South Korean Presidential Election of 1987

Roh Tae-woo won with 36.6 percent as opposition leaders Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung split the vote.

Overview

Mass protests in the June Democratic Struggle of 1987 forced the military-backed government to accept direct presidential elections, the first in sixteen years. On December 16, Roh Tae-woo, the ruling party candidate and a former general, won with 36.6 percent of the vote after the two leading democracy campaigners, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, both refused to stand aside, taking about 28 and 27 percent respectively. Despite the disappointment of the opposition, the election began South Korea's transition to democracy under a new constitution. Both Kims later won the presidency, in 1992 and 1997, and Roh was later convicted of corruption and mutiny.