Presidential Election in South Korea (1963)

The 1963 presidential election in South Korea was the first election after the May 1961 coup , which put an end to the Second Republic. As a result of the 1961 coup, the military came to power in South Korea, led by Park Jung-hee , who created the Supreme Council of National Perestroika , which owned real power in the country. President Yoon Bo Song sided with the rebellious military and convinced the US leadership, as well as other units of the South Korean army, not to interfere in the course of events. In order to ensure the formal legitimacy of the military regime, Yoon Bo Song remained president for some time and resigned on March 24, 1962.

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Presidential Election in South Korea (1963)
October 15, 1963
Voter turnout	85.0%
Candidate	Park Jung Hee	Yoon Bo Song
The consignment	Democratic Republican Party
Votes	4 702 640 (46.6%)	4 546 614 (45.14%)
Election result	Park Jung Hee Elected President of South Korea

The May coup caused a negative reaction in the United States, and the Kennedy administration began to actively pressure Korea economically, slowing down the provision of those development loans, based on which Pak's economic program was built ^[1] . Park Jung-hee agreed to return to a civilian form of government, for which a referendum was held in South Korea on December 17, 1962, at which 78.9% of the participants voted to return the country to a presidential form of government. After that, it was announced that the presidential election would be held in 1963.

At first, Park Jung-hee was not going to run for president, but on March 10, the CIA of South Korea revealed the plot of a group of high-ranking army officers who wanted to excommunicate Pak and create their own government. In addition, on March 14 several dozen officers gathered at the headquarters of the junta, including “young colonels,” who demanded that Pak not leave. After that, Pak entered the election campaign: on August 30, 1963, he resigned from active military service and put forward his candidacy for the presidency of the Democratic Republican Party (DRP), specially created by him.

The pre-election debate brought Pak extra success, as the old-school politicians did not have a positive socio-economic program and in fact called for a return to the days of Lee Sung Man . Against the background of their statements, the specific economic program of the Pak won ^[1] .

The elections took place on October 15, 1963 ^[2] . As a result of the election, Park Jung Hee defeated Yoon Bo Sung by a marginal margin (46.6% of the vote against 45.1%). Voter turnout was 85.0% ^[3] . In the urban constituencies, Park lost, but the advantage provided him with support in the countryside.

Park won the election, despite the fact that Yun enjoyed American support and even accused Park Jung-hee of the communist past and anti-American sentiments during the election campaign ^[1] .