Fourth Republic of Korea

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Republic of Korea 대한민국 大韓民國
1972–1981
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: 애국가 "Aegukga"
National seal "국새"
Capital	Seoul
Common languages	Korean
Government	Unitary presidential republic under an authoritarian military dictatorship
President
• 1972–1979	Park Chung Hee
• 1979–1980	Choi Kyu-hah
• 1980–1981	Chun Doo-hwan
Prime Minister
• 1972–1975	Kim Jong-pil
• 1975–1979	Choi Kyu-hah
• 1979–1980	Shin Hyun-hwak
• 1980–1981	Nam Duck-woo
Legislature	National Assembly
Historical era	Cold War
• Established	21 November 1972
• Disestablished	3 March 1981
Currency	South Korean won
Preceded by Succeeded by Third Republic of Korea Fifth Republic of Korea
Today part of	South Korea

Part of a series on the
History of South Korea
Preludes to Division 1910–48 Japanese rule 1910–45 Korean Provisional Government 1919–48 People's Republic of Korea 1945–46 USAMGIK 1945–48
First Republic 1948–60 Korean War 1950–53 Syngman Rhee government 1948–60 April Revolution 1960
Second Republic 1960–63 Yun Posun government 1960 Chang Myon cabinet 1960–61 May 16 coup 1961 Supreme Council for National Reconstruction 1961–63
Third Republic 1963–72 Park Chung-hee government 1963–79 Yushin Constitution 1972
Fourth Republic 1972–81 Assassination of Park Chung-hee 1979 December 12 coup 1979 May 17 coup 1980 Gwangju Uprising 1980
Fifth Republic 1981–87 Chun Doo-hwan government 1981–87 June Democracy Movement 1987
Sixth Republic 1987–present Roh Tae-woo government 1988–93 Kim Young-sam government 1993–98 1997 Asian financial crisis 1997–2001 Kim Dae-jung government 1998–2003 Roh Moo-hyun government 2003–08 Lee Myung-bak government 2008–13 Park Geun-hye government 2013–17 Moon Jae-in government 2017–22 Yoon Seok-yeol government 2022–present
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The Fourth Republic of Korea (Korean: 제4공화국; RR: Je sa Gonghwaguk; lit. "Fourth Republic") was the government of South Korea from November 1972 to March 1981.

The Fourth Republic was founded on the approval of the Yushin Constitution in the 1972 constitutional referendum, codifying the de facto dictatorial powers held by President Park Chung Hee, and succeeding the Third Republic. Park and his Democratic Republican Party ruled under the centralized and authoritarian Yushin System until the assassination of Park on 26 October 1979. The Fourth Republic entered a period of political instability under Park's successor, Choi Kyu-hah, and the escalating martial law declared after Park's death. Choi was unofficially overthrown by Chun Doo-hwan in the coup d'état of December Twelfth in December 1979, and began the armed suppression of the Gwangju Uprising against martial law. Chun launched the coup d'état of May Seventeenth in May 1980, establishing a military dictatorship under the National Council for Reunification and dissolving the National Assembly, and was elected president by the council in the August 1980 presidential election. The Fourth Republic was dissolved on the adoption of a new constitution in March 1981 and replaced with the Fifth Republic of Korea.