Protests against the rigged March 15 election grew into the April Revolution, forcing President Syngman Rhee to resign. A constitutional amendment introducing a parliamentary system launched the Second Republic, and after the July 29 general election President Yun Po-sun and the Chang Myon cabinet took office.
The year in Korea
Mar 15The presidential and vice-presidential elections were held amid massive fraud by the Liberal Party government (the March 15 rigged election). [Source]
Apr 11The body of Kim Ju-yeol, a student missing since the Masan protests, was found in Masan harbor with a tear-gas shell lodged in his eye, spreading protests nationwide. [Source]
Apr 19Students and citizens staged mass protests against electoral fraud and dictatorship; police opened fire, causing many deaths (the April Revolution). [Source]
Apr 26President Syngman Rhee announced his resignation. [Source]
Jun 15The National Assembly passed a constitutional amendment introducing a bicameral parliamentary system, launching the Second Republic. [Source]
Jul 29General elections for the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors were held under the new constitution. [Source]
Aug 12Yun Po-sun was elected president at a joint session of both houses of the National Assembly. [Source]
Aug 25The 17th Summer Olympics opened in Rome, Italy. [Source]
Songs, shows & trends
Film
Kim Ki-young’s “The Housemaid” — A thriller about a maid who enters a middle-class home, it drew 100,000 viewers at Seoul's Myeongbo Theater. [Source]
Film “Romance Papa” — Shin Sang-ok's family film opened at the Myeongbo Theater on January 28. [Source]
Film “Mr. Park” — Kang Dae-jin's black-and-white film follows a father who repairs coal-briquette stoves. [Source]
Music
Choi Hee-joon – “My Sweetheart Is an Old Miss” — The first release that launched the career of former Eighth Army stage singer Choi Hee-joon. [Source]
Year League: the best year
Sources
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1960s · Revolution and the Start of Industrialization
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