EverydayKorea.com

A Country Study: South Korea

South Korea Foreword Acknowledgements Preface Country Profile Country Geography Society Economy Transportation and Telecommunications Government and Politics National Security Introduction Chapter 1 - Historical Setting (Chong-Sik Lee) Origins of the Korean Name The Three Kingdoms Period The Evolution of Korean Society Silla Koryo The Choson Dynasty Characteristics of Society Under Dynasties Korean Identity Political and Social Institutions Korea Under Japanese Rule World War II and Korea South Korean Under United States Occupation, 1945-48 Economy and Society Establishment of the Republic of Korea The Korean War, 1950-53 The Syngman Rhee Era, 1946-60 Society Under Rhee The Postwar Economy The Democratic Interlude South Korea Under Park Chung Hee, 1961-79 The Military in Politics Economic Development Society Under Park Foreign Relations Relations with North Korea Relations with Japan Relations with the United States The Transition The Democratic Republican Party The New Democratic Party Students in 1980 General Hun Doo Hwan Takes Over The Kwangju Uprising The Chun Regime The 1980 Constitution Purges Chun's "Cultural Revolution Economic Performance Foreign Policy United States Japan China and the Soviet Union The Demise of the Chun Regime Chapter 2 - The Society and Its Environment (Donald M. Seekins) Physical Environment Land Area and Borders Topography and Drainage Climate Population Population Trends Population Settlement Patterns Urbanization Koreans Living Overseas Social Structure and Values Traditional Social Structure The Emergence of a Modern Society Social Classes in Contemporary South Korea Traditional Family Life Family and Social Life in the Cities Changing Role of Women Cultural Identity Korea and Japan The Korean Language Education Primary and Secondary Schools Higher Education College Student Activism Religion Religious Traditions Shamanism Daoism and Buddhism Christianity New Religions Religion in Contemporary South Korea Public Health and Welfare Health Conditions Health Care and Social Welfare Chapter 3 - The Economy (Daniel Metraux) The Japanese Role in Korea's Economic Development The Government Role in Economic Development Industrial Policies Economic Plans Revenues and Expenditures The Government, and Public and Private Corporations The Origins and Development of Chaebol The Role of Public Enterprise Pohang Iron and Steel Company Korea Electric Power Corporation Financing Development Industry Steel Electronics Shipbuilding Automobiles and Automotive Parts Armaments Construction Textiles and Footwear Chemicals Energy Agriculture Major Crops Forestry and Fishing The Agricultural Crisis of the late 1980s Prospects Service Industries Money and Banking Small and Medium-Sized Businesses The Labor Force Wages and Living Conditions Industrial Safety Transportation and Telecommunications Roads Subways and Railroads Civil Aviation Telecommunications Foreign Economic Relations Aid, Loans, and Investment Foreign Trade Policy Exports and Imports Korea in the Year 2000 The Setting The Role of Science and Technology The Economic Future Chapter 4 - Government and Politics (William Shaw) The Constitutional Framework The Government The Legislature The Executive The State Council The Presidential Secretariat The Judiciary The Civil Service Local Administration Political Dynamics Compromise and Reform: July-December 1987 Events in 1988 Returning to the Politics of National Security, 1989 Parties and Leaders Interest Groups Political Extremism and Political Violence Human Rights The Media (Roy U.T. Kim Foreign Policy Organization and Operation Basic Goals and Accomplishments Relations with the United States Relations with the Soviet Union Relations with Japan Relations with China Relations with North Korea Relations with International Organizations and the Third World Future Prospects Chapter 5 - National Security (Rodney P. Katz Development of the Armed Forces Kogyro, Silla, and Koryo Kingdoms The Choson Dynasty and the Japanese Colonial Period The South Korean Army after World War II War on the Korean Peninsula South Korea Responds to the North Korean Military Buildup The Military's Role in Society Organization and Equipment of the Armed Forces Army Air Force Navy and Marine Corps Reserve and Civil Defense Forces Recruitment, Training, and Conditions of Service Officers and Noncommisioned Officers Enlisted Personnel Uniforms, Ranks, and Insignia Defense Spending and Military Production Defense Spending Military Production Strategic Planning for War United States Forces in Korea South Korean and United States Cooperation (Guy R. Arrigoni) Internal Security The Threat from the North Seoul's Responses Intelligence Agencies The Agency for National Security Planning The Defense Security Command Korean National Police Criminal Justice Crime Criminal Prodedure Appendix. Tables Bibliography

THE TRANSITION

Soon after Park's October 26, 1979 assassination, South Korea went through kaleidoscopic changes--intense and open competition for power, student upheavals, a military takeover, a gruesome massacre, and the emergence of a new authoritarian order. Since Park had concentrated virtually all political power around himself, his assassination created a political vacuum. One of his main pillars of power, the director of the Presidential Security Force, was assassinated with him; the director of the other major political instrument, the KCIA, was quickly arrested by the Martial Law Command for conducting the assassinations. In addition, the National Assembly, one-third of its members presidential appointees, had been rendered impotent by the yusin constitution.

Ch'oe Kyu-ha, premier under Park, was elected president in December 1979 by the National Conference of Unification, a rubber stamp electoral college. Ch'oe had no independent political base. He reaffirmed the need for a new constitution in his December 21 inaugural speech, stating that a new constitution supported by a majority of the people would be adopted within a year and that a fair general election would be held soon afterward.

Even before his inauguration, Ch'oe, as acting president, had abolished Emergency Measure Number Nine. Several hundred individuals serving prison terms or being investigated on charges of violating that decree were released on December 8. One of those benefiting from the release was Kim Dae Jung, who had been under house arrest and whose civil rights were to be restored on February 29, 1980. Also affected were student activists who had been arrested for staging campus demonstrations.

Lieutenant General Chun Doo Hwan, the head of the Defense Security Command was responsible for conducting the investigation of Park's assassination. Chun used the factionalism rife within the military to assert his control over the army on December 12, 1979. He promptly set about uprooting the Park-era power elite and building a new political base. This power play, combined with increasing social and labor unrest, economic instability, and the factionalism within and between the ruling and opposition parties, set the scene for the military's consolidation of power and culminated in Chun's assumption of the presidency in August 1980.

Politics in South Korea in 1980 mainly revolved around framing a new constitution. The principal opposition party, the New Democratic Party under Kim Young Sam, advocated concluding the process by August 15, but President Ch'oe, evidently under military pressure, was not ready to expedite the constitutional process. The scheduling issue led to a major student upheaval in May 1980, followed by a military takeover.

Data as of June 1990

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