and most elections during this era were not considered legitimate. Nevertheless, Chun had far less power than Park, and with few exceptions his rule was somewhat milder. In the mid-1980s, Chun began to release political prisoners arrested during his rise to power. In 1985, the New Korea and Democratic Party (NKDP) was founded as the successor of the New Democratic Party, including notable opposition leaders Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam, and campaigned on a focus on greater democratic rights. The NKDP became the opposition in the National Assembly after strong success in the 1985 South Korean legislative election, with only 6% fewer votes than Chun's Democratic Justice Party. Reportedly, the NKDP's electoral success shocked and infuriated Chun. However, in 1986 the NKDP experienced internal ideological conflicts over the severity of opposition to Chun, and in 1987 Kim Young-sam's faction split to form the Reunification Democratic Party. Dissolution In January 1987, the death of Bak Jongcheol caused a flare in the democratization movement and sparked widespread protests. Bak, a student at Seoul National University and democracy movement activist, died from causes related to police torture after being arrested at a protest. In June 1987, the death of Lee Han-yeol, a protester killed by a police tear gas grenade at one of the demonstrations following Bak's death, caused the democracy movement put unrelenting pressure on Chun. The protesters demanded elections to be held, as well as instituting other democratic reforms, including direct presidential elections. On June 10, Chun announced his choice of Roh Tae-woo as the next president, which was met with offence from the protesters. However, unwilling to resort to violence before the 1988 Olympic Games and believing Roh could win legitimate elections due to divisions within the opposition, Chun and Roh acceded to the key demands of direct presidential elections and restoration of civil liberties. On 16 December 1987, Roh won the 1987 presidential election with 36.6% of the vote, the first honest national elections in South Korea in two decades. Three days later on 19 December, a new highly-democratic and liberal constitution came into effect, dissolving the Fifth Republic and establishing the current Sixth Republic of Korea. Chun finished out his term and handed the presidency to Roh on 25 February 1988. Economy The Fifth Republic experienced economic difficulties during the first half of the 1980s, where foreign debts became a major issue in the aftermath of rapid economic