April Revolution
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The April Revolution, sometimes called the April 19 Revolution or April 19 Movement, was a popular uprising in April 1960, led by labor and student groups, which overthrew the autocratic First Republic of South Korea under Syngman Rhee. It led to the peaceful resignation of Rhee and the transition to the Second Republic. The events were touched off by the discovery of a body in Masan Harbor, that of a student killed by a tear-gas shell in demonstrations against the elections of March.
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[edit] Before April 19th
During the elections of 1960, Syngman Rhee was determined to see Gibung Lee elected as the independent Vice President. He ran against Chang Myon, former ambassador to the United States during the Korean War. On the March 15th elections Gibung Lee won the elections with an abnormally wide margin.
It became clear that the vote was fraudulent and this prompted unrest among students. At its aftermath, President Rhee stepped down from power and his Prime Minister Gibung Lee committed suicide along with his family.
On March 15th of 1960, a protest against electoral corruption took place in Masan. The protest, sparked by Democratic Party members' exposure of electoral corruption, led to about a thousand residents of Masan gathering in front of the Democratic Party Headquarters in Masan around 7:30 in the evening. As the citizens faced off against the police, the city was blacked out. The police started shooting at the people and the people responded by throwing rocks at the police.
On April 11th, Kim Ju-yul's body was found on the beach at Masan. Kim had been a student at Masan Commercial High School who had disappeared during the Masan rioting. Authorities announced that an autopsy confirmed that the cause of his death was drowning, but many rejected this explanation. Some protesters forced their way into the hospital. They found that Kim's skull had been split by a tear gas grenade which had penetrated from Kim's eyes to the back of his head. This incident became the basis of a national movement against electoral corruption on April 19th.
Later a National Assembly investigating committee found that the firing into the crowd by the police had not been intended to disperse the crowds, but rather to kill protesters. President Rhee claimed that the Communist Party had been behind the Masan protests trying to shift the focus. Then on April 28th, Minister of Interior Choi In-Kyu and the Chief of Security resigned taking responsibility for the Masan incident.
[edit] Incidents in Seoul
Students marched from Korea University to the Blue House, located about three miles away. As they marched past other universities, their numbers grew. Finally, arriving at the Presidential Mansion, the number of the students was larger than the soldiers. Rather than be overwhelmed, soldiers fired on the demonstrators who were calling for Rhee’s resignation. The soldiers killed 125 students before laying down their weapons. April 19 Movement refers to the demonstrations that brought down the South Korean President Syngman Rhee.
[edit] References
A Brief History Of Korea (Brief History) by Mark Peterson
