1987 South Korean presidential election

South Korea's vote of December 16, 1987 was its first direct presidential election since 1971, won by street protests that forced a constitutional amendment. Turnout was 89 percent. It belongs here as the cautionary founding election. Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung split the opposition and took over 55 percent between them, so Roh Tae-woo, the ruling party's candidate and a former general, won with 37 percent. The democracy survived the disappointment: in December 1992 Kim Young-sam won the presidency in the first regular presidential election with no military candidates since 1960.