1981 South Korean presidential election

none 1981 South Korean presidential election Republic of Korea 1949 1980 South Korean presidential election 1980 1987 South Korean presidential election 1987 yes Presidential election presidential no 25 February 1981 2,639KCS 5,278 electors had been elected, but DJP elector Kim Chang-sik of Busan was removed due to eligibility problems. electoral 5,277KCS members of the Electoral College Chun Doo-hwan (전두환) Presidential Portrait.jpg Chun Doo-hwan DemocraticJustice 4,755 90.23% Democratic Korea Party Yu Chi-song Democratic Korea Party 404 7.67% yes Electoral College election 11 February 1981 78.12% yes Chun Doo-hwan Democratic Justice Party 60.71 3,667 Yu Chi-song Democratic Korea Party 11.67 411 Kim Chong-cheol Korean National Party 1.15 49 Kim Eui-taek Civil Rights Party (South Korea) 0.82 19 – Independent Independents 25.66 1,132 yes President Chun Doo-hwan Democratic Justice Party Chun Doo-hwan Democratic Justice Party Electoral College vote South Korean presidential election 1981.svg 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. The revised constitution was slightly less authoritarian than its predecessor. Among other things, it changed the presidential election system. Although it was still an indirect election by the electoral college, opposition candidates were now allowed to enter. The president was limited to a single seven-year term without the possibility of re-election, and any change allowing re-election was blocked from taking effect for the president in office at the time of amendment. However, this had no effect on the political landscape. Chun had jailed most prominent opposition politicians, including former NDP chairman Kim Young-sam, 1971 NDP presidential nominee Kim Dae-jung, and former prime minister Kim Jong-pil, all three of whom would later face Chun's handpicked successor, Roh Tae-Woo, in the 1987 presidential election. 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.책갈피 속의 오늘 1981년 민정당, 전두환 총재 추대] Donga, 15 January 2009 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.민한당, 17일에 창당대회 JoongAng Ilbo, 15 January 1981민정당 선거인우보 48.6%로 가장많아 JoongAng Ilbo, 6 February 1981 Electoral College nominations Province/CitySeatsCandidates nominatedDJPDKPKNPCRPDSPInd.Seoul85675319918290482Busan32427766350153Gyeonggi6707132218160252Gangwon299293821230206North Chungcheong256270741851105South Chungcheong4654281213490173North Jeolla407387955190220South Jeolla6065161182960386North Gyeongsang75566488100626South Gyeongsang58757897990322Jeju5349400026Total5,2784,9281,16513710112,951Source: Central Administration Committee Electoral College election According to official figures, 78.1% of registered voters voted, and gave Chun's DJP a supermajority of 3,667 seats in the electoral college, 69.5 percent of the total. The DJP won three times as many seats as independent candidates, and nine times as many seats as the largest opposition party, the Democratic Korea Party. Democratic Justice Party 9250262 3667 Democratic Korea Party 1778007 411 Korean National Party 174708 49 Civil Rights Party (South Korea) ko 민권당 Civil Rights Party 124215 19 Democratic Socialist Party 825 0 Independents 3909826 1132 361409 19967287 Central Administration Committee By province and city Province/CityDJPDKPKNPCRPDSPIndependentTotal colspan="3" Democratic Justice Party colspan="3" Democratic Korea Party colspan="3" Korean National Party colspan="3" Civil Rights Party (South Korea) colspan="3" Democratic Socialist Party (South Korea) colspan="3" IndependentVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotesSeatsSeoul1,918,21556.51551540,55215.9213729,6470.87448,8681.44700.000857,44225.261573,394,724856Busan799,98163.79234148,40311.83339,3970.7524,4910.36000.000291,74523.26551,254,017324Gyeonggi1,361,72769.03545283,18414.354412,2970.62317,9370.91300.000297,62215.09751,972,767670Gangwon523,46764.1524075,4309.24415,7161.9331,9320.24000.000199,44424.4452815,989299North Chungcheong423,37565.8120777,11811.991320,9203.2533,9930.6208250.130117,07118.2033643,302256South Chungcheong669,38162.96338133,96412.604235,6043.35108,1210.76000.000216,17320.33751,063,248465North Jeolla607,74762.62291106,70010.99264,5520.47024,5202.53600.000227,06423.3984970,583407South Jeolla763,29352.18351160,66610.985134,4062.35206,1200.42100.000498,32834.071831,462,813606North Gyeongsang1,249,10757.48449125,5305.78268030.04000.00000.000797,70236.712802,173,142755South Gyeongsang815,47862.10420116,8028.893411,3660.8748,2330.63200.000361,35827.521271,313,237587Jeju118,49168.09419,6585.55100.00000.00000.00045,87226.3611174,02153Total9,250,26260.713,6671,778,00711.67411174,7081.1549124,2150.82198250.103,909,82125.661,13215,237,8385,278Source: Central Administration Committee Electoral College vote In order to be elected, a candidate had to receive the vote of over 50% of the incumbent members of the Electoral College. Of the 5,277 electors who were elected on 11 February and had not been removed from office (one member was removed in Busan), this meant 2,639 votes were needed to win. Sitting president Chun Doo-hwan was re-elected by a landslide on 25 February with 4,755 votes, 90.11% of the total possible. However, the DJP's supermajority in the electoral college meant Chun's election was all but assured. Chun Doo-hwan Democratic Justice Party 4755 Yu Chi-song Democratic Korea Party 404 Kim Chong-cheol Korean National Party 85 Kim Eui-taek Civil Rights Party 26 1 5277 Central Administration Committee By province and city Province/City Chun Doo-hwan Yu Chi-song Kim Chong-cheol Kim Eui-taek Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Seoul70382.2213315.56111.2980.94Busan28588.793310.2830.9300.00Gyeonggi62092.54436.4240.6030.45Gangwon29297.6641.3431.0000.00North Chungcheong23892.97145.4741.5600.00South Chungcheong40687.31418.82183.8700.00North Jeolla36991.34256.1930.7471.73South Jeolla52185.97518.42284.6260.99North Gyeongsang72395.89293.8520.2700.00South Gyeongsang54693.02305.1191.5320.34Jeju5298.1111.8900.0000.00 Total4,75590.23 404 7.67 85 1.61 26 0.49 Source: Central Administration Committee 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. Notes References Category:Presidential elections in South Korea President Category:February 1981 in Asia