Editing Minjung (section)

=== Student protests ===
During the presidential election in March 1960, [[Syngman Rhee]] sought out a fourth term. Considering his age of eighty-five, there was serious concern for Rhee's health and his future fulfillment of leadership within the Liberal Party. Therefore, in order to maintain power, the Liberal Party gained the desire to win at all costs. The Liberal Party did end up winning the election; Syngman Rhee and Yi Kibung (Vice President) officially won. However, the election process was corrupted. The "ballot boxes had been stuffed with votes for the government candidates even before the voting took place."{{sfn|Ch'oe|Lee|de Bary|2001|p=393}} In reaction to the Liberal Party's rigged victory, the outraged citizens and students of all ages protested through street demonstrations. As a declaration indicting the government's abuse of power, on April 19, 1960, Yi Sujong expressed: "We want to plant the seeds of reason, truth, freedom, and the spirit of the university in the barren soil of our country."<ref name="ReferenceB">[''Hanguk hyondae myong nonsol chip'' (A supplement to Sin Tonga monthly, January 1972), p. 305]</ref> Through the protest, the students became a power of influence among the people of Korea. Although the South Korean government had claimed to be a "democratic" nation, its actions did not display the exercise of democracy. The students sparked a vital movement in South Korea. These protests are evidence of students understanding of their own power and capabilities to influence the nation. Students were fervent in their search for their own rights because they learned from history. A middle schooler by the name of Kim Chu-yol in a sense became a symbol of the sacrifice for freedom.{{sfn|Cumings|2005|p=392}} They needed to fight for their rights just like their fathers. "Look at the torch of freedom that we are now raising! Listen, in these hours of darkness, as we proudly toll the bell of freedom, just as our fathers and elder brothers did under the iron yoke of the Japanese imperialist".<ref name="ReferenceB"/> This was a new type of movement to which Korea was not accustomed which would be a key instrument in allowing students to begin to voice their opinions and fight for their rights.