| Country: | Republic of Korea |
| Flag Year: | 1949 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Vote Type: | electoral |
| Previous Election: | 1979 South Korean presidential election |
| Previous Year: | 1979 |
| Election Date: | 27 August 1980 |
| Next Election: | 1981 South Korean presidential election |
| Next Year: | 1981 |
| Votes For Election: | 2,540 members of the National Conference for Unification |
| Needed Votes: | 1,271 |
| Image1: | Chun Doo-hwan 1983 (cropped).JPEG |
| Nominee1: | Chun Doo-hwan |
| Colour1: | 698DC5 |
| Party1: | Independent (politician) |
| Electoral Vote1: | 2,524 |
| President | |
| Before Election: | Park Choong-hoon (acting) |
| Before Party: | Independent |
| After Party: | Independent |
Indirect presidential elections were held in South Korea on 27 August 1980 to fill the vacancy caused by President Choi Kyu-hah's resignation.
Under the 1972 Yushin Constitution, the president was elected by the National Conference for Unification, whose 2,540 members had been elected for a six-year term of office in December 1978. General Chun Doo-hwan was the only candidate, and was elected unopposed.[1]
Chun was to serve for the remainder of the 1978–1984 term of longtime president Park Chung-hee, who had died in 1979 and been replaced by Choi. However, Chun subsequently decided to stage a coup and end the Fourth Republic and draft a new constitution, which was promulgated in October 1980 after being approved in a referendum. The first presidential election under the new constitution was held in February 1981, and Chun was elected by an overwhelming majority under controversial circumstances.[2]
After the assassination of the military dictator President Park Chung-hee in October 1979, Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah was elected president in the December 1979 elections. However, General Chun Doo-hwan staged the Coup d'état of December Twelfth and effectively took control of the government, making President Choi a figurehead. However, on 16 August 1980, following the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, Chun removed Choi from office so he could become president himself.
In order to be elected, a candidate had to receive the vote of over 50% of the incumbent members of the National Conference for Unification. With 2,540 delegates present, Chun had to receive at least 1,271 votes to be elected. He received 2,524 votes, 99.37% of the total possible.
| Region | Eligible electors | Vacancies | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seoul | 388 | 3 | 391 | |
| Busan | 145 | 0 | 145 | |
| Gyeonggi | 315 | 4 | 319 | |
| Gangwon | 148 | 3 | 151 | |
| North Chungcheong | 129 | 2 | 131 | |
| South Chungcheong | 229 | 6 | 235 | |
| North Jeolla | 202 | 1 | 203 | |
| South Jeolla | 308 | 4 | 312 | |
| North Gyeongsang | 367 | 12 | 379 | |
| South Gyeongsang | 282 | 8 | 290 | |
| Jeju | 27 | 0 | 27 | |
| Total | 2,540 | 43 | 2,583 |