Gwangju Uprising in the context of "Yushin Constitution"

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⭐ Core Definition: Gwangju Uprising

The Gwangju Democratization Movement, also known in South Korea as May 18 Democratization Movement (Korean: 오일팔 민주화운동; RR: Oilpal minjuhwaundong; lit. Five One Eight Democratization Movement), was a series of student-led demonstrations that took place in Gwangju, South Korea, in May 1980, against the coup of Chun Doo-hwan. The uprising was violently suppressed by the South Korean military in a massacre.

Prior to the uprising, at the end of 1979, the coup d'état of May Seventeenth resulted in the installation of Chun Doo-hwan as military dictator and the implementation of martial law. Following his ascent to power, Chun arrested opposition leaders, closed all universities, banned political activities, and suppressed the press.

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👉 Gwangju Uprising in the context of Yushin Constitution

The Fourth Republic of Korea (Korean: 제4공화국; RR: Je sa Gonghwaguk; lit. "Fourth Republic") was the government of South Korea from November 1972 to February 1981.

The Fourth Republic was founded on the approval of the Yushin Constitution in the 1972 constitutional referendum, codifying the de facto dictatorial powers held by President Park Chung Hee, and succeeding the Third Republic. Park and his Democratic Republican Party ruled under the centralized and authoritarian Yushin System until the assassination of Park on 26 October 1979. The Fourth Republic entered a period of political instability under Park's successor, Choi Kyu-hah, and the escalating martial law declared after Park's death. Choi was unofficially overthrown by Chun Doo-hwan in the coup d'état of December Twelfth in December 1979, and began the armed suppression of the Gwangju Uprising against martial law. Chun launched the coup d'état of May Seventeenth in May 1980, establishing a military dictatorship under the National Council for Reunification and dissolving the National Assembly, and was elected president by the council in the August 1980 presidential election. The Fourth Republic was dissolved on the adoption of a new constitution in March 1981 and replaced with the Fifth Republic of Korea.

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Gwangju Uprising in the context of Roh Tae-woo

Roh Tae-woo (Korean: 노태우, pronounced [no.tʰɛ.u]; 17 August 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean army general and politician who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. In 1987, he became the first president to be directly elected under the current democratic constitution, which was promulgated after a lengthy period of indirect elections under military governments following the advent of the Yushin Constitution in 1972.

Born in Daegu, Roh attended the Korea Military Academy alongside his close friend Chun Doo-hwan. Rising steadily through the ranks, he saw action in the Vietnam War, and by 1979 he was a major general and commanded the White Horse Division. In that capacity, Roh played a key role in the December 1979 military coup that brought Chun to power, and supported Chun's violent crackdown of the Gwangju Uprising in 1980. Retiring from the army a year later, he held a series of ministerial posts in Chun's government.

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← Roh Tae-woo ← Yushin Constitution
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Korean language → Revised Romanization of Korean → Gwangju → Coup d'état of December Twelfth → Chun Doo-hwan → Republic of Korea Armed Forces → Massacre → Coup d'état of May Seventeenth →