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Governing North Korea. Some Afterthoughts on the Autumn of 1950

Republic of Korea in Japan

As the UN and ROK forces were advancing into North Korea across the 38th parallel in the autumn of 1950, they were ill prepared for administering the country. Apart from the absence of any detailed plan, they lacked consensus among themselves as to the nature of the governing authority in North Korea. At issue was not only who would govern North Korea but also if the elections should take place only in North Korea or throughout the whole of Korea. The South Korean government claimed total suzerainty over North Korea according to its constitution, thus advocating elections limited to North Korea alone. But some of the allies, led by Britain, wanted elections throughout Korea in the hope of overthrowing the Syngman Rhee government which was unpopular in the West because of its autocratic rule. The USA supported the South Korean position as the only realistic one but found a compromise in the UN taking over responsibility. However, this proved to be completely unrealistic and unworkable in practice. Neither the UN Commission nor the US military proved to be equal to the job. The only effective force were South Korean groups, either official, semi-official youths’ organizations or completely arbitrary ones. The consequence was chaos rather than mere misgovernment. However, the short-lived period of misrule came to an abrupt end due to a reversal on the military front.

Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 40, No. 3, 521-546 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0022009405054570


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