But with the military coup of May 16, 1961, the constitution was again used as a tool for keeping power. President Park Chung-hee reached a third term through the fifth amendment of 1962 and the sixth amendment, and in this way succeeded in holding power for a long time. Then in 1972 he invoked emergency powers, dissolved the National Assembly, declared martial law and enacted the new Yushin Constitution. The main points of the Yushin Constitution were making it easy to restrict basic rights, shortening National Assembly sessions, giving the president the power to appoint judges, and the Saemaeul project, among others. Because it provided for indirect election of the president, it can be seen as laying the legal foundation for de facto permanent rule. However, the conditions for permanent rule took a new turn after the October 26, 1979 incident, and with the ninth amendment of 1987 as the last, the 1987 Constitution has been maintained for 30 years. Yet although the constitution functions as a norm in people's daily lives, it has not yet become a truly normative constitution. Politicians also use the constitution as a tool for politics, and in administration and the judiciary the constitution is rather neglected, so the normative force of the constitution must be secured, if only to protect the freedoms and rights it guarantees.

The main body discussed, from a legal perspective, Korea's constitutional history: the historical and political background after liberation before the new legal system was put in order, and the history of constitutional amendments that followed. What appears throughout this constitutional history is the attitude and effort toward developing a liberal democratic system.

To add, correct the years as you read. The fifth amendment was made by referendum in December 1962 after the May 16 coup, and the sixth amendment allowing a third presidential term came in 1969. After the October 1972 Yushin declaration, the seventh amendment created the Yushin Constitution, and the current constitution, created by the ninth amendment in October 1987, has remained unamended for nearly 40 years as of 2026. The 1987 Constitution introduced direct presidential elections and a single five-year term, and created a new Constitutional Court to handle review of laws, impeachment, dissolution of political parties, competence disputes and constitutional complaints.