정부수립과 한국근현대사 속에서 광복·건국의 연속과 단절

Continuity and Separation of the Foundation of the Republic of Korea and Liberation in 1945

This paper is motivated from the social debates which occurred in the first quarter of 2008 about the change of the title of the national holiday at 15th, August from Liberation Day to Founding Government Day. This paper examines the social and historical context of the debate through history. The matter how to identify the situation of Korea in the late 1940s requires more detailed explanations of the political topography Korea occupied at the time. So to speak, according to varied definitions of the 15th, August, some would say it should be celebrated for liberation from 35-years Japanese occupation, or other would argue for the official foundation of an independent democratic government in Korean peninsula. There is also some group of people suggesting the 1945’s government was just a half-representative government built only in the South from 3/8 parallel. According to their argument, the implication of the 15th, August National Holiday comes to have another phase. When we extend the viewpoints over the debate, it seems clear that the process of the foundation of the Republic of Korea contributes to this matter; the social debates over the identification of the 15th, August National Holiday was driven by some different political groups arguing over how the relationship between the Provisional Korean Government in China during the Japanese Occupation with the present Korean government can be established: the key is, therefore, on how to determine the relationship between two governments in the past and the present. Taking close look at the platform of the Provisional Korean Government in Korea, it seems clear that the national platform of the government was not capitalist democracy, or communist revolution. Instead, the Provisional Government followed the principles which could have complement potential flaws of both ideological lines, capitalism and socialism. Having followed socialists independent movement during the Japanese occupation, the Provisional Government decided the issue of independence should be their priority, not the ideological identification, which required cooperation of the varied political parties. Based on this, the Korean Constitution was established: politically the democratic republic was pursued, and socio-economically many elements of the socialist democracy were introduced in it. But the reality was different. The domestic and international political topography developed rather unexpectedly. As the 3/8 parallel became a division of Korean peninsula, political tension between North and South also deepened, which left out anti-communism and exclusive free market capitalism in the South without room for any varied political opinions. And some political events after division this phenomenon became internalization among Korean in South. In fact, the government which began its office in the 15th, August 1945, in South Korea was not an integrated government which represented both of South and North Korea.