Democratic Justice Party
The Fifth Republic oversaw the transition of South Korea from a historically autocratic state into a democratic country. Although Chun gradually dismantled the autocratic government structures set up by Park, his presidency was plagued by public outrage over his reaction to the Gwangju Uprising in 1980. The killings had consolidated momentum of nationwide support for democracy, and many people protested for faster democratization. Chun reorganized the government system and created numerous new ministries, but South Korea remained a "de facto" one-party state under the Democratic Justice Party and elections considered legitimate had not been held. In the mid-1980s, Chun began to release political prisoners arrested during his rise to power. In 1985, the New Korea and Democratic Party (NKDP) was founded as the successor of the New Democratic Party, including notable opposition leaders Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam, and campaigned on a focus on greater democratic rights. The NKDP became the opposition in the National Assembly after strong success in the 1985 South Korean legislative election, with only 6% fewer votes than Chun's Democratic Justice Party. Reportedly, the NKDP's electoral success shocked and infuriated Chun. However, in 1986 the NKDP experienced internal ideological conflicts over the severity of opposition to Chun, and in 1987 Kim Young-sam's faction split to form the Reunification Democratic Party.