April Revolution Succeeds (1960)
Tue Apr 26, 1960
Image: Lee Cheol-seung, who participated in the protest against fraudulent elections [Wikimedia]
On this day in 1960, illegitimate South Korean President Syngman Rhee was forced to resign and flee the country after weeks of sustained nationwide protests against his regime known as the April Revolution, or April 19th Movement.
Protests opposing Rhee were started by student and labor groups in the southeastern port city of Masan on April 11th after the discovery of the body of a local high school student who had been killed by police during demonstrations against President Rhee's rigged elections that March.
On April 18th, the protests spread to the capital, Seoul, where students from Korea University demanded new elections at a non-violent protest at the National Assembly against police violence and demanding new elections.
On April 19th (called "Bloody Tuesday"), more than 100,000 protesters, many of which were students, gathered at Blue House, the official residence for the South Korean head of state. When they arrived and demanded Rhee's resignation, police opened fire on protesters killing approximately 180 and wounding thousands. A week later, professors joined students and citizens in large-scale protests in which police refused to attack the protesters.
The next day, Rhee resigned and fled the country and found asylum in Hawaii. On May 16th, 1961, following months of political instability, General Park Chung-hee launched a coup d'Γ©tat overthrowing the short-lived Second Republic of South Korea and replacing it with a military junta and later the autocratic Third Republic of South Korea.
- Date: 1960-04-26
- Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.jstor.org.
- Tags: #Protests.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org