April Revolution

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Not to be confused with 19th of April Movement.
For other uses, see April Revolution (disambiguation).

April Revolution
Protesters during the April Revolution
DateApril 11–26, 1960 (1960-04-11 – 1960-04-26)
Location
South Korea
Caused by
Resulted in
  • Resignation and exile of Rhee
  • Establishment of the Second Republic of Korea on 15 June 1960
  • Yun Posun
    elected as president
Parties
Pro-democracy protestors
Lead figures

Choi In-Kyu Executed

Yun Posun

Casualties and losses
186 civilians
Part of a series on the
History of South Korea
Preludes to Division 1910–48
Japanese rule 1910–45
Korean Provisional Government 1919–48
People's Republic of Korea 1945–46
USAMGIK 1945–48
First Republic 1948–60
Korean War 1950–53
Syngman Rhee government 1948–60
April Revolution 1960
Second Republic 1960–63
Yun Posun government 1960
Chang Myon cabinet 1960–61
May 16 coup 1961
Supreme Council for National Reconstruction 1961–63
Yushin Constitution
 1972
Assassination of Park Chung-hee 1979 December 12 coup 1979 May 17 coup 1980 Gwangju Uprising
1980
June Democracy Movement
1987
Lee Myung-bak government 2008–13 Park Geun-hye government 2013–17 Moon Jae-in government 2017–22 Yoon Seok-yeol government 2022–present 2024 South Korean martial law crisis
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The April Revolution (

First Republic from April 11 to 26, 1960, which led to Rhee's resignation.[1]

Protests opposing Rhee were started by student and labor groups in the southeastern port city of

Second Republic of South Korea
.

Background

Syngman Rhee had served as the first President of South Korea since July 24, 1948, three weeks before its founding on August 15, 1948.

opposition with heavy-handed repression. At first, this was tolerated in the name of political unity and fear of reprisals. Rhee faced increasing domestic discontent following the end of the Korean War in 1953, however, as his administration delivered limited economic and social development, while angering the public by amending the constitution to prolong his stay in power. The South Korean public widely perceived Rhee as a corrupt and authoritarian leader who used autocratic methods to maintain his rule and cronyism in the government.[3]

In December 1958, Rhee forced through the

National Security Law
giving the government broad new powers to curtail freedom of the press and prevent members of the opposition from voting.

In 1959, Rhee was shocked and threatened when the United States reduced its economic aid to South Korea from a high of $382,893,000 in 1957 to $222,204,000, and began taking desperate measures to ensure his political survival.[4]

The

heart attack.[6]
The two deaths were widely perceived by the public as too much of a coincidence.

Rhee was determined to see his protege

hundreds of pre-marked ballots were stuffed into boxes on election day.[3]

Masan protests and the death of Kim Ju-Yul

On March 15, the same day as the election results, members of the Democratic Party in the southern city of Masan launched a protest against the electoral corruption. About one thousand residents of Masan gathered in front of the Democratic Party's Masan headquarters at around 7:30 PM. Residents encountered a police presence and the city lights were blacked out. The police began shooting at protesters, who responded by throwing rocks at the police.[8]

On April 11, a

eyes to the back of his head. This indicated that the police had shot the tear gas to an angle less than 45 degrees, which could be fatal if shot directly at a person's face. Rhee's regime tried to censor news of this incident. However, the story was reported by the Korean press along with a picture of Kim when his body was first found, and delivered to the world through AP. This incident shocked the nation and became the basis of a national movement against electoral corruption on April 19. Masan erupted into three days of spontaneous mass protests which led to further violent clashes with police.[10]
Rhee tried to shift the focus by claiming that communist agents were behind the Masan protests.

Seoul protests

On April 18, the protests spread to the capital, Seoul, where students from Korea University launched a non-violent protest at the National Assembly against police violence and demanded new elections. However, they were attacked by gangs funded by Rhee's supporters as they returned to their campus.

On April 19 (called "Bloody Tuesday"), over 100,000 high school and university students marched to the Blue House calling for Rhee's resignation. Police opened fire, killing approximately 180 and wounding thousands. The Rhee government proclaimed martial law in order to suppress the demonstrations.[11]

On April 25, professors joined students and citizens in large-scale protests outnumbering soldiers and police, who refused to attack the protestors.[12]

Resignation of Syngman Rhee

On April 26, 1960, Rhee stepped down from power, and Lee Ki-poong was blamed for most of the corruption in the government. The following day, the Minister of Interior

Choi In-Kyu and the Chief of Security resigned taking responsibility for the Masan incident. On April 28, 1960, in an annex of Rhee's mansion, Lee Ki-poong's first son, Lee Kang-seok (1937 – April 28, 1960) shot Lee Ki-poong and his family and then killed himself in a murder-suicide
.

Aftermath

First post-revolution trial began July 5 in South Korea for thirty former high officials of the Rhee regime on charges of corruption, maladministration, and election rigging, etc.

After the resignation of Rhee and the death of Lee Ki-poong, the rule of the Liberal Party government came to an end. Rhee was exiled to

Yun Bo-seon
was elected president on August 13, 1960, but real power was vested in the prime minister, Chang Myon.

A National Assembly investigating committee found that the firing into the crowd by the police had not been intended to disperse the crowds, but rather to kill protesters. It was later revealed at a criminal trial that Park Jong-pyo, the Chief of Public Security, tied rocks on Kim Ju-yul's dead body and threw him away into the Masan shore to prevent him floating up on the shore. Park was later sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Kim. Park was one of hundreds of people to be sentenced by a revolutionary tribunal on various charges. Multiple death sentences were imposed, with some of them being carried out. Among those executed were the officials responsible for issuing the order to fire. Secretary of the Interior Choi In-Kyu, the official most responsible for the order, and Kwak Yong-ju, the Presidential security chief, who was also involved in the shootings, were both hanged at Seodaemun Prison on December 21, 1961.[13][14]

On May 16, 1961, following months of political instability, Major-General

Third Republic of South Korea.[4][15]

On July 19, 1965, 90-year-old Rhee died at 19:35 Korean time in Honolulu.

See also

References

  1. ^ "South Korean students force dictator to resign, new elections, 1960 | Global Nonviolent Action Database". nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  2. ^ "Remembering the April 19 Revolution". The Dong-A Ilbo. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Kim, C. I. Eugene, and Ke-soo Kim (1964). "The April 1960 Korean Student Movement", The Western Political Quarterly, 17(1).
  4. ^ a b (1995) KBS National Institute for International Education Development. "The History of Korea", Ministry of Education Korea Seoul
  5. ^ Andrew C. Nahm and James E. Hoare, Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Korea (Scarecrow Press, 2004), p. 21
  6. ^ "II. The Vice Presidency – The Death of Chough Pyong-ok and the Foul Play in the March 15 Election". www.changmyun.com. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  7. ISBN 978-0160403255
    .
  8. JSTOR 2580348
    .
  9. ^ Je-hae, Do (March 14, 2010). "Nation Honors Victims of Masan Uprising". The Korea Times. Retrieved September 25, 2024. Kim Ju-yul, a Masan-based student killed by a tear-gas shell in demonstrations against the election rigging of March, in Masan Harbor. Kim's skull had been split by a tear gas grenade. He has since become a symbol of the March 15 uprising.
  10. ^ "60 Years of the Republic: The End of Syngman Rhee's Rule". The Chosun Ilbo. July 7, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  11. Hankyoreh
    . Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  12. ISBN 978-0807861813
    .
  13. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  14. ^ "Assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979". The Korea Times. October 24, 2010. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  15. ^ Seuk-Ryule, Hong. 2002. "Reunification Issues and Civil Society in South Korea: The Debates and Social Movement for Reunification during the April Revolution Period, 1960–1961." Journal of Asian Studies 61, no. 4: 1237.

Further reading

  • Mark Peterson, 2009, A Brief History Of Korea (Brief History), Facts on File. (
    ISBN 0816050856
    )
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