Republic of Korea 대한민국 大韓民國 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960–1961 | |||||||||
.svg) Flag .svg) Emblem | |||||||||
| Anthem: 애국가 Aegukga "The Patriotic Song" | |||||||||
| National seal "국새 (國璽)" .svg) | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Capital | Seoul | ||||||||
| Common languages | Korean | ||||||||
| Government | Unitaryparliamentary republic[1] | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1960 | Ho Chong (acting) | ||||||||
• 1960 | Kwak Sang-hoon (acting) | ||||||||
• 1960 | Ho Chong (acting) | ||||||||
• 1960 | Baek Nak-jun (acting) | ||||||||
• 1960–1961 | Yun Bo-seon | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1960 | Heo Jeong | ||||||||
• 1960–1961 | Chang Myon | ||||||||
| Legislature | National Assembly | ||||||||
| House of Councillors | |||||||||
| House of Representatives | |||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
• Established | 15 June 1960 | ||||||||
| 16 May 1961 | |||||||||
| Currency | Hwan | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | South Korea | ||||||||
TheSecond Republic of Korea (Korean: 제2공화국;RR: Je-i Gonghwaguk;lit. "Second Republic") was the government ofSouth Korea from June 1960 to May 1961.
The Second Republic was founded months after theApril Revolution mass protests against PresidentSyngman Rhee, succeeding theFirst Republic and establishing aparliamentary government under PresidentYun Posun and Prime MinisterChang Myon. The Second Republic ended Rhee'sauthoritarianism andrepression, formed aliberal democracy, and formulated the firstFive-Year Plans to develop the formerly neglected economy. After thirteen months it was overthrown by theSouth Korean Army in theMay 16 coup led byPark Chung Hee. The Second Republic was replaced by aprovisionalmilitary government under theSupreme Council for National Reconstruction, leading to theThird Republic of Korea.
The short-lived Second Republic was the onlyparliamentary government in thehistory of Korea.
TheFirst Republic of Korea had existed since 1948 under PresidentSyngman Rhee, who was widely considered to be a corrupt leader abused his presidential powers to maintain his rule and cronyism. Although the First Republic was officially arepresentative democracy, Rhee adopted a strongly anti-communist position and used the threat of communism to enact a policy (such as theNational Security Act) of severe repression against all political opposition, effectively assuming dictatorial powers.
Tolerance of Rhee and hisLiberal Party-dominated government declined in the mid-to-late 1950s, as the South Korean public were increasingly discontent with the repression and the limited economic and social development. In April 1960, Rhee was overthrown by widespread protests known as the "April Revolution" in response to the discovery of a high school student murdered by police during demonstrations against Rhee andrigged elections in March.
After Rhee's fall, power was briefly held by acaretaker government headed byHo Chong as prime minister until aparliamentary election was held on 29 July 1960.[2]
The Second Republic operated under aparliamentary system, with thePrime Minister of South Korea as thehead of government and thePresident of South Korea as thehead of state. Due to Rhee's numerous abuses of power, the President's power was greatly reduced, with a role that was largely ceremonial. He was elected by a joint session of theNational Assembly, with a two-thirds supermajority required to win. Real political power was vested in the Prime Minister, who was nominally elected by theHouse of Representatives but in practice was the leader of the majority party or coalition in the lower chamber. The Second Republic was the first and only instance of the South Korean government using a parliamentary system instead of apresidential orsemi-presidential system.
TheDemocratic Party, which had been in the opposition during the First Republic, easily gained power; Rhee's former opponentChang Myon became prime minister. The new legislature wasbicameral, with theHouse of Representatives as thelower house and theHouse of Councillors as theupper house.[3]Yun Posun waselected as the second President of South Korea on 13 August 1960.
The Second Republic repealed the severe curbs on political expression that had been in place under the Rhee regime, and as a result, freedom returned and an increase in political activity. Much of this activity was fromleftist andstudent groups, which had been instrumental in the overthrow of the First Republic. Membership ofunions and activity grew rapidly during the later months of 1960.[4][5][2] Estimates suggest around 2,000 demonstrations were held during eight months of the Second Republic.[4][6]
Under pressure from the left-wing, the Chang government carried out a series ofpurges of military and police officials who had been involved in anti-democratic activities or corruption during the First Republic. A special law to this effect was passed on 31 October 1960.[7] Around 40,000 people were placed under investigation; of these, more than 2,200 government officials and 4,000 police officers were purged.[7] In addition, the government considered reducing the size of theSouth Korean Army by 100,000, although this plan was shelved.[7]
The Second Republic government was faced with mounting instability in economic terms as well, seeing unemployment and wholesale prices rise. Thewon lost half of its value against the US dollar between fall 1960 and spring 1961.[6] The government formulated a five-year economic plan based around agriculture and light industry to decrease unemployment, but was ultimately overthrown before having the chance to carry it up.[6][8]
Chang's government resumed negotiations for the normalization ofJapan–Korea diplomatic relations, which had not progressed under the Rhee regime that had existed since the end ofJapanese rule. The Second Republic established diplomatic relations with many newly established countries, withSohn Won-yil, the first ambassador toWest Germany, attending the independence ceremonies ofCameroon,Togo,Guinea,Mali,Nigeria, andMorocco.
The Second Republic suffered from numerous political, economic, and social issues that were both new and inherited from the First Republic. Failure to properly address the issues caused a growth in political instability as factional fighting within the Democratic Party, combined with the increasing activity from opposition and activist groups, led to a breakdown in South Korean politics.
Many high-ranking figures of theSouth Korean military held animosity for so-called "liberationaristocrats" – the ruling class ofconservative politicians involved in theKorean independence movement andUnited States Army Military Government – that they blamed for the stalling of development in South Korea. Military figures noted how South Korea had been intensively developed under theJapanese colonial system and the "economic miracle" occurring in Japan, in marked contrast to Rhee's presidency which saw little significant effort to develop the economy, which remained stagnant, poor and largely agrarian. The lack of development under Rhee provoked a growing nationalistic intellectual reaction which called for a radical restructuring of society and a thorough political and economic reorganization, rejecting the model being pursued by the governing elite.
Park Chung Hee, a Major General in the Republic of Korea Army with decidedly ambiguous political leanings, was heavily influenced by this unfolding intellectual reaction. Park became the leader of a reformist and discontented faction within the military that plotted a coup d'etat against the civilian government of the Second Republic on 12 May 1961. The plot was aborted after being leaked, however, the military attempted another coup four days later on 16 May which was successful, dissolving the Second Republic. They proceeded to broadcast a proclamation outlining the policy objectives of the coup, including anti-communism, strengthening of ties with the United States, the elimination of political corruption, the construction of an autonomous national economy which during that time was heavily depended on aid from the United States,Korean reunification, and the removal of the present generation of politicians. Park and his supporters subsequently established the Military Revolutionary Committee as a military junta government, later renamed theSupreme Council for National Reconstruction. Park became thede facto dictator of South Korea as the Chairman of the council, while Yun Bo-seon remained president as a figurehead.
37°35′N127°0′E / 37.583°N 127.000°E /37.583; 127.000
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