences, they did agree to continue meeting in an effort to reduce tensions, open relations, and possibly start a movement towards unification. In 1991 there was an agreement on reconciliation, non-aggression, and cooperation. In 1992 North and South Korea agreed to mutual inspections of nuclear installations, but by 1995 the issue of the North's nuclear capability was still unresolved and tensions continued. The death of North Korean president Kim Il Sung in mid-1994 made matters even more uncertain.
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