1948 South Korean Constitutional Assembly election explained

Country:South Korea
Flag Year:1948
Previous Election:1946
Next Election:1950
Turnout:95.50%
Seats For Election:All 200 seats in the Constituent National Assembly
Majority Seats:101
Election Date:10 May 1948
First Election:yes
Party1:National Association (South Korea)
Leader1:Syngman Rhee
Percentage1:25.87
Seats1:55
Party2:Korea Democratic
Leader2:Kim Seong-su
Percentage2:13.51
Seats2:29
Color3:
  1. 000
Party3:Korea Youth
Leader3:Ji Cheong-cheon
Percentage3:9.66
Seats3:12
Party4:National Youth
Leader4:Lee Beom-seok
Percentage4:2.23
Seats4:6
Color5:
  1. c93
Party5:Taehan Labour Federation
Percentage5:1.57
Seats5:1
Color6:
  1. 663
Party6:Farmers Federation
Percentage6:0.77
Seats6:2
Party7:Other parties
Leader7:
Percentage7:5.92
Seats7:10
Party8:Independents
Leader8:
Percentage8:40.47
Seats8:85
Map:Republic_of_Korea_Constituency_of_The_Constituent_Assembly_election_1948_districts_result.png
Speaker
Before Election:None
After Party:National Association (South Korea)

Constitutional Assembly elections were held in South Korea on 10 May 1948. They were held under the U.S. military occupation, with supervision from the United Nations, and resulted in a victory for the National Association for the Rapid Realisation of Korean Independence, which won 55 of the 200 seats, although 85 were held by independents. Voter turnout was 95%.[1]

The elections were the first time in Korean history that the citizens were allowed to vote for a national legislative body. The Korean peninsula had been under Japanese colonial rule for thirty-five years (1910–1945), and for hundreds of years before that, it had been governed by the (Yi Dynasty) Korean royal family and scholarly officials.

Background

The elections were a milestone in Korean political history. The Korean people had not previously experienced democracy under written constitutional rule; the very foundation of South Korean politics were still under construction and were unstable.[2] The elections would lead to a constitution, roughly based on the constitution of the United States, and establish democracy in South Korea.[2]

In 1948 the subject of an election of any kind in South Korea was an issue worldwide. On 8 and 9 March 1948, UN delegates from Australia, Canada, India, and Syria expressed their doubts and some complete rejection of the elections on 10 May 1948 for South Korea.[3] The UN delegates were concerned by Korea's political maturity at the time, feeling that the elections might not validly express the popular will in a country which had only been independent for four years.[4] Some Korean politicians, such as Kim Koo and Kim Kyu-sik, denounced the election as it would dash the hopes of reunification with North Korea.[3] However, a vote in the South Korean Interim Legislature on 10 March ruled 40 to 0 in favor of holding the election.[3]

The elections were originally intended to be held throughout the Korean peninsula, but Soviet Union forces and Kim Il-sung refused the UN supervisors entry into North Korea for the elections.[5] They were therefore held only in the US-administered territory, making the elections a purely South Korean event. Because of this, Kim Koo the last president of the Korean Provisional Government and Kim Kyu-sik the former chairman of the South Korean Interim Legislature,[6] denounced the elections as they would dash hopes of reunification with North Korea, but could not prevent them from happening.[3] The voters elected members of a constitutional convention, which then voted on the constitution and re-convened as the national legislature to elect the president. At the proceedings, they left one hundred seats open in the Constituent National Assembly for North Koreans to vote on when they were able.[5]

Electoral system

The election system corresponded to the same limited system that had been established under the Japanese. In larger towns, only landowners and taxpayers could vote, while in small towns, elders voted on behalf of everyone else.[7] [8]

Conduct

The elections were marred by terrorism resulting in 600 deaths between March and May.[9] In April, North Korea, supposedly in an effort to delay the elections, sponsored a unity conference in Pyongyang to promote reunification of the two Koreas, which both Kim Koo and Kim Kyu-sik attended. The conference was inconclusive towards any upcoming reunification, and did not delay the elections.[10]

The people of Jeju island saw the election as a unilateral attempt by the United States military government under the flag of United Nations to separate a southern regime and to employ its first president Syngman Rhee,[11] The Jeju uprising occurred, during which tens of thousands of Jeju people were killed.[12]

Results

By city/province

RegionTotal
seats
Seats won
NARRKIKNPKYNYTLFFFOtherInd.
Seoul1014200012
Gyeonggi29723000116
Gangwon1260100005
North Chungcheong1221100008
South Chungcheong19100100008
North Jeolla2264120108
South Jeolla29510110129
North Gyeongsang331152010311
South Gyeongsang31630300217
Jeju310000011
Total2005529126121085

See also

Notes and References

  1. [Dieter Nohlen]
  2. Kim, Ilpyong. Young, Whan Kihl. Political Change in South Korea. The Korean PWPA, Inc. Paragon House, New York. 1988. p24.
  3. Book: Oliver , Robert Tarbell . Robert T. Oliver. Syngman Rhee and American Involvement in Korea, 1942-1960: A Personal Narrative. 1978. Seoul, South Korea. Panmun Book Company . 568651495. 149.
  4. Book: Allen , Richard C. . Korea's Syngman Rhee: An Unauthorized Portrait. 3 February 2016. Rutland Vermont. Charles E. Tuttle Publishing. 978-1-4629-1809-6. 94.
  5. Book: Malkasian , Carter . The Korean War 1950-1953. 2001. Taylor & Francis. 978-1-57958-364-4. 13.
  6. Weems . Benjamin . 1948 . Behind the Korean Election . Far Eastern Survey . 17 . 12 . 142–147 . 10.2307/3022008 . 3022008 . 0362-8949.
  7. Book: Cumings. Bruce. The Korean War: A History. registration. 2010. 113.
  8. Book: Buzo, Adrian . The Making of Modern Korea . limited . 2002. Routledge. London . 0-415-23749-1 . 66, 69.
  9. Book: Stueck, William. The Korean War in world history . Univ Pr of Kentucky . 14 May 2004 . 0-8131-2306-2 . 38.
  10. Allen, p. 93
  11. Wright, Edward Reynolds. Korean Politics in Transition. University of Washington Press. Seattle Washington. 1975. Page 19
  12. News: Islanders still mourn April 3 massacre. Jeju weekly. March 31, 2010 . 2013-05-05 . Song. Jung Hee.