Park Chung Hee in the context of "Miracle on the Han River"

The Second Republic of Korea (Korean: 제2공화국; RR: Je-i Gonghwaguk; lit. "Second Republic") was the government of South Korea from June 1960 to May 1961.

The Second Republic was founded months after the April Revolution mass protests against President Syngman Rhee, succeeding the First Republic and establishing a parliamentary government under President Yun Posun and Prime Minister Chang Myon. The Second Republic ended Rhee's authoritarianism and repression, formed a liberal democracy, and formulated the first Five-Year Plans to develop the formerly neglected economy. After thirteen months it was overthrown by the South Korean Army in the May 16 coup led by Park Chung Hee. The Second Republic was replaced by a provisional military government under the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, leading to the Third Republic of Korea.

Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned punishment in previous centuries, and is still practiced by different means (e.g. schools) in the modern era.

In the United States, it was a common punishment from the beginning of European colonization through the 19th century. It fell out of common use in the 20th century, though it has seen a revival starting in the 1990s. With the rise of social media, public shaming moved to the digital sphere, exposing and humiliating people daily, sometimes without their knowledge.

The May 16 military coup d'état (Korean: 5·16 군사정변) or the May 16 Military Revolution (Korean: 5·16 군사혁명) was a military coup d'état in South Korea in 1961, organized and carried out by Park Chung Hee and his allies who formed the Military Revolutionary Committee, nominally led by Army Chief of Staff Chang Do-yong after the latter's acquiescence on the day of the coup. The coup rendered powerless the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Chang Myon and President Yun Posun, and ended the Second Republic, installing a reformist military Supreme Council for National Reconstruction effectively led by Park, who took over as chairman after Chang's arrest in July.

The coup was instrumental in bringing to power a new developmentalist elite and in laying the foundations for the rapid industrialization of South Korea under Park's leadership, but its legacy is controversial for the suppression of democracy and civil liberties it entailed, and the purges enacted in its wake. Termed the "May 16 Military Revolution" by Park and his allies, "a new, mature national debut of spirit", the coup's nature as a "revolution" is controversial and its evaluation contested.

The Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (Korean: 국가재건최고회의) was the ruling military junta of South Korea from May 1961 to December 1963.

The Supreme Council overthrew the Second Republic of Korea in the May 16 coup in May 1961 and established a provisional military government composing largely of officers who were involved in or supportive of the coup. The Supreme Council was headed by the chairman, the de facto head of government with dictatorial powers, while President Yun Posun was retained as a figurehead. The Supreme Council prioritized South Korea's economic development and political stability, suspending the National Assembly and most political freedoms, and founding the Korean Central Intelligence Agency to combat pro-North Korean and other anti-government activity. Park Chung Hee served as Chairman of the Supreme Council from July 1961 until his victory in the 1963 South Korean presidential election, and the Supreme Council was dissolved upon the inauguration of the Third Republic of Korea in December 1963.

The Third Republic of Korea (Korean: 제3공화국; RR: Je sam gonghwaguk; lit. "Third Republic") was the government of South Korea from 17 December 1963 to 21 November 1972. The Third Republic was founded on the dissolution of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction that overthrew the Second Republic and established a military government in May 1961. Park Chung Hee, the Chairman of the Supreme Council, was elected President of South Korea in the 1963 presidential election.

The Third Republic was presented as a return to civilian government under the National Assembly but in practice was a dictatorship under Park, Supreme Council members, and the Democratic Republican Party. The Third Republic prioritized South Korea's economic development, anti-communism, and strengthening ties with the United States and Japan.

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.