The June 29 Declaration (), officially titled the Special Declaration for Grand National Harmony and Progress Towards a Great Nation (), was a speech by

Roh Tae-woo Roh Tae-woo (; ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. Roh was a close ally and friend of Chun Doo-hwan, the predecessor leader ...

, presidential candidate of the ruling

Democratic Justice Party The Democratic Justice Party (; DJP) was the ruling party of South Korea from 1981 to 1988. History Chun had become the country's de facto leader after leading a military coup in December 1979, and was elected president in his own right in ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, on 29 June 1987. In the declaration, Roh promised significant concessions to opponents of the incumbent

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...

regime of

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah as president of South Korea from 1980 to 198 ...

who had been pressing for democracy. Roh went on to win the open

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

that were held that year, the first for at least the fifteen years since the

October Yushin The October Yusin () or October Restoration was an October 1972 South Korean self-coup in which President Park Chung-hee assumed dictatorial powers. Park had come to power as the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction after th ...

of 1972. The question of the role of the June 29 Declaration is important in the

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...

of South Korean

democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

. According to proponents of the view that this was a "pacted" transition, achieved by calculated compromise by the ruling elite, the June 29 Declaration was the crucial turning point in the development of these calculations.Kim, S., "Civil Society and Democratization in South Korea", in Armstrong, C. K. (2007), ''Korean Society: Civil Society, Democracy and the State''.

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa plc, a United Ki ...

, p. 53. "Pacted" transition theorists point to the authoritarian methods of Roh's subsequent regime, which continued the political manipulation and '' trasformismo'' of the Chun government, as evidence for the thesis that the June 29 Declaration was simply a tactic that enabled the perpetuation of authoritarian rule. "Mass" transition theorists, by contrast, believe that the Declaration was merely a response to the June Democracy Movement, and the democratization process was driven by the force of popular demand rather than elite bargaining. The Declaration comprised eight points, in which Roh promised to: * amend the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

to provide for the

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

of the president; * revise the presidential election law to ensure free candidature and genuinely competitive elections; * grant

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

political prisoners A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

, including

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human ...

; * protect human dignity and extend the right of ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, ...

''; * abolish the Basic Press Law and restore the

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

; * strengthen local and educational autonomy; * move the political climate towards dialogue and compromise; and * achieve substantial social reform.Sin, D. C. (1999) ''Mass Politics and Culture in Democratizing Korea.''

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...

, p. 3. The declaration began to be realized later that year with the promulgation of the constitution of the

Sixth Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

in October.

References

{{reflist History of South Korea