South Korea

F

Social Services

In 2004 South Korea had 554 people for every physician. The government sponsors many social services, including some medical insurance programs and welfare and retirement plans.

G

Defense

The president is commander in chief of the armed forces. In 2004 total active military forces stood at 687,700. Membership was as follows: army, 560,000; navy, 63,000; and air force, 64,700. Reserve forces total 4.5 million. Thousands of U.S. troops are also stationed in the country.

VII

History of South Korea

At the end of World War II in 1945, the Korea Peninsula was liberated from Japanese colonial rule, which had been in place since 1910. To fill the power vacuum, Soviet forces occupied the northern portion of the Korea Peninsula, and United States forces occupied the southern portion. This political division was considered only temporary, but subsequent reunification efforts failed. In 1948 the division became official when the Republic of Korea, backed by the United States and the United Nations (UN), was established south of the 38th parallel, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, backed by the Soviet Union and China, was established north of the same latitude. For the history of the Korea Peninsula before 1948, see Korea.

The Republic of Korea, commonly known as South Korea, was proclaimed on August 15, 1948. Its first president, Syngman Rhee, was elected by a legislature that had been popularly elected in May 1948. The legislative elections were sponsored and supervised by UN representatives. Left-wing groups had boycotted these elections, and virtually all the legislators were firm anti-Communists, as was their chosen president.

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A

Unstable Beginnings

The main objective of the first South Korean government was the suppression of leftist groups, some of them independent but many supported by the Communist government of North Korea. The United States, concerned about leftist guerrilla activity and the potential of invasion from North Korea, delayed withdrawing its occupation forces in South Korea until June 1949.

However, the security situation remained extremely tenuous in the Korea Peninsula. The North Korean leader, Kim Il Sung, sought to unify the Korea Peninsula under Communist rule. In June 1950 he launched a full-scale military invasion of South Korea, thereby starting the Korean War. The United States immediately gained UN Security Council support for the defense of South Korea and committed American ground troops to the war. The Korean War was ultimately one of the most destructive and deadly wars of the 20th century. Perhaps as many as 4 million Koreans died throughout the peninsula, the majority of them civilians.

During the war, South Korean president Rhee governed under martial law, and he used his power to force the legislature to adopt a constitutional amendment providing for popular election of the president. Rhee was popularly elected to a second term in 1952.

In July 1953 an armistice agreement signed by the UN, North Korea, and China—South Korea refused to sign—ended the fighting of the Korean War. Without a formal peace treaty, however, North Korea and South Korea technically remained at war. Their shared border, known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), remained heavily fortified and guarded on both sides. With the consent of South Korea, the United States continued to maintain a military presence in the country.

South Korea made a slow recovery from the war. Rhee was unable to produce any significant economic development despite much aid from the United States. He easily won reelection in 1956 and 1960, but blatant manipulation of the 1960 elections led to nationwide protests that culminated in Rhee’s forced resignation on April 27, 1960. The moderate government of John M. Chang that followed Rhee’s departure implemented liberalizing reforms in many areas, but economic development still lagged. Military leaders, fearing growing instability and wary of student agitation for talks with North Korea, staged a coup on May 16, 1961.

B

Military Rule under Park Chung Hee

The ruling military junta, led by Park Chung Hee, dissolved the parliament, governed by decree, and banned all political activity until October 1963, when Park was narrowly elected president. As president, Park launched economic reforms designed to industrialize South Korea. Despite widespread public opposition, Park signed a treaty with Japan in 1965, dropping Korean demands for war reparations in return for economic aid. Japanese capital soon began to flow into Korea. The country also earned foreign exchange by sending troops and contract workers to aid the United States during the Vietnam War (1959-1975). This led to a dramatic spurt of industrialization and export-oriented growth.

Little was left to chance in Park’s government. Politics were dominated by his Democratic Republican Party (DRP), which by its control of funds and patronage easily overwhelmed all opposition groups. In addition, the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), responsible for intelligence and anti-North operations, carried out surveillance and intimidation of political dissidents.

In the presidential election of 1971, Park narrowly defeated the opposition candidate, Kim Dae Jung of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Park and his ruling DRP quickly moved to consolidate power before the 1973 legislative elections. In October 1972 Park’s government declared martial law, dissolved the legislature, and suspended the 1962 constitution. The following month, the government introduced a new constitution, known as the Yushin (Revitalizing Reform) constitution, which greatly expanded presidential powers and allowed Park to remain in office indefinitely.

The political opposition immediately began agitating for constitutional reforms. However, Park issued numerous emergency measures that banned activities of the political opposition. The Presidential Emergency Measure for Safeguarding National Security, issued in 1975, banned student demonstrations. Many political dissidents who agitated for constitutional reform were arrested and jailed. Even as civil rights were suppressed or violated, rapid industrialization of the country achieved spectacular economic growth. South Korea’s exports flooded Western markets, and the country ceased its dependence on foreign aid.