Presidential elections in South Korea

Presidential elections in South Korea determine who will serve as the President of South Korea for the next five years (formerly four, six, and seven).

Since the establishment of the First Republic in 1948, the presidential elections have taken place 20 times (19 excluding the March 1960 election whose results were invalidated after the April Revolution): in 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960 (in March and August), 1963, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017.

Prior to the Presidential Election Act of 1987, the elections were indirect. Since 1987, the president is elected directly by the public in a single round plurality vote (using the first-past-the-post simple plurality system) for a single, non-renewable five-year term.[1][2][3][4][5]

Procedure (1987–present)

The presidential election rules are defined by the South Korean Constitution and the Public Official Election Act.

Election campaign

The election campaign period, as set by the Election Law, is short – 23 days. According to the book Internet Election Campaigns in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, the election campaign periods in Korea (23 days for presidential elections and 14 days for National Assembly elections)[6] were made intentionally short in order to "prevent excessive campaign spending for long-running election campaigns and harmful effects from overheated elections", but, on the downside, "this works against new candidates who are not well known".[7]

The president is elected by direct popular vote, It is conducted in a single round on a first-past-the-post basis.[1][2][3][4][5]

Summary of past presidential elections

Winning party ideology:   Conservative ·   Liberal ·   Independent

# Year Winner 2nd 3rd Notes
First Republic
President and Vice President elected indirectly by the National Assembly[8]
1 1948 Syngman Rhee
NARRKI
(91.8%)
Kim Koo
Korea Independence
(6.7%)
In the vice-presidential election, Yi Si-yeong (NARRKI) won over Kim Koo by 57.4% to 33.0%.
President and Vice President elected by popular vote
2 1952 Syngman Rhee
Liberal
(74.6%)
Cho Bong-am
Independent
(11.4%)
Yi Si-yeong
Democratic Nationalist
(10.9%)
The election took place during the Korean War. In the vice-presidential election, independent Ham Tae-young won the election with 41.3%, defeating Liberal candidate Lee Beom-seok (25.5%) and Democratic Nationalist Chough Pyung-ok (8.1%).
3 1956 Syngman Rhee
Liberal
(70.0%)
Cho Bong-am
Independent
(30.0%)
In the vice-presidential election, Democratic Party candidate Chang Myon defeated Lee Ki-poong (Liberal) by 46.4% to 44.0%.
Mar
1960
Syngman Rhee
Liberal
(100%)
Rhee re-elected unopposed due to the death of his Democratic Party opponent Chough Pyung-ok. In the vice-presidential election, Lee Ki-poong (Liberal) won with 79.2% over Chang Myon (Democratic) with 17.5%. The results of both elections were annulled as fraudulent after the April Revolution.
Second Republic
President elected indirectly by both houses of the National Assembly; Vice Presidency abolished
4 Aug
1960
Yun Bo-seon
Democratic
(82.2%)
Kim Chang-sook
Independent
(11.5%)
The only presidential election of the Second Republic.
Third Republic
President elected by popular vote
5 1963 Park Chung-hee
Democratic Republican
(46.6%)
Yun Bo-seon
Civil Rule
(45.1%)
First election after the May 16 coup.
6 1967 Park Chung-hee
Democratic Republican
(51.4%)
Yun Bo-seon
New Democratic
(40.9%)
7 1971 Park Chung-hee
Democratic Republican
(53.2%)
Kim Dae-jung
New Democratic
(45.3%)
Fourth Republic
President elected by the National Council for Reunification
8 1972 Park Chung-hee
Democratic Republican
(100%)
First election after the October Yushin. Park re-elected unopposed.
9 1978 Park Chung-hee
Democratic Republican
(100%)
Park re-elected unopposed.
10 1979 Choi Kyu-hah
Independent
(100%)
First election after Park Chung-hee's assassination. Acting President Choi elected as President unopposed.
11 1980 Chun Doo-hwan
Independent
(100%)
First election after the coup d'état of December Twelfth. Chun elected unopposed.
Fifth Republic
President elected indirectly
12 1981 Chun Doo-hwan
Democratic Justice
(90.2%)
Yu Chi-song
Democratic Korea
(7.7%)
The only presidential election of the Fifth Republic.
Sixth Republic
President elected by popular vote
13 1987 Roh Tae-woo
Democratic Justice
(36.6%)
Kim Young-sam
Reunification Democratic
(28.0%)
Kim Dae-jung
Peace Democraric
(27.0%)
First free and fair direct presidential election in South Korean history.[9] Also the first election to feature a female candidate.[10]
14 1992 Kim Young-sam
Democratic Liberal
(42.0%)
Kim Dae-jung
Democratic
(33.8%)
Chung Ju-yung
Reunification National
(16.3%)
15 1997 Kim Dae-jung
National Congress
(40.3%)
Lee Hoi-chang
Grand National
(38.7%)
Lee In-je
National New
(19.2%)
16 2002 Roh Moo-hyun
Millennium Democratic
(48.9%)
Lee Hoi-chang
Grand National
(46.6%)
17 2007 Lee Myung-bak
Grand National
(48.7%)
Chung Dong-young
United New Democratic
(26.1%)
Lee Hoi-chang
Independent
(15.1%)
18 2012 Park Geun-hye
Saenuri
(51.6%)
Moon Jae-in
Democratic United
(48.0%)
First female president elected in South Korean history.
19 2017 Moon Jae-in
Democratic
(41.1%)
Hong Jun-pyo
Liberty Korea
(24.0%)
Ahn Cheol-soo
People's
(21.4%)
Held after the impeachment of Park Geun-hye.

See also

References

  1. "A Primer on the 19th South Korean Presidential Election in 2017". The Seoul Times. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  2. Jae-jin Yang (28 September 2017). The Political Economy of the Small Welfare State in South Korea. Cambridge University Press. pp. 96–. ISBN 978-1-108-41590-3.
  3. Andrew J. Nathan (2010). How East Asians View Democracy. Columbia University Press. pp. 41–. ISBN 978-0-231-14535-0.
  4. Country Profile: South Korea, North Korea. The Unit. 2001.
  5. "Процедура выборов президента Южной Кореи". RIA Novosti (in Russian). 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  6. Shoko Kiyohara; Kazuhiro Maeshima; Diana Owen (17 October 2017). Internet Election Campaigns in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Springer International Publishing. pp. 63–. ISBN 978-3-319-63682-5.
  7. Shoko Kiyohara; Kazuhiro Maeshima; Diana Owen (17 October 2017). Internet Election Campaigns in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Springer International Publishing. pp. 159–. ISBN 978-3-319-63682-5.
  8. Lee (1984), p. 378.
  9. Kil, Byung-Ok (2001). Security Policy Dynamics: Effects of Contextual Determinants to South Korea. Ashgate. p. 58. South Korea's political forms had been authoritarian during the Cold War and the first free and fair presidential election was held in 1987.
  10. Kim, Younghwa. "Hong Suk Ja: Pursuing Women's Rights in South Korea". Retrieved 22 November 2016.
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