June Democratic Struggle

The June Democratic Struggle (Korean: 6월 민주 항쟁), also known as the June Democracy Movement and the June Uprising, was a nationwide pro-democracy movement in South Korea that generated mass protests from June 10 to 29, 1987. The demonstrations forced the ruling authoritarian government to hold direct presidential elections and institute other democratic reforms, which led to the establishment of the Sixth Republic, the present-day government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). On 10 June, the military regime under president Chun Doo-hwan announced the selection of his close friend and ally Roh Tae-woo as the next president. The public designation of Chun's successor was widely seen as a final affront to the long-delayed process of revising the South Korean constitution to allow direct elections of the president. Although pressure on the regime from demonstrations by students and other groups had been mounting for some time, the announcement ultimately sparked massive and effective protests. Chun and Roh were unwilling to use violence as the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul were approaching. They believed that doing so would draw further criticism, with the regime already under international pressure after the Gwangju Uprising and its massacre a few years earlier. They also thought Roh could win a fair election since the opposition was divided. For these reasons, they accepted the protesters' main demands, allowing direct presidential elections and the introduction of civil liberties. Although Roh was duly elected president in a relatively free election that December with a narrow plurality of just 36 percent of the vote, the consolidation of a liberal democracy in South Korea continued through the 1990s.

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