this was a dead letter, as the President could not only dissolve the National Assembly at will, but also had the right to appoint one-third of its members, effectively guaranteeing a parliamentary majority. For all intents and purposes, the Yusin Constitution codified the emergency powers Park had exercised since the previous December, effectively turning his presidency into a legal dictatorship. The new document sparked widespread but ineffective protests. Park argued that Western-style liberal democracy was not suitable for South Korea because of its still-developing economy. Instead, he argued that "Korean-style democracy" with a strong, unchallenged presidency was the only way to keep the country stable. On 21 November 1972, the Yushin Constitution was approved in the 1972 South Korean constitutional referendum with an implausible 92.3% of the vote with a turnout of 91.9% and came into force, dissolving the Third Republic and establishing the Fourth Republic of Korea. Park was re-elected as president fourth term in 1972 and a fifth term in 1978, both times unopposed. The Fourth Republic witnessed greater instability as Park's popularity, and tolerance of his increasingly naked autocracy, declined steadily during the 1970s. The Yushin Constitution allowed Park to legally and more openly violate civil liberties, particularly to suppress his mounting opposition, but this exacerbated resistance to his regime. Park repeatedly promised a transition to full democracy, but few believed him. Kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung was involved in a car accident shortly after the 1971 presidential election which left him with a permanent hip joint injury. Kim believed the accident was a failed assassination attempt from Park, fleeing to Japan for his safety and forming the dissident South Korean democracy movement there. Kim entered a self-imposed exile in Japan after the enactment of the Yushin Constitution in 1972. On 8 August 1973, Kim was kidnapped at a meeting of the Democratic Unification Party at the Hotel Grand Palace in Tokyo. According to Kim, his kidnappers probably intended to drown him in the Korea Strait by throwing him overboard en route to Korea. However, they were forced to abandon this plan as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force began pursuit and fired an illuminating shell at the boat just when the kidnappers brought Kim on the deck. Kim was subsequently released in Busan, and was found alive five days after the kidnapping at his house in Seoul. People's Revolutionary Party Incident In April 1975, the People's