April Revolution

TheApril Revolution(Korean:4.19 혁명), also called theApril 19 RevolutionorApril 19 Movement, weremass protestsinSouth Koreaagainst PresidentSyngman Rheeand theFirst Republicfrom April 11 to 26, 1960, which led to Rhee's resignation.
Protests opposing Rhee were started by student and labor groups in the southeastern port city ofMasanon April 11. The protests were triggered by the discovery of the body of a local high school student killed by police during demonstrations againstrigged electionsin March. Popular discontent had arisen due to Rhee'sautocraticrule,corruption, use of violence againstpolitical opposition, and uneven development of South Korea. The Masan discovery led to large student protests inSeoul, which were violently suppressed; a total of 186 people were killed during the two weeks of protest.Rhee resigned on April 26 before fleeing toexilein theUnited States, and was replaced byYun Posun, beginning the transition to theSecond Republic of South Korea.
Syngman Rheehad been the firstPresident of South Koreasince the1948 presidential election. He oversaw the transition of power from theUnited States Army Military Governmentto theGovernment of South Koreaand the establishment of theFirst Republic of Korea, and led South Korea during theKorean War. With American patronage in theCold War, Rhee adopted a stronglyanti-communistand pro-Americanstance. He used the threat of communism as an excuse to target perceivedoppositionwith heavy-handedrepression. At first, this was tolerated in the name of political unity and fear of reprisals. Rhee faced increasing domestic discontent following the end of the Korean War in 1953, however, as his administration delivered limited economic and social development, while angering the public by amending the constitution to prolong his stay in power. The South Korean public widely perceived Rhee as acorruptandauthoritarianleader who used autocratic methods to maintain his rule andcronyismin the government.
In December 1958, Rhee forced through theNational Assemblyan amendment to theNational Security Lawgiving the government broad new powers to curtail freedom of the press and prevent members of the opposition from voting.
In 1959, Rhee was shocked and threatened when the United States reduced its economic aid to South Korea from a high of $382,893,000 in 1957 to $222,204,000, and began taking desperate measures to ensure his political survival.
TheMarch 1960 presidential electionsaw two main parties running against Rhee. These were the small Progressive Party (which had received one million votes in the1956 presidential election) represented byCho Bong-am, and the Democratic Party represented byCho Pyong-ok. In July 1959, Rhee accused Cho Bong-am of being a communist, and the Progressive Party leader was subsequently imprisoned and swiftly executed.Cho Pyong-ok went to the United States for astomachoperation at theWalter Reed Army Medical Centerbut died there of aheart attack.The two deaths were widely perceived by the public as too much of a coincidence.
Rhee was determined to see his protegeLee Ki-poongelected as theVice President, a post chosen in a separate election on the same day. Lee ran against the Democratic Party candidateChang Myon, who had been South Korea's ambassador to the United States during the Korean War. On March 15, the mostlybedriddenLee won the vice-presidential election with an abnormally wide margin, winning 8,225,000 votes while Myon received just 1,850,000 votes, and it became clear to the people that thevote was fraudulent.According to the Korean Report, Democratic rallies were prohibited throughout the nation andhundreds of pre-marked ballots were stuffedinto boxes on election day.
On March 15, the same day as the election results, members of the Democratic Party in the southern city ofMasanlaunched a protest against the electoral corruption. About one thousand residents of Masan gathered in front of the Democratic Party's Masan headquarters at around 7:30 PM. Residents encountered  a police presence and the city lights were blacked out. The police began shooting at protesters, who responded by throwing rocks at the police.
On April 11, afishermanin the harbor at Masan discovered thecorpseof Kim Ju-yul, a student at Masan Commercial High School who disappeared during March 15 rioting. Authorities announced that anautopsyconfirmed that the cause of Kim's death wasdrowning, but many rejected this explanation and some protesters forced their way into the hospital where his body was kept. They found that Kim'sskullhad actually been split by a 20 centimeter-longtear-gasgrenade,which had penetrated from hiseyesto the back of his head. This indicated that the police had shot the tear gas to an angle less than 45 degrees, which could be fatal if shot directly at a person's face. Rhee's regime tried to censor news of this incident. However, the story was reported by the Korean press along with a picture of Kim when his body was first found, and delivered to the world throughAP. This incident shocked the nation and became the basis of a national movement against electoral corruption on April 19. Masan erupted into three days of spontaneous mass protests which led to further violent clashes with police.Rhee tried to shift the focus by claiming that communist agents were behind the Masan protests.
On April 18, the protests spread to the capital,Seoul, where students fromKorea Universitylaunched a non-violent protest at the National Assembly against police violence and demanded new elections. However, they were attacked by gangs funded by Rhee's supporters as they returned to theircampus.
On April 19 (called "Bloody Tuesday"), over 100,000 high school and university students marched to theBlue Housecalling for Rhee's resignation. Police opened fire, killing approximately 180 and wounding thousands. The Rhee government proclaimedmartial lawin order to suppress the demonstrations.
On April 25, professors joined students and citizens in large-scale protests outnumbering soldiers and police, who refused to attack the protestors.
On April 26, 1960, Rhee stepped down from power, and Lee Ki-poong was blamed for most of the corruption in the government. The following day, the Minister of InteriorChoi In-Kyuand the Chief of Security resigned taking responsibility for the Masan incident. On April 28, 1960, in an annex of Rhee's mansion, Lee Ki-poong's first son, Lee Kang-seok (1937 – April 28, 1960) shot Lee Ki-poong and his family and then killed himself in amurder-suicide.
After the resignation of Rhee and the death of Lee Ki-poong, the rule of the Liberal Party government came to an end. Rhee was exiled toHawaiion May 29, 1960. Originally planning to be a short exile, Rhee was unable to return due to public opposition. The First Republic was replaced by theSecond Republic of South Korea, adopting aparliamentary systemto remove power from the office of the president.Yun Bo-seonwas elected president on August 13, 1960, but real power was vested in the prime minister, Chang Myon.
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. It was later revealed at a criminal trial that Park Jong-pyo, the Chief of Public Security, tied rocks on Kim Ju-yul's dead body and threw him away into the Masan shore to prevent him floating up on the shore. Park was later sentenced tolife imprisonmentfor killing Kim. Park was one of hundreds of people to be sentenced by a revolutionary tribunal on various charges. Multiple death sentences were imposed, with some of them being carried out. Among those executed were the officials responsible for issuing the order to fire. Secretary of the Interior Choi In-Kyu, the official most responsible for the order, and Kwak Yong-ju, the Presidential security chief, who was also involved in the shootings, were both hanged atSeodaemun Prisonon December 21, 1961.
On May 16, 1961, following months of political instability, GeneralPark Chung Heelaunched acoup d'étatoverthrowing the short-lived Second Republic of South Korea and replacing it with amilitary juntaand later the autocraticThird Republic of South Korea.
On July 19, 1965, 90-year-old Rhee died at 19:35 Korean time inHonolulu.