1972 South Korean presidential election

1972 South Korean presidential election

Presidential election
23 December 1972
2,359 Deputies of the Reunification Assembly 1,180 votes needed to win
Nominee Park Chung-hee Party Democratic Republican Electoral vote 2,357
Reunification Council election
5 December 1972
Party Leader Vote % Seats Independents Park Chung-hee (de facto) 100% 2,359 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
President before election Park Chung-hee Democratic Republican Elected President Park Chung-hee Democratic Republican

Presidential elections were held in South Korea in December 1972 following the promulgation of the Yushin Constitution, which created the National Council for Reunification, a body whose functions included being an electoral college for presidential elections. Incumbent President Park Chung-hee claimed that Western-style liberal democracy would bring more chaos to the economically-struggling nation than it could afford. In contrast, he argued that the Yushin system created a "Korean-style democracy" with a strong, unchallenged presidency. He argued this system was necessary to keep the country stable.

National Council for Reunification election

The 2,359 deputies to the first National Council for Reunification were elected to their six-year term on 5 December 1972, with a voter turnout of 70%. All candidates were required to run as independents. The Constitution gave the body many powers, such as forming policies related to inter-Korean relationship, and determining the president as well as one-third of the National Assembly. However, the body was little more than a figurehead, as all of its actions were controlled by the president.

Region	Electorate	Turnout	%	Valid votes	Deputies
Seoul	3,113,767	1,773,454	57.0	1,702,369	303
Busan	941,884	642,641	68.2	622,823	104
Gyeonggi	1,664,447	1,154,711	69.4	1,123,083	280
Gangwon	788,276	629,915	79.9	613,395	145
North Chungcheong	602,554	461,547	76.6	447,557	127
South Chungcheong	1,278,743	924,874	72.3	900,402	231
North Jeolla	1,092,516	838,211	76.7	810,011	200
South Jeolla	1,636,382	1,174,364	71.8	1,138,441	312
North Gyeongsang	1,970,647	1,507,092	76.5	1,457,409	354
South Gyeongsang	1,339,583	1,038,388	77.5	1,009,869	278
Jeju	170,818	138,596	81.1	135,242	25
Total	14,599,617	10,283,793	70.4	9,960,601	2,359

The newly sworn-in deputies of the National Council for Reunification convened on 23 December to elect Park to a fourth term as president. With no opposition candidates, Park was elected with the support of 2,357 out of the 2,359 delegates. The elections were regarded as a formality.

Presidential election

In order to be elected, a candidate had to receive the vote of over 50% of the incumbent members of the National Council for Reunification. With 2,359 deputies in office, Park had to receive at least 1,180 votes to be elected. He received 2,357 votes, 99.92% of the total possible.

As there was only one candidate registered, the only way the deputies could vote against Park was by casting invalid ballots. One of the two deputies who did that, Song Dong-heon from Daejeon-1 District, revealed later in his life that he purposefully wrote "박정의" (Park Chung-ee) instead of "박정희" (Park Chung-hee) on his ballot in order to protest the dictatorial regime.

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Park Chung-hee	Democratic Republican Party	2,357	99.92
Invalid/blank votes		2	–
Total		2,359	100
Electors/turnout		2,359	100