# Yun Po-sun (윤보선)
**Yun Po-sun** (尹潽善, 윤보선; 26 August 1897 – 18 July 1990) was a South Korean politician who served as the fourth President of the Republic of Korea from August 1960 to March 1962, heading the short-lived Second Republic between the fall of [Syngman Rhee](https://www.edgepedia.org/syngman-rhee) and the coup of Park Chung-hee[1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp). After his presidency he spent nearly two decades as a leading figure of the anti-government opposition and ran twice for the presidency against Park[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-22-mn-829-story.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Life | 26 August 1897, Asan, South Chungcheong Province – 18 July 1990, Seoul; pen name Haewi (海葦), bon-gwan Haepyeong[1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp) |
| Education | MA, University of Edinburgh, 1930; honorary doctorates from Kyung Hee University and the US International University, 1985[1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp) • [3](https://edinburgh-global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1920s/yun-posun) |
| Presidency | Elected president in August 1960; Second Republic used a parliamentary system in which the prime minister held executive power and the presidency was largely ceremonial[4](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt22/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt22-9-1.pdf) • [5](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED055491.pdf) |
| Coup and resignation | Remained head of state after the May 16, 1961 military coup; resigned in March 1962[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-22-mn-829-story.html) |
| Later campaigns | Presidential candidate in 1963 (losing narrowly to Park Chung-hee) and 1967; leader of several opposition parties[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-22-mn-829-story.html) • [1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp) |
| Repression | Named in the 1974 Mincheong case and tried by a military court; wrote a 1977 letter to President Carter denouncing human rights repression[6](https://kiss.kstudy.com/Detail/Ar?key=4195663) • [7](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1977-pt28/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1977-pt28-3-3.pdf) |
| Family | Wife Gong Deok-gwi (1911–1997); two sons and two daughters; Christian[1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp) |
## Early life and Edinburgh years
Yun was born on 26 August 1897 in Asan, in South Chungcheong Province, into a family of Korean independence activists[1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp) • [3](https://edinburgh-global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1920s/yun-posun). Inspired by the 1911 Chinese Revolution, he moved to Shanghai in 1917, where he joined the struggle for Korean independence from Japanese occupation; there he met the independence activist Shin Gyu-shik, who encouraged him to go to Britain and study British parliamentary democracy as a way of strengthening the movement[3](https://edinburgh-global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1920s/yun-posun).
Yun chose to study archaeology at the [University of Edinburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-edinburgh), believing the subject gave insight into human behavior and the basis of political ideologies; he matriculated in 1927 and graduated in 1930[3](https://edinburgh-global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1920s/yun-posun). During his studies he was strongly influenced by the Marxist archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe[3](https://edinburgh-global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1920s/yun-posun).
## Early political career
His record of public office began early and spanned the colonial and post-liberation periods. In 1919 he served as a member of the provisional assembly of the Korean independence government-in-exile; after liberation he advised the US military government's agriculture and commerce bureau in 1945, was mayor of Seoul from 1948 to 1949, [Minister](https://www.edgepedia.org/minister-government) of Commerce and Industry from 1949 to 1950, and president of the Korean Red Cross from 1950 to 1952[1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp).
In 1954 he entered the National Assembly with the Democratic Nationalist Party and was re-elected for the fourth and fifth assemblies (1958–1960) as a member of the Democratic Party[1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp).
## President of the Second Republic
The April 19 Revolution of 1960, a nationwide student and citizen uprising against the rigged elections that had extended Rhee's rule, forced Rhee from office[8](https://contents.history.go.kr/front/ta/view.do?levelId=ta_h71_0040_0050_0040_0040). A caretaker government revised the constitution around a cabinet-responsibility system and a two-chamber assembly, and in the elections that followed the Democratic Party won 175 of 233 seats in the House of Representatives and 31 of 58 in the House of Councilors[5](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED055491.pdf). In August 1960 the National Assembly elected Yun, leader of the party's "Old Guard" faction, as president and Chang Myun, head of its "New Faction," as prime minister[4](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt22/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt22-9-1.pdf) • [5](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED055491.pdf).
The constitutional arrangement placed real executive power with the prime minister, who was responsible to the lower house, while the presidency was reduced to a largely ceremonial post[5](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED055491.pdf). The new administration restored constitutional rights suppressed under Rhee and continued prosecuting Rhee's political aides[5](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED055491.pdf). During Yun's term the presidential compound in Seoul received its present name, Cheongwadae (the [Blue House](https://www.edgepedia.org/blue-house)), chosen in 1960 for the roughly 150,000 blue tiles on its roof[9](https://time.com/6188623/south-korea-blue-house-public-opening-rain/).
On May 16, 1961, Park Chung-hee and other army officers seized power in a coup. Yun remained in office as head of state, a position that lent legitimacy to the military regime, and stepped down in March 1962 in favor of Park, who led the ruling junta[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-22-mn-829-story.html). The Second Republic, along with the fifth National Assembly, had lasted less than two years[10](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0028600).
## Opposition leader against Park
When civil government returned, Yun ran against Park in the presidential election of October 1963 and lost by a slim margin[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-22-mn-829-story.html). He was elected to the sixth National Assembly in 1963 as a member of the Democratic Justice Party, served as president of the New Han Party from 1966, and ran again as the [New Democratic Party](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-democratic-party)'s presidential candidate in 1967[1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp). A contemporary Congressional account recorded his standing: he had been characterized as "the Bobby Kennedy of Korea," with the strongest aspirations for the presidency[4](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt22/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt22-9-1.pdf).
**Under the Yusin system.** Park amended the constitution for a third term in 1969 and in 1972 declared martial law, dissolved the assembly, and imposed the October Yusin system, which curtailed basic rights and entrenched long-term dictatorship[8](https://contents.history.go.kr/front/ta/view.do?levelId=ta_h71_0040_0050_0040_0040). Yun led the political opposition against Park's rule until Park's assassination in October 1979[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-22-mn-829-story.html).
That opposition carried personal risk. Yun was named behind the 1974 Mincheong case, involving the Nationwide Federation of Democratic Students and Youth, and was tried by a military court during a period when human rights violations against democratization activists were systematic[6](https://kiss.kstudy.com/Detail/Ar?key=4195663) • [11](https://guides.loc.gov/south-korean-democratization-movement/anti-yusin-movement). In May 1977 he wrote to President Carter criticizing laws and decrees that oppressed human rights and the administration's complete control of the press, judiciary, National Assembly, and opposition party; a member of Congress placed the letter in the Congressional Record as a significant current of thought among South Korean democrats[7](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1977-pt28/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1977-pt28-3-3.pdf).
## Final years and assessment
After Park's assassination Yun retired from politics and lived in seclusion at his home in Seoul[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-22-mn-829-story.html). His final political act drew criticism: in the 1987 presidential election he supported the ruling-party candidate [Roh Tae-woo](https://www.edgepedia.org/roh-tae-woo), for which critics faulted him for backing Hanahoe, a private group of military officers associated with Roh, despite his place in the democratic movement[3](https://edinburgh-global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1920s/yun-posun).
He died of old age on 18 July 1990[3](https://edinburgh-global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1920s/yun-posun) • [1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp). Assessments of him remain divided. He is criticized as a fragile, changeable leader in elite politics, but he is also credited for his contributions to the democratization of South Korea[3](https://edinburgh-global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1920s/yun-posun). The Presidential Archives records honors including the Order of Mugunghwa in 1960 and the Inchon Culture Prize in 1990[1](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp).
## References
1. [제4대 윤보선 약력, 대통령기록관 (Presidential Archives, Republic of Korea)](https://www.pa.go.kr/online_contents/president/history04.jsp)
2. [Posun Yun; Former President of South Korea, Los Angeles Times (July 22, 1990)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-22-mn-829-story.html)
3. [Yun Posun, UncoverED, University of Edinburgh Global](https://edinburgh-global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1920s/yun-posun)
4. [Congressional Record — Senate, October 30, 1967 (govinfo.gov)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt22/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt22-9-1.pdf)
5. [South Korea: Government and Politics (ERIC document ED055491)](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED055491.pdf)
6. [1970년대 윤보선의 인권 의식 속에 담긴 신부적(神賦的) 국가관, KISS](https://kiss.kstudy.com/Detail/Ar?key=4195663)
7. [Former President of South Korea Yun's Letter to President Carter, Congressional Record, October 31, 1977](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1977-pt28/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1977-pt28-3-3.pdf)
8. [역대 국사교과서: 민주주의의 시련과 발전, 우리역사넷](https://contents.history.go.kr/front/ta/view.do?levelId=ta_h71_0040_0050_0040_0040)
9. [What a Concert by K-Pop Legend Rain in South Korea's Former Presidential Compound Says About the Country's Politics, Time](https://time.com/6188623/south-korea-blue-house-public-opening-rain/)
10. [선거 (Elections), 한국민족문화대백과사전](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0028600)
11. [Anti-Yusin Movement (1973-1979), Library of Congress Research Guide](https://guides.loc.gov/south-korean-democratization-movement/anti-yusin-movement)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Heads of state, vice presidents, and governor-generals › Historical monarchs, emperors, and dynastic rulers (before 1914) › Heads of state of Asia*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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