The Fifth Republic was established in March 1981 by Chun Doo-hwan , a military colleague of long-time president and dictator Park Chung-hee , after the political instability and military rule in the Fourth Republic since the assassination of Park in October 1979 . The Fifth Republic was ruled by Chun and the Democratic Justice Party as a '' de facto '' dictatorship and one-party state to extensively reform South Korea for democratization and dismantle the autocratic system of Park . The Fifth Republic faced growing opposition from the democratization movement of the Gwangju Uprising , and the June Democracy Movement of 1987 resulted in the election of Roh Tae-woo in the December 1987 presidential election . The Fifth Republic was dissolved three days after the election upon the adoption of a new constitution that laid the foundations for the relatively stable democratic system of the current Sixth Republic of Korea
assassination of Park
Assassination of Park Chung-hee
Fifth Republic of Korea