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South Korea The 1980 Constitution
One of Chun's inaugural promises was the promulgation of a
new constitution and the holding of a national referendum to
approve it. On September 29, 1980, the government announced the
draft of a constitution that in many ways was the most democratic
South Korea had ever had--except for the supplementary provisions
and the procedure for presidential election. The guarantee of
peoples' democratic rights was absolute, including the right to
privacy in communications, the prohibition of torture, and the
inadmissability in court trials of confessions obtained by force.
The president, who was to be elected by an electoral college and
to serve a single seven-year term, was given strong powers,
including the right to dissolve the National Assembly, which in
turn could bring down cabinets but not the president. In the
event that the constitution was amended to extend the president's
term of office, such changes were not to be applied to the
incumbent. The document received the overwhelming approval of the
voters--91.6 percent--at the national referendum held on October
22, 1980.
The constitution, however, was a "promissory note." Until the
new National Assembly was elected and inaugurated, the
Legislative Council for National Security, to be appointed by
Chun, would enact all laws. A supplementary provision in the
constitution also called for the dissolution of all existing
political parties. In effect, by offering to bring in a
democratic government by June 1981, Chun had obtained a mandate
to change the political landscape in whatever form he chose. The
new constitution placed South Korea under a constitutional
dictatorship from October 1980 to June 1981.
Data as of June 1990
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