5.10 총선거와 대한민국 정부 수립 | 초대 대통령 이승만 당선 [설민석의 한국통사 EP.58] | 매주 월요일 공개

Summary

The episode examines the establishment of separate governments in South and North Korea in 1948, the failure to punish collaborators from the Japanese colonial period, and the painful legacy of Korea’s division.

Kim Gu’s boycott of the May 10 election

Kim Gu and members of the provisional-government faction opposed holding an election only in South Korea. They hoped that boycotting the election would prevent the creation of a separate southern government. The election went ahead despite their opposition, and Kim Gu’s faction failed to win seats in the new assembly.

The election and the Jeju unrest

The narrator links opposition to a separate southern government with the Jeju April 3 Incident, describing socialist forces as opposing both the election and the separate-government plan. Violence and disruption prevented voting in two constituencies, so the first National Assembly had 198 members rather than 200. This is the narrator’s account of the events.

The Constitution and South Korea’s first president

The National Assembly drafted and adopted the Constitution on July 17, 1948, a date now observed as Constitution Day. On July 20, assembly members elected Syngman Rhee president. The narrator describes this as an indirect election, in which representatives elect the president on behalf of the public, unlike a direct election in which citizens vote for the president themselves.

The Republic of Korea was established on August 15, 1948, three years after Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule.

Korea’s division

North Korea established the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on September 9, 1948, with Kim Il-sung as premier and Park Heon-young as deputy premier. The episode presents the formation of the two governments as the beginning of Korea’s full political division. It emphasizes that South Korea’s founding carries both achievement and tragedy.

The failure to punish collaborators

The narrator contrasts North Korea’s harsh treatment of alleged collaborators with the U.S. military government’s decision in the South to retain some former colonial-era officials. He says this decision was motivated by concerns about maintaining administration and public order, and argues that some of these figures later aligned with the United States and served in the Syngman Rhee government.

The South Korean government initially pursued the punishment of anti-national activities through a special committee. According to the narrator, Rhee opposed the effort when investigations reached people close to his administration. Some committee members were then accused of colluding with North Korea and arrested. The effort ultimately collapsed, and a one-year statute of limitations meant punishment could no longer proceed. The episode concludes that South Korea was left with the shame of failing to punish even one pro-Japanese collaborator.

The presenter’s broader point is that the difficult aspects of the Republic’s founding should be acknowledged rather than hidden, leaving viewers to consider their significance.

Speakers and sources featured

• Seol Min-seok — presenter and narrator.
• The subtitles include a brief student-style question-and-answer exchange, but do not clearly identify a separate speaker. No other named source is identifiable.