Committee to Prepare for the Establishment of Joseon State

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The committee welcomes the American military in Chemulpo
Committee to Prepare for the Establishment of Joseon State
Korean alphabet : 조선 건국 준비 위원회
Revised Romanization : Joseon-geonguk-junbi-wiweonhoe
McCune-Reischauer : Chosǒn-kn'guk-chunbi-wiwǒnhoe
The political prisoners were released on August 16, 1945

The Committee to prepare for the establishment of the State Joseon ( kor. : 조선 건국 준비 위원회 , translit. : Joseon geonguk-Junbi-wiweonhoe ) was after the surrender of Japan in Korea based committee that the country after its independence from Japan again should lead an independent and independent state.

Different names

Various names for the committee can be found in the literature, such as: B. " Committee for Preparing Korean Independence ", " Committee for Preparing for the Restoration of the Nation " and " Preparing Committee for Country Building ". All these translations refer to the committee formed on August 16, 1945.

history

With the capitulation of Japan a chaotic political situation arose in which ideologized groups fought a political power struggle among themselves. Essentially, this happened among four groups, the radical communists under the leadership of Pak Hon-yong ( 박헌영 ), the more social democratic forces under the leadership of Yo Un-hyong ( 요운 형 ), the conservative nationalists under Kim Gu ( 김구 ) and the conservative Democrats under Rhee Syng-man ( 이승만 ).

But before that, when Japan was ready to accept the terms of surrender, Endō Ryūsaku , director of the administration of the colonial governor , asked Yo Un-hyong, who had already founded the Korean National Foundation League underground on August 10, 1944 with the aim of im To take over the government in the event of the Japanese surrender, to form a political organization after the end of Japanese colonial rule that would guarantee law and order and protect Japanese property. On August 15, 1945, the day Japan surrendered, Yo negotiated with the Japanese governor general and took over the government on the same day. One day later, on August 16, 1945, the first thing to do was to release all political prisoners and, on August 17, under Yo's leadership, the Committee for Preparing the Establishment of Joseon State was formed and 145 branches were opened nationwide, the People's Committees ( 인민 위원회 , Immin- wiweonhoe). The committees deposed the Japanese colonial officials and formed security troops with which they could gain appropriate authority.

The aim of the committee was to form a government and a new state as quickly as possible. To this end, the leaders of the committee, the majority of whom belonged to the left camp, tried to bind political representatives from the left and right camps as well as the center by forming a coalition government from all camps. Rhee Syng-man was planned as president of the planned government and Yo as deputy. After an extremely short preparation period, the committee proclaimed the People's Republic of Joseon ( 조선 인민 공화국 , Joseon-immin-gonghwaguk) on September 6, 1945 with the following program:

  • wanting to form a politically and economically independent nation-state,
  • to want to eliminate all feudal structures,
  • want to satisfy and realize the fundamental political, economic and social needs of the nation,
  • to achieve rapid improvement in the living conditions of workers, peasants and citizens and
  • to strive for close cooperation with all other democratic states.

On September 14, the committee finally published a cabinet list in which Rhee Syngman was to take over the presidency. Yeo Un-hyung was appointed as his deputy, Kim KU as Minister of Internal Affairs, and Huh Hun as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Other ministerial posts were distributed among the large landowners. Since most of those named were still in exile, deputies took over these posts, almost all of which belonged to the left-wing camp. In contrast, a right-wing committee, which was developing at the same time, demanded that the so-called Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea , a government in exile founded in 1919, be recognized as a legal government.

Parallel to the political activities, the American military, which under the leadership of General John R. Hodge landed in the southern part of the country on August 25, 1945, proclaimed the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) on September 7, 1945 . On the same day, the conservative nationalists founded "The Korean Democratic Party" under the leadership of Song Dschin-u and made it clear from the start that they would not recognize the government that was formed under the Left Committee. The representatives of the People's Committee of the proclaimed Joseon People's Republic, however, met with General Hodge on September 9, hoping to get support for their goals. But Hodges' announcement that the administrative staff of the Japanese colonial government, including the Governor General, would remain in office for a transitional period came as a shock to the committee, and the decision on September 10 to declare the People's Republic illegal, then the final end of its political life Aspirations for an independent, new Korea. The result was frustration and anger among the Korean population against the American occupiers. This took the form of strikes and demonstrations.

The right-wing camp committee united with other right-wing nationalist groups and together formed the Hanguk-minju-dang ( 한국 민주당 , Democratic Party of Korea) on September 16, 1945 , while the American government was pursuing Rhee Syng-man, the middle of October had returned to Korea from the US to install as chairman of a Democratic Council of South Korean MPs.

At the latest when Rhee was elected the first President of South Korea in July 1948, it was clear that there would no longer be a People's Republic. It is not known when the committee disbanded.

See also

literature

  • Gottfried-Karl Kindermann: The rise of Korea in world politics . Günter Olzog Verlag, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-7892-8220-0 .
  • Jong-min Kim: Politics in South Korea between tradition and progress . Crisis sequences in an emerging country (= European university publications  . Political science volume 31 ). Peter Lang, Frankfurt 1983, ISBN 3-8204-5992-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Kim: Politics in South Korea between tradition and progress . 1983, p. 37 .
  2. ^ A b Andrew C. Nahm : Korea - Tradition & Transformation . A History of the Korean People . 2nd edition edition. Hollym International , Elizabeth, New Jersey 1996, ISBN 1-56591-070-2 , pp.  330-332 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Kim: Politics in South Korea between tradition and progress . 1983, p. 38 .
  4. ^ A b Marion Eggert, Jörg Plassen: Small history of Korea . CH Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3-406-52841-5 , p. 149 .
  5. ↑ a b c Kindermann: The rise of Korea in world politics . 1994, p. 52 .
  6. ↑ Kindermann: The Rise of Korea in World Politics . 1994, p. 53 .
  7. ↑ Kindermann: The Rise of Korea in World Politics . 1994, p. 54 .