The Third Republic of South Korea was the government of South Korea from December 1963 to November 1972. The Third Republic was founded on the dissolution of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction that overthrew the Second Republic and established a military government in May 1961. Park Chung-hee, the Chairman of the Supreme Council, was elected President of South Korea in the 1963 presidential election. The Third republic was presented as a return to civilian government under the National Assembly but in practice was a dictatorship under Park, Supreme Council members, and the Democratic Republican Party. The Third republic prioritized South Korea's economic development, anti-communism, and strengthening ties with the United States and Japan. Park was re-elected in the 1967 presidential election, and the National Assembly forced through a constitutional amendment to allow him to seek a third term, and he was re-elected in the 1971 presidential election. Park declared a state of emergency in December 1971 and announced plans for Korean reunification in a joint communique with North Korea in July 1972. Park launched the October Restoration in October 1972, declaring martial law, dissolving the National Assembly, and announced plans for a new constitution. The Third republic was dissolved on approval of the Yusin Constitution in the November 1972 constitutional referendum and replaced with the Fourth Republic of Korea. History Background In May 1961, the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction overthrew the Second Republic of Korea in the May 16 coup, led by Major General Park Chung-hee, in response to its inability to prevent political instability after the overthrow of the First Republic of Korea under President Syngman Rhee in the April Revolution. The Supreme Council established a military junta headed by General Chang Do-yong and the May 16 coup's supporters in the Republic of Korea Army, hoping to kickstart South Korea's economic development that had been ignored for twelve years under the First Republic, and remove so-called "liberation aristocrats" – the ruling class of conservative politicians involved in the Korean independence movement. Power struggles within the Supreme Council allowed Park to engineer the gradual transfer of power from Chang to himself. In July, Park officially replaced Chang as chairman, effectively becoming the de facto dictator of South Korea. The Supreme Council suspended the National Assembly, reinforced South Korea's anti-communist position, and undertook a number of economy-oriented reforms to help industrialize and develop the country, including the first Five-Year