Abstract
This research focuses on the establishment and operation of the Office of Public Information (OPI) of the Syngman Rhee government. The Syngman Rhee government rigorously used the OPI to rationalize the dictatorship and to suppress the opposition party and the press critical of the government. Beyond its original task scope of public information affairs, the OPI played a crucial role in supporting the Syngman Rhee dictatorship system in various dimensions. The OPI politically repressed the Progressive Party by canceling their registration, for instance, and forcefully closed down Kyunghyang Shinmun, the press. The Syngman Rhee government's unilateral and despotic operation of the OPI caused serious concerns and criticism. The OPI mobilized all means to dispel antipathy and maintain Syngman Rhee's dictatorship, but could not overcome the anger of the public causing the April 19 Revolution in 1960. With the collapse of the Syngman Rhee government, the OPI was also disbanded, and the Democratic Party, which came to power after that, greatly reduced the size and role of the organization in charge of public information affairs.
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