Volta
Person1897 – 1990

Yun Po-sun

4th President (1960–1962), elected by the National Assembly under the parliamentary system after the April Revolution; resigned after the May 16 coup

After serving under Syngman Rhee as Mayor of Seoul and Minister of Commerce and Industry, he became an opposition politician and led the Old Faction of the Democratic Party. When the third constitutional amendment of 1960 introduced a parliamentary system, the National Assembly elected him president, though real power lay with Prime Minister Chang Myon. He resigned in 1962 after the May 16 Military Coup. He ran as the opposition candidate in the 1963 and 1967 presidential elections and lost to Park Chung-hee both times. Opposing the Yushin system, he joined the March First Democratic Declaration of 1976.

Show on the map

Where they went

Open the full map

OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors

3 related events

  1. 1
    1960 – 1961Chang Myon Cabinetparticipant

    After the April Revolution the constitution was changed to a parliamentary, bicameral system, and Chang Myon of the victorious Democratic Party became prime minister.

  2. 2
    1961May 16 Military Couprelated figure

    Soldiers led by Park Chung-hee seized power. After rule by the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, Park was elected president in 1963.

  3. 3
    1973 – 1979Emergency Decrees and the March First Democratic Declarationparticipant

    When a campaign to amend the Yushin constitution arose, the government suppressed it with emergency decrees; in 1976 dissidents issued the March First Democratic Declaration at Myeongdong Cathedral.

People who appear alongside

  • Chang Myon1899 – 1966

    Elected vice president in 1956; prime minister under the parliamentary system after the April Revolution (1960–1961)

  • Park Chung-hee1917 – 1979

    5th–9th President (1963–1979). Led the May 16 coup, the five-year economic plans and the Yushin system; killed in the October 26 incident

  • Heo Jeong1896 – 1988

    Politician who led the caretaker government after Syngman Rhee resigned in the April Revolution, overseeing the parliamentary-system amendment and the 29 July election

  • Kim Dae-jung1924 – 2009

    15th President (1998–2003), the first transfer of power to the opposition by election. Steered recovery from the currency crisis and held the first inter-Korean summit; Nobel Peace Prize 2000

  • Jang Jun-ha1918 – 1975

    Former Korean Liberation Army soldier who published the magazine Sasanggye and led the 1973 campaign for a million signatures petitioning for constitutional revision

  • Ham Seok-heon1901 – 1989

    Thinker and democracy activist who wrote Korean History from the Standpoint of Meaning, published the magazine The Voice of the Ssial and joined the 1976 March First Democratic Declaration

  • Mun Ik-hwan1918 – 1994

    Pastor and democracy activist who joined the 1976 March First Democratic Declaration and visited North Korea in 1989 in the cause of reunification

Themes this person appears in

  • Changing Unification Policies1948 – 2018

    From “march north” to the Panmunjom Declaration — inter-Korean relations from confrontation to dialogue, through joint statements and agreements to summits (up to 2018)