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The Constitution of the Republic of Korea is the basic law of South Korea. It was promulgated on July 17, 1948, and was last revised on October 29, 1987.

History
South Korea's first 1948 Constitution, drafted by Dr. Chin-O Yu, framed a presidential system mixed with a parliamentary system. It gave the president to act as the head of state, be elected directly by the National Assembly, and share executive power with the cabinet. The Constitutional Charter of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea of 1919 became the forerunner of 1948 Constitution.

The 1949 Constitution has first amended in 1952 ahead of Syngman Rhee's re-election, providing for direct presidential elections and a bicameral legislature. It was passed with procedural irregularities after fierce debate. In 1954, Rhee again forced an amendment, removing term limits for himself and emphasizing a capitalistic economic model.

Facing widespread public protests against these moves, the Second Republic began with the more democratic 1960 Constitution, creating a cabinet, a figurehead president, a bicameral legislature, an election commission, and a constitutional commission. It also provided for elections for supreme court justices and provincial governors, as well as natural law-based individual rights.

With the May 16 coup of Park Chung-hee in 1961, the 1960 version was nullified, and in 1962, the Third Republic's Constitution was passed, with additional similarities to the United States Constitution, such as nominal judicial review functions. In 1972, Park extended his rule with the Fourth Republic constitution, called the Yusin Constitution, which gave the president sweeping (almost dictatorial) powers and permitted him to run for an unlimited number of six-year terms.

After Park was assassinated in 1979, the Fifth Republic began with the 1980 Constitution under President Chun Doo-hwan. The president's powers were curbed somewhat, and he was barred from reelection after his seven-year term. It also provided for a unicameral legislature and a cabinet system.

With the pro-democratic protests of 1987 (June Democracy Movement), the 1988 Constitution of the Sixth Republic was passed. The constitutional bill was passed by the National Assembly on October 12, 1987, and approved by 93 percent in a national referendum on October 28, taking effect on February 25, 1988, when Roh Tae-Woo was inaugurated as president.

 Amendment of the Constitution of South Korea 

Succession of spirit
" We, the people of Korea, proud of a resplendent history and traditions dating from time immemorial, upholding the cause of the Provisional Republic of Korea Government born of the March First Independence Movement of 1919 and the democratic ideals of the April Nineteenth Uprising of 1960 against injustice, having assumed the mission of democratic reform and peaceful unification of our homeland and having determined to consolidate national unity with justice." -the preamble to the Constitution of South Korea

Spirit of 4. 19 revolution
The spirit of April nineteenth and March 1st movement is stipulated in the preamble of Constitution of South Korea. But it took a long time to be established. The contents of the April revolution were removed on the fifth amendment, and these were included in the preamble on the sixth amendment, identified with May 16 coup. After the ninth amendment, the spirit of the April revolution was excepted from the preamble, and it was included for the ‘Resistance ideology for protection of democratic constitution’ on the 10th amendment.

Spirit of Provisional Charter of Korea
The Provisional Charter of Korea is the first constitution of Shanghai Provisional Government, which was promulgated in 1919. It made the name of the country as ‘Republic of Korea’, and it is made up of the preamble of 10 articles. The provisional charter of Korea became the primary spirit of current Constitution, which is stipulated in the preamble of Constitution of South Korea.

Provisional Charter of Korea
 * 1) The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic country.
 * 2) The Republic of Korea should be governed by the provisional people of the provisional government.
 * 3) All citizens of the Republic of Korea are equal without gender, wealth and stratum.
 * 4) All citizens of the Republic of Korea have the rights to be free of religion, media, writing, publishing, association, assembly, the charge of address, body and ownership.
 * 5) The citizens who have the qualification of the citizen of the Republic of Korea have a right to vote and to be elected.
 * 6) The citizens of the Republic of Korea have a duty to education, taxation, and military service.
 * 7) The Republic of Korea will join the League of Nations in order to exert its founding spirit in the world and to contribute to human culture and peace by the will of the citizens.
 * 8) The Republic of Korea gives preference to the old imperial family.
 * 9) The Republic of Korea forbids the punishment of life, body, and licensed prostitution.
 * 10) The Provisional Government convenes the National Assembly within one year after the restoration of the country.

Structure
Consisting of a preamble, 130 articles, and supplementary provisions, the Constitution provides for an executive branch headed by a president and an appointed prime minister, a unicameral legislature called the National Assembly, and a judiciary consisting of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and lower courts.

The President is elected by a First Past the Post vote and limited to a single five-year term. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President with the consent of the National Assembly. Although not required by the Constitution, the President also appoints members of the cabinet. President Kim Dae-jung changed to the cabinet system.

The National Assembly consists of at least 200 (presently 300) members elected to four-year terms. The Supreme Court's chief justice is appointed by the president and up to 13 other justices appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chief justice with the approval of the National Assembly. The President serves a six-year term.

The Constitution declares South Korea a "democratic republic" (taken from Article 1 of Constitutional Charter of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea of 1919), its territory consisting of "the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands," and that "the Republic of Korea shall seek unification and shall formulate and carry out a policy of peaceful unification based on the principles of freedom and democracy." There are disputes over what "freedom and democracy" mean in Korea, but the direct translation of the Korean word used in the constitution (자유민주적 기본질서) would be liberal democracy.

Individual rights
South Korean Bill of Rights (or fundamental right) is Constitution CHAPTER 2. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS (4-687) Individuals may not be punished, placed under preventive restrictions, or subjected to involuntary labor except as provided by law. Those detained or arrested must be informed of the reason and of their right to an attorney, and family members must be informed. Warrants must be issued by a judge "through due procedures," and accused persons may sue for wrongful arrest in certain cases.

However, individual rights are qualified by other constitutional provisions and pre-existing laws, including the National Security Act, which restricts due process rights.

Economic provisions
In Article 119, stable and balanced growth rates, "proper distribution of income", and preventing "abuse of economic power" are explicitly listed as goals of the government. The regulatory goal to "democratize the economy through harmony among economic agents" in the same article reflects the strong prevalence of traditional Korean values and the close relationship between politics and the economy. Article 125 designates foreign trade as a strategic area to be fostered, regulated and coordinated by the government. 

The Constitution affirms both the right and the duty to work, requiring regulation of minimum wages and working conditions. Workers have the right to independent association, collective bargaining, and collective action.

Constitutional Court
Following the 1987 revision, the Constitutional Court was established in September 1988. Based on the European model, it is a specialized court that determines the Constitutionality of laws, disputes between governmental entities, Constitutional complaints filed by individuals, impeachments, and dissolution of political parties. Earlier constitutions provided for various forms of judicial review, but the judiciary did not exercise actual independence.

The Court's nine Justices serve six-year renewable terms. As of December 2004, the Court has declared 418 laws unconstitutional and revoked about 214 governmental actions.