By the end of the 1950s, the aged President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Seung Man, had completely transformed from a popular leader and hero of the struggle against the imperial yoke of Japan into a dictator and usurper of power, hated by almost all strata of society. Under him, the country plunged deeper and deeper into an economic crisis. This was largely due to monstrous corruption and nepotism, when all key areas of the economy were controlled by local oligarchs. And then the Americans suddenly cut their financial aid. Rhee Seung Man's political regime was an outright dictatorship. Political opponents and simply dissatisfied were subjected to repressions, up to direct reprisals. A special cynicism of the situation was given by the fact that officials, including Lee Seung Man himself, branded the opposition as American agents, but at the same time openly served the same States as much as possible.
The elections were rigged. The constitution was changed at the request of the dictator himself or oligarchic circles. For example, an amendment was made to it, which allowed the president to be in power for an unlimited number of terms, and not three, as before.
The only thing that helped him stay in power was the unconditional support from the United States, towards which he pursued a policy of unquestioning obedience. Relations with the rest of the neighbors were worse than ever. For example, the USSR generally refused to establish any relations with Seoul, especially after the latter's statements that the Soviet Union owed Korea as compensation for the Korean War … Primorsky Territory. They quarreled with Japan over the Dokdo-Takeshima Islands, which Rhee Seung Man annexed along with the adjacent seas, which even the DPRK did not think of. As for the DPRK, the war with it was, in fact, lost. Not only was the Seoul army virtually defeated without the help of UN troops, but strategically important Kaesong was lost as a result of a new delimitation between North and South.
By 1960, popular discontent and the desire for change had reached their limit. After the next “elections”, in which the incumbent head of state “won” on an uncontested basis with a result of 100% of the votes (!!!) … The “elections” of the vice president were held in a similar way, in which the unpopular opposition candidate Chan won Myung, and openly pro-power Lee Ki Poong, who also won by an incredible margin.
The first riots caused by such blatant fraud began on March 17th. The police almost immediately used weapons, as a result of which several people died.
The situation continued to escalate. The reason for a new outburst of popular anger was the discovery on April 11 of the body of one of the protesters - student Kim Joo Yul, who disappeared during the last wave of protests. A crowd of thirty thousand protesters gathered in Masan almost immediately.
By April 19, the movement reached the capital of the country - Seoul, where more than 100 thousand people took to the streets. Pogroms began on government agencies, the offices of the ruling party and other places associated with the name of the hated dictator. Clashes with the police became widespread.
A state of emergency was declared in the capital, as well as in Busan, Daegu, Kwangju, and Daejeon, after which the police and army opened fire on the insurgent people with live ammunition. More than 100 people died, but the protests did not stop, but, on the contrary, gained strength. At some point, the inevitable happened: officials one after another began to get out of the control of the dictator. On April 21, the cabinet resigned.
The turning point happened on April 26. On that day, the police and the army refused to obey Rhee Seung Man's orders and did not shoot at the protesters, and the parliament, which the dictator considered completely obedient, suddenly passed a resolution demanding the president's resignation and invalidated the election results.
The US Ambassador to Korea also joined these demands. The Americans already understood where everything was going and in private conversations demanded that Lee Seung Man give up power, which he, without thinking twice, did, after which the CIA plane took him away from the massacre to Hawaii. So the first republic fell, replaced first by a short period of chaos, and then by a new dictatorship, this time a military one.
The April Revolution occupies an important place in the identity of South Koreans. Since 1945, their history has been replete with examples of dictatorships that surpassed even the Japanese colonial authorities in brutality. But it was in April 1960 that began, albeit to the establishment of order, at least a little reminiscent of justice.
