1960 South Korean parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in South Korea on 29 June 1960. They were the first and only direct elections of the Second Republic and saw the first election of members of the new House of Councillors, together with the fifth election of members of the House of Representatives. They were also the first relatively free and fair national elections held in the country, but would be the last free elections until the 1987 presidential elections. Voter turnout was 84.3%.

1960 South Korean parliamentary election

29 June 1960
House of Representatives
All 233 seats in the House of Representatives 117 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	84.35% ( 3.45pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats /– Democratic Chang Myon 41.71 175 96 Socialist Mass Party Seo Sang-il 5.96 4 New Liberal Cho Gyeong-gyu 2.75 2 −124 Socialist 0.64 1 New Unification 0.19 1 1 Other parties – 1.65 1 1 Independents – 46.81 49 22 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results by constituency Speaker before Speaker after Kwak Sang-hoon Democratic Kwak Sang-hoon Democratic
House of Councillors
All 58 seats in the House of Councillors 30 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats /– Democratic Chang Myon 51.41 31 New Liberal Cho Gyeong-gyu 6.12 4 New Socialist Mass Party Seo Sang-il 1.37 1 New Socialist 1.27 1 New Others – 1.77 1 New Independents – 38.07 20 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The elections took place after President Rhee Syngman amended the constitution and won a third term in the uncontested March 1960 presidential election, which prompted the pro-democracy April Revolution and removed Rhee from power.

The Democratic Party, which had been the opposition party under former President Rhee, received the most votes (42%) in the House of Representatives election, winning 175 of 233 seats, while its 51% vote share in the House of Councillors elections saw it win 31 of the 58 seats. It was the first time that a liberal party won an election in South Korea, but the Democratic Party and its liberal successors would not win an election again until the 1997 presidential election and would not win a legislative election until 2004. Independent politicians received a significant portion of the vote, with 47% of the vote in the House of Representatives elections and 38% of the vote in the House of Councillors elections.

The government formed after the elections was overthrown within less than a year by Park Chung-hee in a coup on 16 May 1961. Park subsequently re-established the presidential system under a military government and served as president of South Korea from 1962 to 1979.

Electoral system

The members of the House of Representatives were elected via first-past-the-post voting. Members of the House of Councillors were elected via partial block voting in constituencies of between two and eight seats corresponding to the provinces and Seoul, where voters could cast ballots for up to half of the candidates running in their constituency.

Results

House of Representatives

Party		Votes	%	Seats	/–
	Democratic Party	3,786,401	41.71	175	96
	Socialist Mass Party	541,021	5.96	4	New
	Liberal Party	249,960	2.75	2	–124
	Korea Socialist Party	57,965	0.64	1	New
	Korea Independence Party	26,649	0.29	0	New
	Unification Party	17,293	0.19	1	0
	Other parties	149,366	1.65	1	–
	Independents	4,249,180	46.81	49	22
Total		9,077,835	100.00	233	0
Valid votes		9,077,835	92.83
Invalid/blank votes		701,086	7.17
Total votes		9,778,921	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		11,593,432	84.35
Source: Nohlen et al.

By city/province

Region	Total seats	Seats won
		DP	SMP	LP	SP	UP	Other	Ind.
Seoul	16	15	0	0	0	0	0	1
Gyeonggi	25	14	0	0	0	0	0	11
Gangwon	20	12	1	1	0	0	0	6
North Chungcheong	13	9	0	0	0	0	1	3
South Chungcheong	22	18	0	0	0	0	0	4
North Jeolla	24	18	1	0	0	0	0	5
South Jeolla	32	29	0	0	0	1	0	2
North Gyeongsang	38	28	1	0	0	0	0	9
South Gyeongsang	40	31	1	1	0	0	0	7
Jeju	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	1
Total	233	175	4	2	1	1	1	49

House of Councillors

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Party	5,491,527	51.41	31
	Liberal Party	653,748	6.12	4
	Socialist Mass Party	146,059	1.37	1
	Korea Socialist Party	135,160	1.27	1
	Other parties	188,792	1.77	1
	Independents	4,067,343	38.07	20
Total		10,682,629	100.00	58
Registered voters/turnout		11,593,432	–
Source: Nohlen et al.

By city/province

Region	Total seats	Seats won
		DP	LP	SMP	SP	Other	Ind.
Seoul	6	4	0	0	0	0	2
Gyeonggi	6	3	1	0	0	0	2
Gangwon	4	3	0	0	0	0	1
North Chungcheong	4	3	1	0	0	0	0
South Chungcheong	6	2	1	1	0	0	2
North Jeolla	6	4	0	0	0	0	2
South Jeolla	8	4	1	0	0	0	3
North Gyeongsang	8	3	0	0	1	0	4
South Gyeongsang	8	4	0	0	0	1	3
Jeju	2	1	0	0	0	0	1
Total	58	31	4	1	1	1	20