As 1945 drew to a close, the fate of the Korean nation hung in the balance. For over one thousand years, the Korean Peninsula had been united under several states; and the last government of a united Korea, the People’s Republic of Korea, was under fire. Due to treaty agreements between the United States, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the peninsula would be partitioned into two zones of occupation; the Soviets controlling the region north of 38th parallel, while the Americans would receive the region south of the 38th parallel. This division, although intended to be temporary, would create a divide across the Korean nation which would last for over seventy years, continuing onto the present. The two states produced by the
…show more content…
The People’s Republic of Korea didn’t receive international recognition, instead being occupied by both the United States and Soviet Union. In the northern, Soviet controlled territory, the government of the People’s Republic of Korea was repurposed into the Provisional People’s Committee for Korea, the occupational authority of the Soviet Union in Korea, while in the South, the PRK was dissolved by the United States Army Military Government in Korea. Although both occupational governments agreed elections should be held to reunite the two regions, the policies of the occupational governments only further drove the two halves of Korea even further apart. The PPCK was led by Kim Tu-bong, the head of the newly formed Worker’s Party of North Korea, and Kim il-Sung, a former guerilla leader and Soviet Red Army member who was put into power by the Soviet occupation. Under Tu-bong and il-Sung’s leadership, the PPCK began centralizing the remains of the PRK’s government, as well as a series of land “reforms.” These reforms stripped landowners of their land and redistributed it to poor farmers, as well as stripping traditional village leaders of their power. Alongside the land reforms, the PPCK began to purge “hostile” elements from the territory it controlled, with upwards of sixty thousand being purged before the Committee was …show more content…
When the USAMGIK was first being set up, John Reed Hodge, the American general who was assigned to command the occupation of Korea, attempted to keep the colonial government in power. This proved unwise, and the USAMGIK faced popular resistance, leading up to Daegu October Incident in 1946. The Incident, which was a mass uprising by Korean workers, PRK supporters and communists throughout the southern Korea, led to the outlawing of most leftist parties in southern Korea prior to the elections for the provisional government. The elections propelled Syngman Rhee, the former head of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in exile into power. Rhee’s provisional government, which consisted primarily of landowners, businessmen and former members of the colonial government, was unpopular and saw a number of protests and strikes, as well as high levels of corruption within the government. Rhee’s government was also faced with perpetual issues involving electricity and industrial goods, as the bulk of electric and industrial production occurred in the north, and while the northern PPCK allowed electricity and goods to continue to flow into the south, they were often shut off at random, further destabilizing the
The People’s Republic of Korea didn’t receive international recognition, instead being occupied by both the United States and Soviet Union. In the northern, Soviet controlled territory, the government of the People’s Republic of Korea was repurposed into the Provisional People’s Committee for Korea, the occupational authority of the Soviet Union in Korea, while in the South, the PRK was dissolved by the United States Army Military Government in Korea. Although both occupational governments agreed elections should be held to reunite the two regions, the policies of the occupational governments only further drove the two halves of Korea even further apart. The PPCK was led by Kim Tu-bong, the head of the newly formed Worker’s Party of North Korea, and Kim il-Sung, a former guerilla leader and Soviet Red Army member who was put into power by the Soviet occupation. Under Tu-bong and il-Sung’s leadership, the PPCK began centralizing the remains of the PRK’s government, as well as a series of land “reforms.” These reforms stripped landowners of their land and redistributed it to poor farmers, as well as stripping traditional village leaders of their power. Alongside the land reforms, the PPCK began to purge “hostile” elements from the territory it controlled, with upwards of sixty thousand being purged before the Committee was …show more content…
When the USAMGIK was first being set up, John Reed Hodge, the American general who was assigned to command the occupation of Korea, attempted to keep the colonial government in power. This proved unwise, and the USAMGIK faced popular resistance, leading up to Daegu October Incident in 1946. The Incident, which was a mass uprising by Korean workers, PRK supporters and communists throughout the southern Korea, led to the outlawing of most leftist parties in southern Korea prior to the elections for the provisional government. The elections propelled Syngman Rhee, the former head of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in exile into power. Rhee’s provisional government, which consisted primarily of landowners, businessmen and former members of the colonial government, was unpopular and saw a number of protests and strikes, as well as high levels of corruption within the government. Rhee’s government was also faced with perpetual issues involving electricity and industrial goods, as the bulk of electric and industrial production occurred in the north, and while the northern PPCK allowed electricity and goods to continue to flow into the south, they were often shut off at random, further destabilizing the