The June 29 Declaration (Korean: 6.29 선언; Hanja: 六二九宣言; RR: Yug-igu seoneon), officially titled the Special Declaration for Grand National Harmony and Progress Towards a Great Nation[1][2] (Korean: 국민들의 민주화와 직선제 개헌요구를 받아들여 발표한 특별선언), was a speech by Roh Tae-woo, presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Justice Party of South Korea, on 29 June 1987.
In the declaration, Roh promised significant concessions to opponents of the incumbent authoritarian regime of Chun Doo-hwan who had been pressing for democracy.
The question of the role of the June 29 Declaration is important in the historiography of South Korean democratization.
[3] "Pacted" transition theorists point to the authoritarian methods of Roh's subsequent regime, which continued the political manipulation and trasformismo of the Chun government, as evidence for the thesis that the June 29 Declaration was simply a tactic that enabled the perpetuation of authoritarian rule.
[4] "Mass" transition theorists, by contrast, believe that the Declaration was merely a response to the June Democracy Movement, and the democratization process was driven by the force of popular demand rather than elite bargaining.