May 16 coup

Park Chung-hee (front right) commanding his coup troops

The May Coup d'État (Korean: 5.16 군사정변, 五一六軍事政變) was a military coup d'état carried out in South Korea by major general Park Chung-Hee and his subordinate officers on May 16, 1961. He justified his coup in the name of bringing the stability to the society and implementing the anti-communism policy. The civilian government (Second Republic of South Korea) which had been established by April Revolution, 1960 was overthrown by this coup. After this coup, the military junta, called Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (국가재건최고회의, 國家再建最高會議) took power and began to implement the national reconstruction policy. And Park, then only a lieutenant general, eliminated his senior generals and made himself full general.

At the same time, they abolished democratic reforms of the civilian government and abridged the basic rights of people in the name of preventing communists from making social confusion. After 3 years of the junta administration, the constitution of Third Republic of South Korea was enacted. At first, Park Chung-Hee, chairman of the junta said that he would return to unit after the civilian administration is established. But after the new constitution was enacted, he discharged himself and ran for the presidency. He won the election and became the 5th president of South Korea. After the consecutive two terms, in 1969 he (and his party, Democratic Republican Party of Korea, 민주공화당) tried to amend the constitution that originally forbade the 3rd term, saying that he would not take the presidency any more after his 3rd term. Although there was a huge opposition movement to this amendment, the constitution was amended as he wanted. But during his third term, he launched self-coup, October Yushin and enacted the new constitution that practically allowed his life term.

After May Coup, the military government ruled South Korea for the next several decades (until 1993). After Park was assassinated in 1979, the prime minister, Choi Kyu-ha succeeded Park position. Although he was not from the military, he could not redeem the civilian government. After the consecutive coups (Coup d'état of December Twelfth, Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, Gwangju massacre) by the newly emerging military leaders, the real power had gone to the hands of them. In September 1980, Choi was forced to resign from president to give way to the new military leader, Chun Doo-hwan. After Choi, the next two presidents of South Korea were also from the military. Although May Coup had been called " May Revolution" (5.16 혁명 , 五一六革命) during the military government period, after 1993, it was denounced and officially degraded into a coup. And it has been condemned as the opening of the military rule and the overthrow of the lawful government in South Korea by the post-military civilian administrations.