The 1969 Constitutional Revision and Party Politics in South Korea

Abstract

T HE PASSAGE of the i969 constitutional amendment in the National Assembly and in the referendum marked the most significant political development in South Korea since the military coup of i96i. Often described by the opposition as the coup, the amendment has paved the way for President Park's third consecutive term. The purpose of this article is to describe the circumstances which led to the revision, to examine how and why it was passed, to analyze the five basic demands formulated by the opposition as conditions for normalizing parliamentary procedures, and to determine the effects it has had on the power-structure of the ruling Democratic Republican Party (DRP) and the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP). To understand the circumstances surrounding the revision, it is proper to begin with the factional struggle within the ruling DRP from I963 to i969.1 The first major factional group, known as the Main Current, included Colonel Kim-the architect of the coup-and his former South Korean CIA associates who secretly initiated the formation of the DRP during military rule. Their immediate objective was to monopolize power for themselves in the civilian government under President Park after the i963 general election. Their ultimate goal was to run Colonel Kim for president when Park's second term expires in I97I. The DRP was the basis of their strength and was to become the center of power so that it could be used as the key vehicle for Kim's presidential candidacy. This plan antagonized many neutral army officers as well as some of those in the junta who had engineered the coup with Kim. Although Kim's opponents initially refused to join the DRP, most of them were eventually brought into it when given some key positions in the party. Many of the anti-Kim officers became DRP assemblymen after the i963 general election; they were then joined by many old-line politicians in the Assembly, who had been elected under the DRP label. The second major group (designated anti-Main Current) was a loose