As part of the June Democratic Uprising against Chun Doo-hwan's authoritarian government, students and citizens filled the streets of Seoul and other cities in early June 1987. The sustained unrest, following the death of student activist Park Jong-chul under police torture, forced the regime to abandon plans to hand-pick a successor and accept direct presidential elections.
South Korea in 1987 was a nation straining against nearly three decades of military-backed authoritarian rule. The catalyst had come months earlier when university student Park Jong-chul died after being tortured during police interrogation, and the government's clumsy cover-up enraged the public.
By early June, protests that had begun with students had swelled to include ordinary office workers, shopkeepers, and middle-class citizens — a broad coalition the government could no longer dismiss as radical agitation. Tear gas became a near-constant presence in downtown Seoul as demonstrators demanded direct elections rather than the indirect system that let the ruling party anoint its successor.
The pressure worked. Later that month, Roh Tae-woo, the ruling party's candidate, announced acceptance of direct presidential elections, a stunning concession. The June Uprising is now remembered as the decisive turning point that transformed South Korea from military dictatorship into a functioning democracy, paving the way for the vibrant civil society and elections that followed.