The April Revolution of 1960 Michael Hong Katherine Wei Junior Division Group Website

We chose the April Revolution of 1960 because it is one of the most interesting topics in South Koreas government. We were inspired to choose this topic because of Michaels Korean background and that it falls under all three categories of revolution, reaction, and reform. After thorough research about the causes of the impact previous changes in Koreas government had on modern society, we found the April Revolution. One of the most interesting aspects of this revolution is the examples it could set for countries under authoritarian rule such as North Korea. With this information set in our mind, we decided the April Revolution of 1960 would officially become our history fair topic. We researched through a variety of resources, including books on Korean history, historical websites, newspaper articles, and pictures and videos dating back to April 1960 in South Korea. Although encyclopedias were not used in any way as our main sources, we did try to get an overview and basic understanding from trusted encyclopedias, including World Book. From there on, we expanded our research using Korean databases, historical newspapers, and more. We also used school websites with the help of our teacher and media specialist. After researching the various categories, we concluded that a website was best suited for us. In this age we live in, technology affects our daily lives and learning how to create a website will prove useful for the future. We also found it easier to communicate through the website so that the both of us could each contribute to the project. We started out by creating pages for the revolution, reaction, reform, and a timeline to show events that occurred before, during, and after the April Revolution. Then, we placed pictures of the events onto each page of the website. Using the data from our gathered sources, we began typing up the information. Our topic relates to the thesis in several ways. The April Revolution forever changed the government of South Korea. In April of 1960, students took to the streets to protest against the

authoritarian regime of their first president, Syngman Rhee. This event carved a new path for South Koreas government. We found that this revolution was an epitome of the attempt to create a democratic government. In reaction, shock was felt throughout the country. Many people thought that this was the right move, while others felt that without Rhee, the regime in Korea wasnt viable. Yet, the April Revolution radically reformed the country. It restored the founding spirit of the Republic of Korea, based on the values of national security against communism and the efforts to build a constitutional government.