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2,540 members of the National Conference for Unification 1,271 votes needed to win | ||||||||||||||
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Votes of the National Conference for Unification Chun Doo-hwan: 2524 Invalid/blank: 1 Did not vote: 15 | ||||||||||||||
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Indirect presidential elections were held in South Korea on 27 August 1980 to fill the vacancy caused by President Choi Kyu-hah's resignation.
Under the 1972 Yushin Constitution, the president was elected by the National Conference for Unification, whose 2,540 members had been elected for a six-year term of office in December 1978. General Chun Doo-hwan was the only candidate, and was elected unopposed. [1]
Chun was to serve for the remainder of the 1978–1984 term of longtime president Park Chung-hee, who had died in 1979 and been replaced by Choi. However, Chun subsequently decided to stage a coup and end the Fourth Republic and draft a new constitution, which was promulgated in October 1980 after being approved in a referendum. The first presidential election under the new constitution was held in February 1981, and Chun was elected by an overwhelming majority under controversial circumstances. [2]
After the assassination of the military dictator President Park Chung-hee in October 1979, Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah was elected president in the December 1979 elections. However, General Chun Doo-hwan staged the Coup d'état of December Twelfth and effectively took control of the government, making President Choi a figurehead. However, on 16 August 1980, following the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, Chun removed Choi from office so he could become president himself.
In order to be elected, a candidate had to receive the vote of over 50% of the incumbent members of the National Conference for Unification. With 2,540 delegates present, Chun had to receive at least 1,271 votes to be elected. He received 2,524 votes, 99.37% of the total possible.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chun Doo-hwan | Independent | 2,524 | 100.00 | |
Total | 2,524 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 2,524 | 99.96 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 1 | 0.04 | ||
Total votes | 2,525 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 2,540 | 99.41 |
Region | Eligible electors | Vacancies | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Seoul | 388 | 3 | 391 |
Busan | 145 | 0 | 145 |
Gyeonggi | 315 | 4 | 319 |
Gangwon | 148 | 3 | 151 |
North Chungcheong | 129 | 2 | 131 |
South Chungcheong | 229 | 6 | 235 |
North Jeolla | 202 | 1 | 203 |
South Jeolla | 308 | 4 | 312 |
North Gyeongsang | 367 | 12 | 379 |
South Gyeongsang | 282 | 8 | 290 |
Jeju | 27 | 0 | 27 |
Total | 2,540 | 43 | 2,583 |
The president of the Republic of Korea, also known as the president of Korea, is both the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president is elected by citizens of the Republic of Korea and pledges to execute the duties of their office, chief among others "to defend the State, pursue peaceful unification of the homeland." The president leads the State Council, is the chief of the executive branch of the national government and the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.
Kim Jae-gyu was a South Korean politician, army lieutenant general and the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. He assassinated South Korean President Park Chung Hee—who had been one of his closest friends—on October 26, 1979, and was subsequently executed by hanging on May 24, 1980.
Choi Kyu-hah, also spelled Choi Kyu-ha or Choi Gyu-ha, was a South Korean politician who served as the fourth president of South Korea from 1979 to 1980.
The Fourth Republic of Korea was the government of South Korea from November 1972 to February 1981.
The Fifth Republic of Korea was the government of South Korea from February 1981 to February 1988.
The Democratic Justice Party was the ruling party of South Korea from 1981 to 1988.
Hanahoe was an unofficial private group and secret society of military officers in South Korea headed by Chun Doo-hwan, who later became the South Korean president during the Fifth Republic era.
The Seoul Spring was a period of democratization in South Korea from 26 October 1979 to 17 May 1980. This expression was derived from the Prague Spring of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Jeong Seung-hwa was a South Korean general officer, and the 22nd Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Army. He was present at the Blue House presidential compound, site of the assassination of President Park Chung-hee, when it took place on 26 October 1979.
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.
The October Yusin or October Restoration was an October 1972 South Korean self-coup in which President Park Chung Hee assumed dictatorial powers. Park had come to power as the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction after the May 16 coup of 1961, and in 1963 he won elections and assumed office as civilian president.
The Coup d'état of May Seventeenth was a military coup d'état carried out in South Korea by General Chun Doo-hwan and Hanahoe that followed the Coup d'état of December Twelfth.
Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 6 December 1979 following the assassination of Park Chung Hee on 26 October. The members of the National Conference for Unification, who among other things, were responsible for election of president, choose Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah as the President of the Republic of Korea unopposed; Choi had been acting President since Park's death.
Events from the year 1979 in South Korea.
Events from the year 1980 in South Korea.
Chun Doo-hwan was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988.
Hong Gi was the wife of South Korean President Choi Kyu-hah. She was the first lady when Choi was in office, from 1979 to 1980.
Shin Hyun-hwak was Prime Minister of South Korea from December 13, 1979 to May 21, 1980, representing the Democratic Republican Party.
The New Democratic Republican Party was a South Korean conservative political party which formed in 1987 and dissolved in 1990. It was particularly strong in Hoseo, the home region of party leader Kim Jong-pil. However, it merged with two other parties in 1990 to form the Democratic Liberal Party.
The National Conference for Unification (Korean: 통일주체국민회의) was an organization of indirect democracy established in accordance with the Constitution when the 4th Republic was launched with the Yushin Constitution on October 17, 1972. The most important function was to promote independent peaceful reunification policies, which were the core of the Yushin Constitution, and indirect presidential elections during the 4th Republic From August 1973, the NCU was decided as National Assembly. The National Assembly was composed of delegates directly elected by the people from each district across the country, and the delegates of the National Assembly for Unification were unofficially called Tongdae.