1971 South Korean presidential election

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1971 South Korean presidential election
Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg
  1967 27 April 1971 1972  
  Park Chung-hee 1963's.png Kim Dae-jung billboard, 1971.jpg
Nominee Park Chung-hee Kim Dae-jung
Party Democratic Republican New Democratic
Popular vote6,342,8285,395,900
Percentage53.20%45.26%

1971 Republic of Korea Presidential Election, Municipal-level divisions.svg
1971 Republic of Korea Presidential Election, Provincial-level divisions.svg

President before election

Park Chung-hee
Democratic Republican

Elected President

Park Chung-hee
Democratic Republican

Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 27 April 1971. [1] The result was a victory for incumbent president Park Chung-hee, who received 53% of the vote. Voter turnout was 80%. [2] Within a year of his re-election, Park declared martial law and introduced the Yushin Constitution, which vested him with sweeping and near-dictatorial powers.

Contents

These would be the last contested presidential elections in South Korea until 1981, the last direct presidential election until 1987, and last presidential election in which the victor received an absolute majority of the popular vote until Park's daughter, Park Geun-hye, did so in 2012.

Nominations

Democratic Republican Party

The DRP Convention was held on 17 March 1971, at which incumbent president Park Chung-hee became the presidential nominee. [3] Under the constitution, Park would have normally been ineligible to run in 1971, as presidents were limited to two consecutive terms. However, shortly after his re-election in 1967, the DRP-dominated legislature passed a constitutional amendment allowing the incumbent president to run for three consecutive terms.

New Democratic Party

By tradition, the most senior members of the party leadership were supposed to run for president. It was assumed that either former Korea University president Yu Jin-oh, the sitting party chair Yu Jin-san, or former president Yun Po-sun would be chosen for the party's candidate. However, the norm was broken by lawmaker Kim Young-sam, who was only in his early forties, when he declared his bid for the New Democratic nomination for president on 8 November 1969. He was followed by Kim Dae-jung and Lee Cheol-seung, both prominent politicians in their forties. The party leadership tried to discourage the three candidates at first, but later conceded that it was now time for the new generation to take over. Lee Cheol-seung withdrew his bid and endorsed Kim Dae-jung after the party leadership, including Chairman Yu Jin-san, announced they would be backing Kim Young-sam.

At the convention held on 29 September 1970, the establishment-endorsed Kim Young-sam surprisingly lost to the minority faction's Kim Dae-jung, who became the party's candidate. [4]

CandidateFirst roundSecond round
Delegates%Delegates%
Kim Dae-jung 38243.1645851.81
Kim Young-sam 42147.5741046.38
Invalid/blank votes829.27161.81
Total885100884100

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Park Chung-hee Democratic Republican Party 6,342,82853.20
Kim Dae-jung New Democratic Party 5,395,90045.26
Jin Bok-ki  [ ko ] People's Party 122,9141.03
Park Ki-chul  [ ko ] National Party  [ ko ]43,7530.37
Lee Jong-yunLiberal Democratic Party17,8230.15
Total11,923,218100.00
Valid votes11,923,21896.02
Invalid/blank votes494,6063.98
Total votes12,417,824100.00
Registered voters/turnout15,552,23679.85
Source: Nohlen et al.

By province

Province or cityPark Chung HeeKim Dae-jungJin Bok-kiPark Ki-chulLee Jong-yunTotal
Votes %Votes %Votes %Votes %Votes %
Seoul 805,772(40.0%)1,198,018(59.4%)6,881(0.3%)4,811(0.2%)1,426(0.1%)2,016,098
1971 South Korean presidential election
Gyeonggi 687,985(48.9%)696,582(49.5%)13,770(1.0%)6,547(0.5%)2,995(0.2%)1,407,879
1971 South Korean presidential election
Gangweon 502,722(60.0%)325,556(38.8%)7,326(0.9%)2,985(0.4%)1,390(0.2%)839,979
1971 South Korean presidential election
Chungnam 556,632(53.5%)461,978(44.4%)14,411(1.4%)5,285(0.5%)2,322(0.2%)1,040,628
1971 South Korean presidential election
Chungbuk 312,744(57.3%)222,106(40.7%)6,989(1.3%)2,662(0.5%)1,154(0.2%)545,655
1971 South Korean presidential election
Jeonnam 479,737(34.4%)874,974(62.8%)31,986(2.3%)4,362(0.3%)2,122(0.2%)1,393,181
1971 South Korean presidential election
Jeonbuk 308,850(35.5%)535,519(61.5%)21,162(2.4%)3,167(0.4%)1,646(0.2%)870,344
1971 South Korean presidential election
Busan 385,999(55.7%)302,452(43.6%)1,974(0.3%)2,518(0.4%)583(0.1%)693,526
1971 South Korean presidential election
Gyeongnam 891,119(73.4%)310,595(25.6%)6,793(0.6%)4,580(0.4%)1,634(0.1%)1,214,721
1971 South Korean presidential election
Gyeongbuk 1,333,051(75.6%)411,116(23.3%)9,838(0.6%)6,438(0.4%)2,374(0.1%)1,762,817
1971 South Korean presidential election
Jeju 78,217(56.9%)57,004(41.4%)1,784(1.3%)398(0.3%)177(0.1%)137,580
1971 South Korean presidential election

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p420 ISBN   0-19-924959-8
  2. Nohlen et al., p465
  3. "의왕시사". dws124.dongwonweb.co.kr. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  4. "대권 경선사/DJ가 YS에 대역전승/70년 신민당". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 1992-05-10. Retrieved 2018-04-22.