The June Struggle and democratisation
Weeks of mass protest force South Korea's military regime to accept direct presidential elections, opening the way to democracy.
- The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History — Don Oberdorfer and Robert Carlin, Basic Books (2014)
- Asia's Unknown Uprisings, Volume 1: South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century — George Katsiaficas, PM Press (2012)
- A Concise History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present — Michael J. Seth, Rowman & Littlefield (2016)
By 1987 Chun Doo-hwan’s regime faced a restless, increasingly middle-class society. In January a student, Park Jong-chul, died under police torture, and the cover-up was exposed. In April Chun refused to allow direct election of his successor and named fellow general Roh Tae-woo. In June, after another student, Lee Han-yeol, was fatally struck by a tear-gas canister, hundreds of thousands of people, office workers alongside students, took to the streets across the country.
- The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History — Don Oberdorfer and Robert Carlin, Basic Books (2014)
- Asia's Unknown Uprisings, Volume 1: South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century — George Katsiaficas, PM Press (2012)
With the Seoul Olympics approaching in 1988 and the United States urging restraint, the regime gave in. On 29 June Roh announced direct presidential elections and the restoration of civil liberties. Roh won in December because the opposition vote split between Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, but the transition held: Kim Young-sam was elected in 1992 and Kim Dae-jung in 1997, the first peaceful transfer of power to the opposition.
- The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History — Don Oberdorfer and Robert Carlin, Basic Books (2014)
- A Concise History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present — Michael J. Seth, Rowman & Littlefield (2016)
Why it matters today
South Koreans see their democracy as something they won in the streets, not a gift. The candlelight protests of 2016–17 that led to President Park Geun-hye's impeachment consciously echoed 1987, and the generation that led the June Struggle shaped politics for decades.