1981 South Korean presidential election

Two-stage presidential elections were held in South Korea in February 1981. An electoral college was elected on 11 February, which in turn elected the president on 25 February. They were the last indirect presidential elections controlled by the government of Chun Doo-hwan under the new 1980 constitution. Chun was re-elected with 90% of the electoral college vote.

1981 South Korean presidential election

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Presidential election
25 February 1981
5,277^[a] members of the Electoral College 2,639^[a] electoral votes needed to win
DKP Nominee Chun Doo-hwan Yu Chi-song Party Democratic Justice Democratic Korea Electoral vote 4,755 404 Percentage 90.23% 7.67%
Electoral College election
11 February 1981
Turnout	78.1%
Party Leader % Seats Democratic Justice Chun Doo-hwan 60.71 3,667 Democratic Korea Yu Chi-song 11.67 411 National Kim Chong-cheol 1.15 49 Civil Rights Kim Eui-taek 0.82 19 Independents – 25.66 1,132
Electoral College vote
President before election Chun Doo-hwan Democratic Justice Elected President Chun Doo-hwan Democratic Justice

Background

Rising to prominence as the leader of the military after the assassination of former military dictator of South Korea Park Chung-hee, Security Commander Chun Doo-hwan successfully forced Park's successor Choi Kyu-hah to step down from the presidency and became president himself through the indirect elections of 1980.

He then revised the Constitution on 27 October 1980. The revised constitution was slightly less authoritarian than its predecessor. Among other things, it changed the presidential election system. Although it was still an indirect election by the electoral college, opposition candidates were now allowed to enter. However, this had no effect on the political landscape. Chun had jailed most prominent opposition politicians, including former NDP chairman Kim Young-sam, 1971 NDP presidential nominee Kim Dae-jung, and former prime minister Kim Jong-pil.

Presidential nominations

The Democratic Justice Party (DJP) National Convention was held on 15 January at Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul. At the convention, 3,162 delegates from around the nation nominated the sitting President Chun Doo-hwan without a vote.^[1]

The Democratic Korea Party (DKP) National Convention was held on 17 January at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts in Seoul. Yu Chi-song, a former 3-term lawmaker from Gyeonggi, was nominated as the party's candidate for president.

The Korea Nationalist Party (KNP) National Convention was held on 23 January at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts, and saw Kim Chong-cheol, a former five-term lawmaker from South Chungcheong, nominated.

The Civil Rights Party National Convention was held on 23 January at the Cheondo Hall; Kim Eui-taek, a former four-term lawmaker from South Jeolla was chosen as the party's candidate.

Other political parties including the Democratic Socialist Party, the Socialist Party and the New Politics Party announced they would not be participating in the elections as they were not capable of finding viable candidates for president or the electoral college.^[2][3]

Electoral College nominations

Region	Seats	Candidates nominated
		DJP	DKP	KNP	CRP	DSP	Ind.
Seoul	856	753	199	18	29	0	482
Busan	324	277	66	3	5	0	153
Gyeonggi	670	713	221	8	16	0	252
Gangwon	299	293	82	12	3	0	206
North Chungcheong	256	270	74	18	5	1	105
South Chungcheong	465	428	121	34	9	0	173
North Jeolla	407	387	95	5	19	0	220
South Jeolla	606	516	118	29	6	0	386
North Gyeongsang	755	664	88	1	0	0	626
South Gyeongsang	587	578	97	9	9	0	322
Jeju	53	49	4	0	0	0	26
Total	5,278	4,928	1,165	137	101	1	2,951
Source: Central Administration Committee

Electoral College election

According to official figures, 78.1% of registered voters voted, and gave Chun's DJP a supermajority of 3,667 seats in the electoral college, 69.5 percent of the total. The DJP won three times as many seats as independent candidates, and nine times as many seats as the largest opposition party, the Democratic Korea Party.

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Justice Party	9,250,262	60.71	3,667
	Democratic Korea Party	1,778,007	11.67	411
	Korean National Party	174,708	1.15	49
	Civil Rights Party	124,215	0.82	19
	Democratic Socialist Party	825	0.01	0
	Independents	3,909,826	25.66	1,132
Total		15,237,843	100.00	5,278
Valid votes		15,237,843	97.68
Invalid/blank votes		361,409	2.32
Total votes		15,599,252	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		19,967,287	78.12
Source: Central Administration Committee

By region

Region	DJP			DKP			KNP			CRP			DSP			Independent			Total
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	Seats
Seoul	1,918,215	56.5	551	540,552	15.9	137	29,647	0.9	4	48,868	1.4	7	0	0	0	857,442	25.3	157	3,394,724	856
Busan	799,981	63.8	234	148,403	11.8	33	9,397	0.7	2	4,491	0.4	0	0	0	0	291,745	23.3	55	1,254,017	324
Gyeonggi	1,361,727	69.0	545	283,184	14.4	44	12,297	0.6	3	17,937	0.9	3	0	0	0	297,622	15.1	75	1,972,767	670
Gangwon	523,467	64.2	240	75,430	9.3	4	15,716	1.9	3	1,932	0.2	0	0	0	0	199,444	24.4	52	815,989	299
North Chungcheong	423,375	65.8	207	77,118	12.0	13	20,920	3.3	3	3,993	0.6	0	825	0.1	0	117,071	18.2	33	643,302	256
South Chungcheong	669,381	63.0	338	133,964	12.6	42	35,604	3.3	10	8,121	0.8	0	0	0	0	216,173	20.3	75	1,063,248	465
North Jeolla	607,747	62.6	291	106,700	11.0	26	4,552	0.5	0	24,520	2.5	6	0	0	0	227,064	23.4	84	970,583	407
South Jeolla	763,293	52.2	351	160,666	11.0	51	34,406	2.3	20	6,120	0.4	1	0	0	0	498,328	34.1	183	1,462,813	606
North Gyeongsang	1,249,107	57.5	449	125,530	5.8	26	803	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	797,702	36.7	280	2,173,142	755
South Gyeongsang	815,478	62.1	420	116,802	8.9	34	11,366	0.9	4	8,233	0.6	2	0	0	0	361,358	27.5	127	1,313,237	587
Jeju	118,491	68.1	41	9,658	5.5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	45,872	26.4	11	174,021	53
Total	9,250,262	60.7	3,667	1,778,007	11.7	411	174,708	1.1	49	124,215	0.8	19	825	0.0	0	3,909,821	25.7	1,132	15,237,838	5,278
Source: Central Administration Committee

Electoral College vote

In order to be elected, a candidate had to receive the vote of over 50% of the incumbent members of the Electoral College. Of the 5,277 electors who were elected on 11 February and had not been removed from office (one member was removed in Busan), this meant 2,639 votes were needed to win. Sitting president Chun Doo-hwan was re-elected by a landslide on 25 February with 4,755 votes, 90.11% of the total possible. However, the DJP's supermajority in the electoral college meant Chun's election was all but assured.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Chun Doo-hwan	Democratic Justice Party	4,755	90.23
	Yu Chi-song	Democratic Korea Party	404	7.67
	Kim Chong-cheol	Korean National Party	85	1.61
	Kim Eui-taek	Civil Rights Party	26	0.49
Total			5,270	100.00
Valid votes			5,270	99.98
Invalid/blank votes			1	0.02
Total votes			5,271	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			5,277	99.89
Source: Central Administration Committee

By region

Region	Chun Doo-hwan	Yu Chi-song	Kim Chong-cheol	Kim Eui-taek	Abstain	Invalid	Total
Seoul	703	133	11	8	1	0	856
Busan	285	33	3	0	2	0	323
Gyeonggi	620	43	4	3	0	0	670
Gangwon	292	4	3	0	0	0	299
North Chungcheong	238	14	4	0	0	0	256
South Chungcheong	406	41	18	0	0	0	465
North Jeolla	369	25	3	7	2	1	407
South Jeolla	521	51	28	6	0	0	606
North Gyeongsang	723	29	2	0	1	0	755
South Gyeongsang	546	30	9	2	0	0	587
Jeju	52	1	0	0	0	0	53
Total	4,755	404	85	26	6	1	5,277
Source: Central Administration Committee

Aftermath

The term of the newly elected president officially began on the day the electoral votes were cast and counted, 25 February. The inauguration ceremony took place on 3 March. This marked the official beginning of the Fifth Republic of Korea, a dictatorial regime that lasted until democratization in 1988.

Notes

1. 5,278 electors had been elected, but DJP elector Kim Chang-sik of Busan was removed due to eligibility problems.

References

1. 책갈피 속의 오늘 1981년 민정당, 전두환 총재 추대] Donga, 15 January 2009
2. 민한당, 17일에 창당대회 JoongAng Ilbo, 15 January 1981
3. 민정당 선거인우보 48.6%로 가장많아 JoongAng Ilbo, 6 February 1981