Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
The Korean Provisional Government (KPG), formally the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (Korean: 대한민국 임시정부), was a Korean government in exile based in China during the Japanese occupation of Korea.
Provisional Government
of the Republic of Korea대한민국 임시정부
of the Republic of Korea
Presidential republic
(1919–1925)
Parliamentary republic
(1925–1940)
Semi-presidential republic
(1940–1945)
1 March 1919
11 April 1919
11 September 1919
9 December 1941
27 November 1943
15 August 1945
8 September 1945
Daehanmin(-)guk Imsijeongbu
Taehanmin'guk Imsijŏngbu
The KPG was founded in Shanghai on 11 April 1919. A provisional constitution providing for a democratic republic named the "Republic of Korea" was enacted. It introduced a presidential system and three branches (legislative, administrative and judicial) of government. The KPG inherited the territory of the former Korean Empire. The Korean resistance movement actively supported the independence movement under the provisional government, and received economic and military support from the Kuomintang, the Soviet Union, and France.[2][3][4][5][6] After 1932, the KPG moved to a number of different cities and eventually settled in Chongqing until the end of World War II in 1945. Several of the buildings used as the headquarters of the KPG in Shanghai and Chongqing are now preserved as museums.[7]
After the surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945, the provisional government came to an end.[1][8] Its members returned to Korea, where they put together their own political organizations under the American military administration and competed for power in what would become South Korea.[1] On 15 August 1948, Syngman Rhee, who had been the first president of the Provisional Government, became the first President of the Republic of Korea.
The current South Korean government claims through the 1987-amended constitution of South Korea that there is continuity between the KPG and the current South Korean state, though this has been disputed by scholars and historians.
Legacy[edit]
On 11 April 2019, the Government of South Korea celebrated the 100th anniversary of the KPG in Yeouido Park. As South Korean President Moon Jae-in was then the United States, the ceremony was attended by Prime Minister of South Korea Lee Nak-yon, Speaker of the National Assembly Moon Hee-sang, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Park Han-ki. Also in attendance were the surviving members of the KPG and/or their family, as part of the Liberation Association. The "Provisional Charter of the Republic of Korea" was read during the ceremony.[65][66][67][68] South Korean actor Kang Ha-neul also read a narrative piece themed around the "Dream of the KPG". Member of the K-pop group Shinee and South Korean actor Onew performed the military musical titled "Shinheung Military Academy".[69][70][71][72]
No. 50, Ruijin No. 2 Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, the birthplace of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
Photo memorializing the establishment of the Provisional Government, 1919
Site of the Provisional Government in Huangpu District, Shanghai
Site of the Provisional Government in Hangzhou
Taegeukgi in the Provisional Government headquarters in Shanghai
Office of Kim Ku in the Provisional Government headquarters in Shanghai
Migration map of the Provisional Government
