What happened
The blatantly rigged election of March 15, 1960 sparked protests in the city of Masan. On April 11 the body of the student Kim Ju-yul was found in Masan harbor, killed by a tear-gas grenade lodged in his skull; the image ignited the nation. On April 19 huge demonstrations in Seoul marched on the presidential residence, and police fire that day killed more than 180 people nationwide, by commonly cited figures. University professors marched on April 25, the army declined to fire on the crowds, and Rhee resigned on April 26 and left for exile.
Background
Syngman Rhee had ruled for twelve years with increasingly authoritarian methods.
Consequences
The uprising brought in the parliamentary Second Republic, overthrown thirteen months later by Park Chung-hee’s coup of May 1961. Yet April 19 endures as a touchstone of Korean democracy, invoked again in 1987.