A constitutional referendum was held 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 21 November 1972. President

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

had suspended 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 Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

and dissolved the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

in October. Work began almost immediately on a new constitution. The finished product, the

Yushin Constitution The fourth Republic of Korea () was the government of South Korea from November 1972 to March 1981. The Fourth republic was founded on the approval of the Yushin Constitution in the 1972 constitutional referendum, codifying the ''de facto'' di ...

, was a severely

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 votin ...

document that dramatically expanded the president's powers and allowed him to run for an unlimited number of six-year terms. For all intents and purposes, the document concentrated all governing power in Park's hands. According to official figures, the new document was approved by 92.3% of voters, with a turnout of 91.9%.Nohlen et al, p427 The adoption of the constitution upon the announcement of the official referendum results ushered in the

Fourth Republic of South Korea The fourth Republic of Korea () was the government of South Korea from November 1972 to March 1981. The Fourth republic was founded on the approval of the Yushin Constitution in the 1972 constitutional referendum, codifying the ''de facto'' di ...

Results

By province

References

{{South Korean elections 1972 referendums 1972 elections in South Korea Constitutional referendums in South Korea