1948 South Korean Constitutional Assembly election

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1948 South Korean Constitutional Assembly election
South Korea
← 1946 10 May 1948 1950 →

All 200 seats in the Constituent National Assembly
101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout95.50%
Party Leader % Seats
National Association Syngman Rhee 25.87 55
Korea Democratic Kim Seong-su 13.51 29
Korea Youth Ji Cheong-cheon 9.66 12
National Youth Lee Beom-seok 2.23 6
Taehan Labour Federation 1.57 1
Farmers Federation 0.77 2
Other parties
5.92 10
Independents 40.47 85
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by constituency
Voting in the election

Constitutional Assembly elections were held in

United Nations, and resulted in a victory for the National Association for the Rapid Realisation of Korean Independence, which won 55 of the 200 seats, although 85 were held by independents. Voter turnout was 95%.[1]

The elections were the first time in Korean history that the citizens were allowed to vote for a national legislative body.

Yi Dynasty
) Korean royal family and scholarly officials.

Background

The elections were a milestone in Korean political history. The Korean people had not previously experienced democracy under written constitutional rule; the very foundation of South Korean politics were still under construction and were unstable.[3] The elections would lead to a constitution, roughly based on the constitution of the United States, and establish democracy in South Korea.[3]

In 1948 the subject of an election of any kind in South Korea was an issue worldwide. On 8 and 9 March 1948, UN delegates from Australia, Canada, India, and Syria expressed their doubts and some complete rejection of the elections on 10 May 1948 for South Korea.

Kim Koo and Kim Kyu-sik, denounced the election as it would dash the hopes of reunification with North Korea.[4] However, a vote in the South Korean Interim Legislature on 10 March ruled 40 to 0 in favor of holding the election.[4]

The elections were originally intended to be held throughout the

constitutional convention, which then voted on the constitution and re-convened as the national legislature to elect the president. At the proceedings, they left one hundred seats open in the Constituent National Assembly for North Koreans to vote on when they were able.[6]

Electoral system

The election system corresponded to the same limited system that had been established under the Japanese. In larger towns, only landowners and taxpayers could vote, while in small towns, elders voted on behalf of everyone else.[8][9]

Conduct

The elections were marred by terrorism resulting in 600 deaths between March and May.[10] In April, North Korea, supposedly in an effort to delay the elections, sponsored a unity conference in Pyongyang to promote reunification of the two Koreas, which both Kim Koo and Kim Kyu-sik attended. The conference was inconclusive towards any upcoming reunification,[clarification needed] and did not delay the elections.[11]

The people of

flag of United Nations to separate a southern regime and to employ its first president Syngman Rhee,[12][2] The Jeju uprising occurred, during which tens of thousands of Jeju people were killed.[12]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
NARRKI1,755,54325.8755
Korea Democratic Party916,32213.5129
Korea Youth Party655,6539.6612
National Youth Party151,0432.236
Taehan Labour Federation106,6291.571
Farmers Federation52,5120.772
Other parties401,5545.9210
Independents2,745,48340.4785
Total6,784,739100.00200
Valid votes7,216,94296.38
Invalid/blank votes270,7073.62
Total votes7,487,649100.00
Registered voters/turnout7,840,87195.50
Source: Nohlen et al.[a]
  1. ^ The official results are inconsistent, with party totals around 400,000 lower than the reported number of valid votes.[13]

By city/province

Region Total
seats
Seats won
NARRKI KNP KY NY TLF FF Other Ind.
Seoul 10 1 4 2 0 0 0 1 2
Gyeonggi
29 7 2 3 0 0 0 1 16
Gangwon
12 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 5
North Chungcheong
12 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 8
South Chungcheong
19 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 8
North Jeolla
22 6 4 1 2 0 1 0 8
South Jeolla
29 5 10 1 1 0 1 2 9
North Gyeongsang
33 11 5 2 0 1 0 3 11
South Gyeongsang
31 6 3 0 3 0 0 2 17
Jeju 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Total 200 55 29 12 6 1 2 10 85

Gallery

  • Turnout
    Turnout

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Wright, Edward Reynolds. Korean Politics in Transition. University of Washington Press. Seattle Washington. 1975. Page 19
  2. ^ a b Kim, Ilpyong. Young, Whan Kihl. Political Change in South Korea. The Korean PWPA, Inc. Paragon House, New York. 1988. p24.
  3. ^
    OCLC 568651495
    .
  4. .
  5. ^ .
  6. .
  7. ^ Cumings, Bruce (2010). The Korean War: A History. p. 113.
  8. .
  9. .
  10. ^ Allen, p. 93
  11. ^ a b Jung Hee, Song (March 31, 2010). "Islanders still mourn April 3 massacre". Jeju weekly. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  12. ^ Nohlen et al., p428

External links