Seoul Spring

The Seoul Spring (Korean:서울의 봄) was a period of democratization in South Korea from 26 October 1979 to 17 May 1980. This expression was derived from the Prague Spring of Czechoslovakia in 1968.[1]

The assassination of President Park Chung-hee on 26 October 1979 by Kim Jae-gyu, terminating his dictatorship, was expected to democratize South Korea by people who revived democratization movements.[1]

The National Conference for Unification tried to nominate Choi Kyu-hah to succeed Park Chung-hee as President through the upcoming indirect election. Then, some anti-government figures held a fake wedding ceremony - in order to gather people, getting around the law prohibiting any political meeting - to denounce the martial law, the army, and the National Conference for Unification; after the event the army arrested 140 participants, including 14 people delivered to the Defence Security Command in Yongsan-gu being tortured. After the large-scale demonstration in Seoul Station, general Chun Doo-hwan, holding de facto power at that time, declared martial law before sending the army to Ewha Womans University to arrest students representatives who had gathered there. The Seoul Spring effectively came to a close with the Gwangju Massacre on 18 May 1980, which spurred future social movements toward democratization in the country.[1]

See also

References
  1. "서울의봄". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.