| Colorcode: |
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| Workers' Party of South Korea | |
| Native Name Lang: | ko |
| Leader1 Title: | Chairman |
| Leader1 Name: | Ho Hon |
| Leader2 Title: | Vice Chairman |
| Leader2 Name: | Pak Hon-yong Yi Ki-sok |
| Merger: | CPK NPPK |
| Merged: | WPK |
| Newspaper: |
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| Membership: | 360,000 (1947 estimate) |
| Position: | Far-left |
| Flag: | Flag of the Workers' Party of South Korea.svg |
| Country: | South Korea |
| Korean name | |
| Tablewidth: | 288 |
| Color: |
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| Rr: | Namjoseon rodongdang |
| Mr: | Namjosŏn rodongdang |
The Workers' Party of South Korea was a communist party in South Korea from 1946 to 1949. It is also sometimes colloquially referred to as the "Namro Party" . It was founded on 23 November 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of South Korea, New People's Party of Korea and a faction of the People's Party of Korea (the so-called 'forty-eighters').[1] It was led by Ho Hon.[2]
The party was outlawed by the U.S. occupation authorities due to the party being an aggravating opposition to South Korea and the US, but the party organized a network of clandestine cells and was able to obtain a considerable following. It had around 360,000 party members.[3] In 1947, the party initiated armed guerrilla struggle. As the persecution of party intensified, large sections of the party leadership moved to Pyongyang.
The party was opposed to the formation of a South Korean state. In February–March 1948, it instigated general strikes in opposition to the plans to create a separate South Korean state.[4] On 3 April 1948, the party led a popular uprising on Jeju island, against the unilateral declaration of the foundation of the Republic of Korea. In the suppression of the revolt, thousands of islanders were killed (see Jeju massacre), largely by forces of the South Korean Government.
In one of its first official acts, the South Korean National Assembly passed the National Security Act in September 1948, which among other measures, outlawed the Workers' Party of South Korea.[5]
On 24 June 1949, the party merged with the Workers' Party of North Korea, forming the Workers' Party of Korea.[6] The WPNK leader Kim Il Sung became party chairman, whereas Pak Hon-yong became deputy chairman.
In the Korean War, 60,000 to 200,000 members of the party and suspected communist supporters, many of them civilians, were massacred by the South Korean Army with supervision of the US army[7] in what became known as the Bodo League massacre.
The clandestine trade union movement, the All Korea Labor Union (Chŏnp'yŏng) was connected to the party.