On the Origins of an Independent South Korean State: Separatism Versus a Policy of Unity

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the political processes in South Korea after the liberation from Japanese colonialism in August 1945 and before the establishment of an independent Republic of Korea in August 1948. Due to the division of Korea along the 38 parallel and dislocation of the US and USSR’s occupation forces in South and North Korea respectively the US with support of UN contributed a lot to the establishment of an independent South Korean state but they didn’t prejudge the political situation completely. South Korean newspapers, documents on the American and Soviet foreign policy were used to determine a shift of the US strategy toward Korea and a political tactic of South Korean nationalists during transitional period (1945-1948). The preliminary results of the research show that the shift of the US strategy toward establishment a separatist government in South Korea coincided with the separatist tactic of South Korean right wing political groups. South Korean moderates developed a political movement for keeping national unity thus opposing to the rightists. The establishment of an independent South Korean state was a result of the joint efforts of the US and South Korean rightists and extreme right political groups.