제1공화국의 대한민국임시정부 계승정책

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to identify the concrete facts on how the Korean government, which was established on the basis of the Constitution in 1948, recognized the ‘succession of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea’ stated in the Preamble to the Constitution and how the Korean government during the 1st Republic of Korea actually tried to implement this succession awareness. Although the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea(hereinafter Provisional Government) had representation and historical legitimacy in the history of independence movement, the members of the Provisional Government did not participate in May 10 election in 1948 for the establishment of the government. Nevertheless, the 1st Republic of Korea stated that the government was constituted based on the ‘Awareness of Provisional Government succession’ through the phrase “The Korean people established the Republic of Korea by the Kimi Samil Independence movement and succeeded the great independence spirit proclaimed to the world, now reestablishing a democratic independent state” in the Preamble to the Constitution. This Preamble was not amended despite two times of constitutional revision during the 1st Republic of Korea. Thus, there was a need to examine why the Korean government, which was established in 1948, recognized it was ‘reestablished’ by succeeding the Provisional Government established by the March 1 movement and the Preamble to the First Constitution in 1948 stated “succeeded the great independence spirit and now reestablished a democratic independent state”. The Korean government established in 1948 “was reestablished by succeeding the great independence spirit” based on the Preamble to the Constitution and as a result, Awareness of Provisional Government succession served as the central axis of the establishment of the Korean government. However, Provisional Government members did not participate in the process of government establishment, and awareness of Provisional Government succession was changed due to the situation of the Cold War, expressing limitations in implementing it politically. During the war especially in the 1950s, even the National Memorial Day, which was established for the purpose of instilling national consciousness, was changed to the purpose of strengthening the anti-communism consciousness. Therefore, war rituals were repeated, and the memories of the Provisional Government and its forces were excluded. This aspect had been consistently revealed in the symbol construction and reward policies. Instead of constructing symbols to commemorate deceased patriots, the symbol constructed to commemorate President Syngman Rhee was given priority. In addition, in the process of rewarding independence patriots, a large number of people who interacted with Syngman Rhee in the America were selected instead of the Korean independent activists. The results of the review of the above policies showed that the 1st Republic of Korea did not politically implement the will to succeed the ‘spirit of the Provisional Government’ shown through the Preamble to the Constitution. During the 1st Republic of Korea, ‘Awareness of Provisional Government succession’ stated in the Preamble to the Constitution existed as a national consensus symbolizing the historical legitimacy and justification of government establishment, in other words, a declarative meaning with no substantial effect. This ‘Awareness of Provisional Government succession’ was highlighted through the fifth constitutional amendment in 1962. Park Jung Hee, who took power through the May 16 coup, raised the spirit of the Provisional Government to the same position as May 16, the justification of government establishment through the first amendment of the Preamble to the Constitution. This ‘Awareness of Provisional Government succession’ reached the peak through the ninth amendment in 1987. As the Preamble of the Current Constitution was amended to “……We Korean people succeed the legal tradition of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea established by March 1 movement and April 19 democratic ideology against injustice,” the reality of the ‘Provisional Government’ that the Republic of Korea succeeded was promoted to the ‘legal tradition’ which includes the spirit.