Fourth Republic of Korea

South Korea’s political system under the 1972 Yushin Constitution, marked by President Park Chung Hee’s authoritarian rule until the 1980 constitutional transition.

Yushin Constitution: South Korea’s 1972 constitution established by Park Chung Hee, granting the presidency extensive powers and weakening direct electoral competition. It supplied the legal framework for the Fourth Republic’s authoritarian political order.
Park Chung Hee: South Korean military officer and president from 1963 until his assassination in 1979, who established the Yushin system. Park initiated the constitutional changes that created the Fourth Republic.
Kim Dae-jung: South Korean opposition politician who challenged Park Chung Hee and later became president from 1998 to 2003. His opposition made him a prominent target of the Yushin government’s repression.
Bu-Ma Democratic Protests: October 1979 demonstrations in Busan and Masan against Park Chung Hee’s government. The protests exposed the regime’s weakening control shortly before Park’s assassination.
South Korean democracy: A political system in which South Korean citizens exercise political rights through competitive elections and constitutional institutions. It contrasts with the Fourth Republic’s restricted competition and concentrated presidential authority.
National Conference for Unification: An electoral body under the Yushin system that chose the president and selected a portion of the National Assembly. Its indirect presidential elections helped secure Park’s continued rule.
October Restoration: Park Chung Hee’s 1972 self-coup, which dissolved the National Assembly and suspended the constitution before imposing the Yushin system. This seizure of power directly initiated the Fourth Republic.
Kim Young-sam: South Korean opposition leader who later served as president from 1993 to 1998. His expulsion from the National Assembly in 1979 intensified opposition to Park’s rule.
YH Trading Company incident: A 1979 police raid that forcibly ended a sit-in by dismissed women workers at Seoul’s YH Trading Company. The raid sharpened conflict between the government and opposition before the regime’s collapse.
First Republic of Korea: South Korea’s 1948–1960 political system under President Syngman Rhee, ended by the April Revolution. Its authoritarian presidency provides an earlier comparison for Park’s centralized rule.

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