South Korean presidential election, 1981

South Korean presidential election, 1981

25 February 1981
Turnout	78.1%
Nominee Chun Doo-hwan Yu Chi-song Party Democratic Justice Democratic Korea Electoral vote 4,755 404 Popular vote 9,250,262 1,778,007 Percentage 60.7% 11.7%
President before election Chun Doo-hwan Independent Elected President Chun Doo-hwan Democratic Justice

Two-stage presidential elections were held in South Korea in February 1981. An electoral college was elected on 11 February, which in turn elected the president on 25 February. They were the last indirect presidential elections controlled by the government of Chun Doo-hwan under the new 1980 Constitution. Chun was re-elected with 90% of the electoral college vote.

Background

Rising to prominence as the leader of the military after the assassination of former military dictator of South Korea Park Chung-hee, Security Commander Chun Doo-hwan successfully forced Park's successor Choi Kyu-hah to step down from the presidency and became president himself through the indirect elections of 1980.

He then revised the Constitution on 27 October 1980, with the changes including an amendment to the presidential election system. Although it still was an indirect election by the electoral college, other candidates were now allowed. However, it made no difference to the political landscape as all opposition parties were controlled by Chun, who had locked up most actual opposition politicians, including former NDP chairman Kim Young-sam, 1971 NDP presidential nominee Kim Dae-jung, and former prime minister Kim Jong-pil.

Presidential nominations

The Democratic Justice Party (DJP) National Convention was held on 15 January at Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul. At the convention, 3,162 delegates from around the nation nominated the sitting President Chun Doo-hwan without a vote.^[1]

The Democratic Korea Party (DKP) National Convention was held on 17 January at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts in Seoul. Yu Chi-song, a former 3-term lawmaker from Gyeonggi, was nominated as the party's candidate for president.

The Korea Nationalist Party (KNP) National Convention was held on 23 January at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts, and saw Kim Chong-cheol, a former five-term lawmaker from South Chungcheong, nominated.

The Civil Rights Party National Convention was held on 23 January at the Cheondo Hall; Kim Eui-taek, a former four-term lawmaker from South Jeolla was chosen as the party's candidate.

Other political parties including the Democratic Socialist Party, the Socialist Party and the New Politics Party announced they would not be participating in the elections as they were not capable of finding viable candidates for president or the electoral college.^[2][3]

Electoral College nominations

The DJP was the only party that nominated a sufficient number of candidates for the electoral college to win a majority, making Chun Doo-hwan the only presidential candidate realistically capable of winning the elections.

Electoral College election

78.1% of registered voters voted, and elected the electoral college.

Electoral College vote

Of the 5,277 electors who were elected on 11 February and had not been removed from office (one member was removed in Busan), 5,270 cast a vote on 25 February. Sitting president and former Commander of the Defense Security Command Chun Doo-hwan was re-elected.

Aftermath

The term of the newly elected president officially began on the day the electoral votes were cast and counted, 25 February. The inauguration ceremony took place on 3 March. This marked the official beginning of the Fifth Republic of Korea, a dictatorial regime that lasted until democratization in 1988.

References