# 1992 South Korean presidential election

Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 18 December 1992, the second democratic presidential elections since the end of military rule in 1987. Voter turnout was 81.9%.
In the first regular presidential election with no military candidates since 1960, Kim Young-sam of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party won with 41 percent of the vote.

## Background

On 22 January 1990 two opposition leaders Kim Young-sam and Kim Jong-pil merged their parties into the ruling party Democratic Justice Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party, led by President Roh Tae-woo. Before they merged, Roh's party did not have a majority in the National Assembly. After they merged, they had over a two-thirds majority, which could pass bills without any obstruction from the opposition. Roh could not run for re-election due to the constitution limiting the president to a single five-year term.
Kim Dae-jung, an opponent in the 1987 election who finished third behind Kim Young-sam and Roh Tae-woo ran again in 1992. Hyundai businessman Chung Ju-yung also ran in the election.

## Nominations
### Democratic Liberal Party

The Democratic Liberal Party national convention was held on 19 May at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena. Nine-term lawmaker from Busan Kim Young-sam won the nomination, defeating four-term lawmaker from Seoul Lee Jong-chan, who did not concede and ran as a third party candidate. Lee Jong-chan withdrew his campaign and endorsed RNP nominee Chung Ju-yung in December.
3,331 delegates needed to win :
| Candidate | Delegates | % |
| Kim Young-sam | 4,418 | 66.34 |
| Lee Jong-chan | 2,214 | 33.24 |
| Invalid/blank votes | 28 | 0.42 |
| Total | 6,660 | 100% |
| Abstentions | 222 | 3.23 |

### Democratic Party

The Democratic National Convention was held from 25 to 26 May at the Olympic Fencing Gymnasium. At the convention, Kim Dae-jung, 6-term lawmaker from South Jeolla, defeated Lee Ki-taek, 7-term lawmaker from Busan, and won the nomination.
Of 2,426 delegates present at the convention, 1,443 had been from Kim's faction and only 983 from Lee's, so Kim was thought as the presumptive nominee even before the convention began.
1,170 delegates needed to win :
| Candidate | Delegates | % |
| Kim Dae-jung | 1,413 | 60.18 |
| Lee Ki-taek | 925 | 39.40 |
| Invalid/blank votes | 10 | 0.43 |
| Total | 2,338 | 100% |

### Unification National Party

At the UNP National Convention held on 15 May at the KOEX in Seoul, Chung Ju-yung was nominated for president by a yay-nay rising vote.
Rising Vote :
| Candidate | Delegates | % |
| For Chung Ju-yung | 1,727 | 99.37 |
| Against | 7 | 0.40 |
| Abstention | 4 | 0.23 |

## Results

The right-wing conservative Democratic Liberal Party presidential candidate Kim Young-Sam won the presidential election, defeating opposition Democratic Party leader Kim Dae-Jung, marking the third time he had lost a presidential election. Kim later announced his retirement from politics.
The conservative ruling party won the election continued to govern until 1997 when Kim Dae-Jung won the next presidential election.
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Kim Young-sam | Democratic Liberal Party | 9,977,332 | 41.96 |
| | Kim Dae-jung | Democratic Party | 8,041,284 | 33.82 |
| | Chung Ju-yung | Unification National Party | 3,880,067 | 16.32 |
| | Park Chan-jong | New Political Reform Party [ko] | 1,516,047 | 6.38 |
| | Baek Gi-Wan [ko] | Independent | 238,648 | 1.00 |
| | Kim Ok-sun [ko] | Independent | 86,292 | 0.36 |
| | Lee Byeong-ho [ko] | Korean Justice Party | 35,739 | 0.15 |
| Total | Total | Total | 23,775,409 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 23,775,409 | 98.67 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 319,761 | 1.33 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 24,095,170 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 29,422,658 | 81.89 |
| Source: Nohlen et al. |||||

### By region

| Region | Kim Young-sam | Kim Young-sam | Kim Dae-jung | Kim Dae-jung | Chung Ju-yung | Chung Ju-yung | Park Chan-jong | Park Chan-jong | Baek Gi-wan | Baek Gi-wan | Kim Ok-sun | Kim Ok-sun | Lee Byeong-ho | Lee Byeong-ho |
| Region | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| Seoul | 2,167,298 | 36.41 | 2,246,636 | 37.75 | 1,070,629 | 17.99 | 381,535 | 6.41 | 67,784 | 1.14 | 13,098 | 0.22 | 4,797 | 0.08 |
| Busan | 1,551,473 | 73.34 | 265,055 | 12.53 | 133,907 | 6.33 | 139,004 | 6.57 | 21,736 | 1.03 | 3,236 | 0.15 | 978 | 0.05 |
| Daegu | 690,245 | 59.60 | 90,641 | 7.83 | 224,642 | 19.40 | 136,037 | 11.75 | 12,772 | 1.10 | 2,753 | 0.24 | 1,103 | 0.10 |
| Incheon | 397,361 | 37.27 | 338,538 | 31.75 | 228,505 | 21.43 | 84,211 | 7.90 | 12,455 | 1.17 | 3,867 | 0.36 | 1,351 | 0.13 |
| Gwangju | 14,504 | 2.13 | 652,337 | 95.85 | 8,085 | 1.19 | 2,827 | 0.42 | 1,565 | 0.23 | 1,149 | 0.17 | 133 | 0.02 |
| Daejeon | 202,137 | 35.19 | 165,067 | 28.74 | 133,646 | 23.27 | 64,526 | 11.23 | 5,772 | 1.00 | 2,294 | 0.40 | 961 | 0.17 |
| Gyeonggi | 1,254,025 | 36.33 | 1,103,498 | 31.97 | 798,356 | 23.13 | 239,140 | 6.93 | 36,392 | 1.05 | 13,685 | 0.40 | 6,299 | 0.18 |
| Gangwon | 340,528 | 41.51 | 127,265 | 15.52 | 279,610 | 34.09 | 56,199 | 6.85 | 9,599 | 1.17 | 4,007 | 0.49 | 3,047 | 0.37 |
| North Chungcheong | 281,678 | 38.26 | 191,743 | 26.05 | 175,767 | 23.88 | 68,900 | 9.36 | 8,671 | 1.18 | 4,568 | 0.62 | 4,844 | 0.66 |
| South Chungcheong | 351,789 | 36.94 | 271,921 | 28.55 | 240,400 | 25.24 | 64,117 | 6.73 | 10,185 | 1.07 | 9,899 | 1.04 | 4,143 | 0.43 |
| North Jeolla | 63,175 | 5.68 | 991,483 | 89.13 | 35,923 | 3.23 | 9,320 | 0.84 | 4,232 | 0.38 | 7,130 | 0.64 | 1,087 | 0.10 |
| South Jeolla | 53,360 | 4.20 | 1,170,398 | 92.16 | 26,686 | 2.10 | 7,210 | 0.57 | 3,311 | 0.26 | 8,010 | 0.63 | 1,048 | 0.08 |
| North Gyeongsang | 991,424 | 64.73 | 147,440 | 9.63 | 240,646 | 15.71 | 124,858 | 8.15 | 17,664 | 1.15 | 6,240 | 0.41 | 3,365 | 0.22 |
| South Gyeongsang | 1,514,043 | 72.32 | 193,373 | 9.24 | 241,135 | 11.52 | 115,086 | 5.50 | 22,863 | 1.09 | 5,070 | 0.24 | 2,020 | 0.10 |
| Jeju | 104,292 | 39.98 | 85,889 | 32.92 | 42,130 | 16.15 | 23,077 | 8.85 | 3,647 | 1.40 | 1,286 | 0.49 | 563 | 0.22 |
| Total | 9,977,332 | 41.96 | 8,041,284 | 33.82 | 3,880,067 | 16.32 | 1,516,047 | 6.38 | 238,648 | 1.00 | 86,292 | 0.36 | 35,729 | 0.15 |
| Source: National Election Committee |||||||||||||||