History of Korea

Rhee Syngman (1948-1960) A new nation is born named the Republic of Korea but is Dr. Rhee's prescription too strong for the vulnerable infant of a nation	Yun Boseon (1960-1962)
Park Chunghee (1962-1979) The major general appoints himself stewardship of the Third Republic after Dr. Rhee is forced to retire. Was Park Chunghee's paternistic policies necessary for modernization during the Republic's formative years?	Choe Kyuha (1979-1980) After President Park's assasination, acting president Choe Kyuha is inaugurated as the tenth president. Was he ever fully in charge, and did the legacy of Park continue?
Chun Doowhan (1980-1988) Second military coup in the short life of ROK is administered by Lt. Gen. Chun Doowhan. His dictatorship proves fatal for many citizen and student demonstrators and the future as a democratic nation appears bleak.	Roh Taewoo (1988-1993) Pres. Chun steps down in the face of growing pressure and dissention, making way for his once cohort and friend to continue in his footstep. However, the newly-elected Roh decides to implement his own style of governing much to the chagrin of Chun.
Kim Youngsam (1993-1998) The seventh Republic welcomes in the latest sworn-in president who promises magnificent but not extravagant reign. After thirty-two years, there is an indication that this is the "first truly civilized" government.	Kim DaeJoong (1998- ) President Kim Dae-jung sworn in as the 15th president of Korea on February 25, 1998 setting forth 'the government of the people'. It was through the first peaceful transfer of power for the first time since the establishment of the Republic of Korea.

On August 15, 1948, the establishment of the Government of the Republic of Korea was declared. That meant the Korean people finally had their own sovereign state named the Republic of Korea, after 38 years since the nation then called Imperial Korea lost its sovereignty by force to the Japanese imperialists, and after 3 years since it restored independence on August 15, 1945. The independence on August 15, 1945 was a hard-won fruit of our strenuous struggle for independence against the Imperial Japan, although it could be regarded as a by-product of the Japanese defeat in the Pacific War with the Allied Force from a short-term point view. For one thing, the Independence Movement in 1919 with all walks of Korean people participating was the most important movement for the independence where the establishment of a modern sovereign state based on a democratic republican system was proclaimed as the main objective.

The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, the nation's first modern democratic government in history, was established in Shanghai, China on April 13, 1919 encouraged by the 1919 Independence Movement. The Provisional Government aimed for systematic separation of the governmental power among the three branches i.e. the National Assembly(the legislative branch), the State Council (the administrative branch) and the Judiciary, and had a hybrid governmental organization of parliamentary cabinet system with the presidential system. It can be said that the Provisional Government was highly significant historically in that it laid a fundamental basis for later establishment of the Republic of Korea.

The Korean people greeted the liberation on August 15, 1945 as Imperial Japan surrendered unconditionally in the Pacific War, bringing a chance to establish their own nation on their own. Nonetheless, the road to an independent nation was not so smooth. In the course of settlement of post- war problems, to begin with, the U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed, in the capacity of victorious nations, to occupy each half of the Korean peninsular with the 38th parallel as border for military rule by their army for the time being. And the next decision about the future of Korea was made in December 1945 at the meeting in Moscow among the foreign secretaries of the U.S., U.K. and the Soviet Union to the effect that Korea should be placed under a four-nation trusteeship for up to 5 years. The series of decisions by the international community ran counter to what Korean people had dreamt of, i.e. immediate independence without outside interference.

The idea of an independent nation of Korean people was materialized when the agenda of Korea was transferred to the jurisdiction of the U.N. after the U.S. - the Soviet Union joint committee's meeting on two occasions failed to reach an agreement. The U.N. passed a resolution to establish an independent nation through a general election in proportion to the population in the South and the North of the peninsula under the supervision of the U.N. Ad Hoc Committee for Korea. The Soviet Union and North Korea refused to accept the resolution, and accordingly the U.N. General Assembly passed another resolution to hold a general election in South Korea alone.

Pursuant to the resolution, a general election was held on May 10, 1948 to choose the members of the Constituent National Assembly. 7,840,871 people, equivalent to 96.4 per cent of the whole voters, were placed in the voter registration list and 95 per cent of them participated in the election. The right to vote was given to every person aged 21 or more. Eligibility for election was a Korean citizen aged 25 or more. The election was held according to the democratic principles of universal, equal, secret and direct vote. Two hundred National Assembly members were elected in 200 electoral districts. The Constituent National Assembly was opened on May 31, 1948 for the first time in history. The new name of the country was decided on through a series of discussion in the Constituent National Assembly on July 1, 1948. The first Constitution was passed on July 12 and proclaimed on July 17 the same year. The first Constitution proclaimed that the Republic of Korea had duly inherited the spirit of both the 1919 Independence Movement and the foundation of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and upheld the goal of realizing a government with its power distributed among the three branches, the National Assembly, the Administration and the Judiciary as well as local autonomy. It also adopted a governmental structure, combining the parliamentary cabinet system with the presidential system.

The Constituent National Assembly elected Syngman Rhee President and Lee, Shi-young Vice President on July 20. On August 2, the Korean Government was formed with the cabinet consisting of Prime Minister, Ministers of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, Education, Agriculture, Commerce & Industry, Health, Communications and Minister without portfolio. On August 4, Shin, Ik- hee was elected the Speaker of the National Assembly. On August Kim, Byung-no was appointed the Chief Justice and was confirmed by the National Assembly. And finally on August 15, the establishment of the Government of the Republic of Korea was declared all over the world. The establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea was an achievement of both the independence movement of the people and also the efforts to set up a modern nation based on democratic principles, putting an end to the long feudal system. That is to say, the Republic of Korea was founded, ideologically inheriting the 1919 Independence Movement whose goal was establishment of a modern, independent nation and the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea which was a systematic embodiment of the 1919 Movement. Continuous independence fight against the Japanese colonial rule and the people's zeal for restoration of the national sovereignty formed a root for establishment of the Republic of Korea. The general election on May 10, 1948 was meaningful in that it was the first democratic election in the nation's history, and the first Constitution based on the principle of democracy provided the foundation on which the democratic regime of the nation can build up.