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1948 South Korean Constitutional Assembly election

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Field	Value
country	South Korea
flag_year	1948
previous_election	[1946](1946-south-korean-legislative-election)
next_election	[1950](1950-south-korean-legislative-election)
turnout	95.50%
seats_for_election	All 200 seats in the Constituent National Assembly
majority_seats	101
election_date	10 May 1948
first_election	yes
party1	National Association (South Korea)
leader1	Syngman Rhee
percentage1	25.87
seats1	55
party2	Korea Democratic
leader2	Kim Seong-su
percentage2	13.51
seats2	29
color3	#000
party3	Korea Youth
leader3	Ji Cheong-cheon
percentage3	9.66
seats3	12
party4	National Youth
leader4	Lee Beom-seok
percentage4	2.23
seats4	6
color5	#c93
party5	Taehan Labour Federation
percentage5	1.57
seats5	1
color6	#663
party6	Farmers Federation
percentage6	0.77
seats6	2
party7	Other parties
leader7	–
percentage7	5.92
seats7	10
party8	Independents
leader8	–
percentage8	40.47
seats8	85
map	Republic_of_Korea_Constituency_of_The_Constituent_Assembly_election_1948_districts_result.png
map_caption	Results by constituency
title	Speaker
before_election	None
after_election	Rhee Syng-man	after_party = National Association (South Korea)

Constitutional Assembly elections were held in South Korea on 10 May 1948. They were held under the U.S. military occupation, with supervision from the 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%.

The elections were the first time in Korean history that the citizens were allowed to vote for a national legislative body. The Korean peninsula had been under Japanese colonial rule for thirty-five years (1910–1945), and for hundreds of years before that, it had been governed by the (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. The elections would lead to a constitution, roughly based on the constitution of the United States.

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.{{cite book |author-link=Robert T. Oliver

The elections were originally intended to be held throughout the Korean peninsula, but Soviet Union forces and Kim Il-sung refused the UN supervisors entry into North Korea for the elections.{{cite book

North Korea rejected a nationwide general election based on population proportion and insisted that the election be held with equal representation between the South and the North on a 1:1 basis. South Korea had twice the population of North Korea, and anti-communist sentiment was very strong in the South.

South Korea was marred with political violence in the days preceding the election, with roughly 323 people being killed in riots or police raids, and more than 10,000 arrested.

Electoral system

The right to vote was granted to all individuals aged 21 and above, regardless of gender, and those with pro-Japanese collaborationist backgrounds were deprived of their voting rights.

Conduct

Much of the Korean Left and the Nationalist right boycotted the elections. The result was that many of those running in the election were pro-Rhee candidates. In 1946, during the elections, there were suspicions that the U.S. military government had illegally intervened to support the moderates. Because of this, many Koreans actively participated in voting. At that time, many Koreans saw communists as proxies of foreign powers because they supported trusteeship. Moreover, most independence activists were nationalists rather than communists.

The elections were marred by terrorism resulting in 600 deaths between March and May. 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, and did not delay the elections.

The people of Jeju island saw the election as a something that would cause division The Jeju uprising occurred, during which tens of thousands of Jeju people were killed.

Results

By city/province

Region	Total
seats	Seats won	NARRKI	KNP	KY	NY	TLF	FF	Other	Ind.	National Association (South Korea)}};"	Korea Democratic Party}};"	Korean National Youth Association}}"	Independent}};"	Seoul	10	Gyeonggi	29	Gangwon	12	North Chungcheong	12	South Chungcheong	19	North Jeolla	22	South Jeolla	29	North Gyeongsang	33	South Gyeongsang	31	Jeju	3	Total	200	55	29	12	6	1	2	10	85
1	4	2	0	0	0	1	2
7	2	3	0	0	0	1	16
6	0	1	0	0	0	0	5
2	1	1	0	0	0	0	8
10	0	1	0	0	0	0	8
6	4	1	2	0	1	0	8
5	10	1	1	0	1	2	9
11	5	2	0	1	0	3	11
6	3	0	3	0	0	2	17
1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1

Gallery

Republic of korea trunout of the Constituent Assembly election.svg|Turnout 1948SKelection.jpg

References

[[Dieter Nohlen]], Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p428 {{ISBN. 0-19-924959-8
Kim, Ilpyong. Young, Whan Kihl. Political Change in South Korea. The Korean PWPA, Inc. Paragon House, New York. 1988. p24.
Weems, Benjamin. (1948). "Behind the Korean Election". Far Eastern Survey.
Slater, Joseph E., "Voices in the Wind: American Opposition to the Korean War" (1983). Honors Papers. 648. Pg.44
(2011). "5.10 general election". ([[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]], 한국민족문화대백과).
Slater, Joseph E., "Voices in the Wind: American Opposition to the Korean War" (1983). Honors Papers. 648. Pg.43
Slater, Joseph E., "Voices in the Wind: American Opposition to the Korean War" (1983). Honors Papers. 648. Pg.43
(2011). "1946 South Korean legislative election". ([[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]], 한국민족문화대백과).
(2011). "anti- trusteeship movement". ([[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]], 한국민족문화대백과).
Stueck, William. (14 May 2004). "The Korean War in world history". Univ Pr of Kentucky.
Allen, [https://books.google.com/books?id=O_VkCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 p. 93]
Wright, Edward Reynolds. Korean Politics in Transition. University of Washington Press. Seattle Washington. 1975. Page 19
Jung Hee, Song. (March 31, 2010). "Islanders still mourn April 3 massacre". [[Jeju weekly]].
Nohlen ''et al''., p428

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