The Busan–Masan Uprising or abbreviated, the Bu-Ma Uprising, was a series of demonstrations and popular uprising against President

Park Chung Hee Park Chung Hee (; ; November14, 1917October26, 1979) was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961 until Assassination of Park Chung ...

's dictatorial Yushin regime in South Korea. It took place between 16 and 20 October 1979 in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

and

Masan Masan () is an administrative region of Changwon, a city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was formerly an independent city from 1949 until 30 June 2010, when it was absorbed to Changwon along with Jinhae District, Jinhae. Masan was ...

(now a district of

Changwon Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...

, South Korea). Students from

Pusan National University Pusan National University (PNU; , also called Busan National University) is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities in South Korea. It is the first national university established after the National Liberation Day of Korea. There ar ...

began demonstrations calling for an end to Park's dictatorship, following the regimes controversial decision to expel

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

chairman

Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (, ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015), often referred to by his initials YS, was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, Kim spent almost 30 ye ...

from the national assembly. On 17 October the protests grew to include citizens and spread to Masan on 18 and 19 October. It is also called the Busan–Masan Democratic Uprising () or Busan–Masan Democratization Movement (). Park declared

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

on 18 October and referred 66 people to

military court A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

. On 20 October, Park invoked the Garrison Act. The army was mobilized, and 59 civilians were brought to military court. Six days later, Park was assassinated by his own intelligence chief

Kim Jae-gyu Kim Jae-gyu (, April 9, 1924 – May 24, 1980) was a South Korean politician, army lieutenant general and the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. He assassinated South Korean President Park Chung Hee—who had been on ...

, leading to the

Seoul Spring The Seoul Spring () was a period of democratization in South Korea from 26 October 1979 to 17 May 1980. This expression was derived from the Prague Spring of Czechoslovakia in 1968. On the night of 26 October 1979, President Park Chung Hee was a ...

and seizure of power by general

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Prior to his accession to the presidency, he was the cou ...

the following year.

Background

The 1978 National Assembly election was held in December and was influenced by the government. Nevertheless, the ruling Republican Party was defeated by the

. In August 1979, female workers of the YH Trading Company () performed a sit in at the headquarters of the New Democratic Party. Because of the lockout, the ruling Republican Party expelled

from the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, leading to the resignation of all opposition party members from the National Assembly.

Progress

The protests history is as follows: * 3 May 1979 - A national convention of New Democratic Party occurred, the moderate party representative

Yi Cheol-seung Yi Cheol-seung (; May 15, 1922 – February 27, 2016) was a South Korean politician who served in the National Assembly for seven terms. Lee was an advocate for the Korean independence movement, democracy, anti-communism, anti-military rule, ...

defected, Kim Young-sam was elected. * 11 August 1979 - A sit in held by YH Trading Company workers held at the New Democratic Party Headquarters violently suppressed by riot police resulting in the death of one female worker. Kim Young-sam arrested. * 4 October 1979 - The ruling Republicans expelled Kim Young-sam from the National Assembly. * 16 October 1979 - Busan–Masan Uprising occurred. * 17 October 1979 - Chungmu police substation, the

Korea Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS; ) is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters under the government of South Korea. The KBS operates seven radio ne ...

, and the Busan tax office were destroyed. Police vehicles were burned and damaged. * 18 October 1979 - The government proclaimed martial law in Busan at 12:00 am. The military arrested 1,058 people, 66 of who went on to face trial. * 20 October 1979 - Governments invoke the Garrison Act at Masan. * 26 October 1979 - President Park Chung Hee was assassinated

Influence

This incident incited conflict inside the government, which led in turn to an early ending of the Yushin regime that was maintained by an emergency measure. The protest influenced the

Gwangju Uprising The Gwangju Democratization Movement, also known in South Korea as May 18 Democratization Movement (), was a series of student-led demonstrations that took place in Gwangju, South Korea, in May 1980, against the coup of Chun Doo-hwan. The upr ...

and the

June Democracy Movement The June Democratic Struggle (), also known as the June Democracy Movement and the June Uprising, was a nationwide pro-democracy movement in South Korea that generated mass protests from June 10 to 29, 1987. The demonstrations forced the ru ...

Aftermath

Democracy Park was built in 1999, and a monument was erected to honor the participants of the protests.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Busan-Masan Uprising 1979 in South Korea Conflicts in 1979 Fourth Republic of Korea History of Busan Protests in South Korea Social movements in South Korea South Korean democracy movements

Background

Progress

Influence

Aftermath

See also

References