1992 South Korean presidential election

Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 18 December 1992, the second democratic presidential elections since the end of military rule in 1987. Voter turnout was 81.9%.

1992 South Korean presidential election

18 December 1992
Turnout	81.89% ( 7.26pp)
Nominee Kim Young-sam Kim Dae-jung Party Democratic Liberal Democratic Popular vote 9,977,332 8,041,284 Percentage 41.96% 33.82%   Nominee Chung Ju-yung Park Chan-jong Party Unification National New Political Reform Popular vote 3,880,067 1,516,047 Percentage 16.32% 6.38%
Results by provincial-level division
President before election Roh Tae-woo Independent Elected President Kim Young-sam Democratic Liberal

In the first regular presidential election with no military candidates since 1960, Kim Young-sam of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party won with 41 percent of the vote.

Background

On 22 January 1990 two opposition leaders Kim Young-sam and Kim Jong-pil merged their parties into the ruling party Democratic Justice Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party, led by President Roh Tae-woo. Before they merged, Roh's party did not have a majority in the National Assembly. After they merged, they had over a two-thirds majority, which could pass bills without any obstruction from the opposition. Roh could not run for re-election due to the constitution limiting the president to a single five-year term.

Kim Dae-jung, an opponent in the 1987 election who finished third behind Kim Young-sam and Roh Tae-woo ran again in 1992. Hyundai businessman Chung Ju-yung also ran in the election.

Nominations

Democratic Liberal Party

The Democratic Liberal Party national convention was held on 19 May at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena. Nine-term lawmaker from Busan Kim Young-sam won the nomination, defeating four-term lawmaker from Seoul Lee Jong-chan, who did not concede and ran as a third party candidate. Lee Jong-chan withdrew his campaign and endorsed RNP nominee Chung Ju-yung in December.

3,331 delegates needed to win

Candidate	Delegates	%
Kim Young-sam	4,418	66.34
Lee Jong-chan	2,214	33.24
Invalid/blank votes	28	0.42
Total	6,660	100%
Abstentions	222	3.23

Democratic Party

The Democratic National Convention was held from 25 to 26 May at the Olympic Fencing Gymnasium. At the convention, Kim Dae-jung, 6-term lawmaker from South Jeolla, defeated Lee Ki-taek, 7-term lawmaker from Busan, and won the nomination.

Of 2,426 delegates present at the convention, 1,443 had been from Kim's faction and only 983 from Lee's, so Kim was thought as the presumptive nominee even before the convention began.

1,170 delegates needed to win

Candidate	Delegates	%
Kim Dae-jung	1,413	60.18
Lee Ki-taek	925	39.40
Invalid/blank votes	10	0.43
Total	2,338	100%

Unification National Party

At the UNP National Convention held on 15 May at the KOEX in Seoul, Chung Ju-yung was nominated for president by a yay-nay rising vote.

Rising Vote

Candidate	Delegates	%
For Chung Ju-yung	1,727	99.37
Against	7	0.40
Abstention	4	0.23

Results

The right-wing conservative Democratic Liberal Party presidential candidate Kim Young-Sam won the presidential election, defeating opposition Democratic Party leader Kim Dae-Jung, marking the third time he had lost a presidential election. Kim later announced his retirement from politics.

The conservative ruling party won the election continued to govern until 1997 when Kim Dae-Jung won the next presidential election.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Kim Young-sam	Democratic Liberal Party	9,977,332	41.96
	Kim Dae-jung	Democratic Party	8,041,284	33.82
	Chung Ju-yung	Unification National Party	3,880,067	16.32
	Park Chan-jong	New Political Reform Party	1,516,047	6.38
	Baek Gi-Wan	Independent	238,648	1.00
	Kim Ok-sun	Independent	86,292	0.36
	Lee Byeong-ho	Korean Justice Party	35,739	0.15
Total			23,775,409	100.00
Valid votes			23,775,409	98.67
Invalid/blank votes			319,761	1.33
Total votes			24,095,170	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			29,422,658	81.89
Source: Nohlen et al.

By region

Region	Kim Young-sam		Kim Dae-jung		Chung Ju-yung		Park Chan-jong		Baek Gi-wan		Kim Ok-sun		Lee Byeong-ho
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Seoul	2,167,298	36.41	2,246,636	37.75	1,070,629	17.99	381,535	6.41	67,784	1.14	13,098	0.22	4,797	0.08
Busan	1,551,473	73.34	265,055	12.53	133,907	6.33	139,004	6.57	21,736	1.03	3,236	0.15	978	0.05
Daegu	690,245	59.60	90,641	7.83	224,642	19.40	136,037	11.75	12,772	1.10	2,753	0.24	1,103	0.10
Incheon	397,361	37.27	338,538	31.75	228,505	21.43	84,211	7.90	12,455	1.17	3,867	0.36	1,351	0.13
Gwangju	14,504	2.13	652,337	95.85	8,085	1.19	2,827	0.42	1,565	0.23	1,149	0.17	133	0.02
Daejeon	202,137	35.19	165,067	28.74	133,646	23.27	64,526	11.23	5,772	1.00	2,294	0.40	961	0.17
Gyeonggi	1,254,025	36.33	1,103,498	31.97	798,356	23.13	239,140	6.93	36,392	1.05	13,685	0.40	6,299	0.18
Gangwon	340,528	41.51	127,265	15.52	279,610	34.09	56,199	6.85	9,599	1.17	4,007	0.49	3,047	0.37
North Chungcheong	281,678	38.26	191,743	26.05	175,767	23.88	68,900	9.36	8,671	1.18	4,568	0.62	4,844	0.66
South Chungcheong	351,789	36.94	271,921	28.55	240,400	25.24	64,117	6.73	10,185	1.07	9,899	1.04	4,143	0.43
North Jeolla	63,175	5.68	991,483	89.13	35,923	3.23	9,320	0.84	4,232	0.38	7,130	0.64	1,087	0.10
South Jeolla	53,360	4.20	1,170,398	92.16	26,686	2.10	7,210	0.57	3,311	0.26	8,010	0.63	1,048	0.08
North Gyeongsang	991,424	64.73	147,440	9.63	240,646	15.71	124,858	8.15	17,664	1.15	6,240	0.41	3,365	0.22
South Gyeongsang	1,514,043	72.32	193,373	9.24	241,135	11.52	115,086	5.50	22,863	1.09	5,070	0.24	2,020	0.10
Jeju	104,292	39.98	85,889	32.92	42,130	16.15	23,077	8.85	3,647	1.40	1,286	0.49	563	0.22
Total	9,977,332	41.96	8,041,284	33.82	3,880,067	16.32	1,516,047	6.38	238,648	1.00	86,292	0.36	35,729	0.15
Source: National Election Committee