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).
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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]
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%) |
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| 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%) |
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| 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%) |
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| 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
- "A Primer on the 19th South Korean Presidential Election in 2017". The Seoul Times. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
- 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.
- Andrew J. Nathan (2010). How East Asians View Democracy. Columbia University Press. pp. 41–. ISBN 978-0-231-14535-0.
- Country Profile: South Korea, North Korea. The Unit. 2001.
- "Процедура выборов президента Южной Кореи". RIA Novosti (in Russian). 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
- 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.
- 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.
- Lee (1984), p. 378.
- 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.
- Kim, Younghwa. "Hong Suk Ja: Pursuing Women's Rights in South Korea". Retrieved 22 November 2016.
| Presidential elections | |
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| Legislative elections | |
| By-elections | |
| Local elections | |
| Referendums | |
