The National Association was a political party in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

History

Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee (, ; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Ko ...

established the Central Committee for the Rapid Realisation of Korean Independence in October 1945, shortly after he had returned from exile. As a result of widespread opposition to the Moscow Conference, the Committee gained the backing of the leaders of the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

and several political parties, including the

Korea Democratic Party The Korea Democratic Party (, KDP) was the leading opposition party in the first years of the First Republic of Korea. It existed from 1945 to 1949, when it merged with other opposition parties. The U.S. military government has defined the ...

, the

Korean Independence Party The Korea Independence Party (; KIP) was a political party in South Korea. History The party was established in Shanghai by Kim Koo in 1928, uniting a faction of conservative members of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea ...

and a faction of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp674–675 The Communist Party faction later withdrew its support, but the others involved formed the National Association for the Rapid Realisation of Korean Independence ( ko, 대한독립촉성국민회, ''Daehan Dongnip Chokseong Gungminhoe'', NARRKI) on 8 February 1946. The new party opposed the proposed trusteeship, but when Rhee called for separate elections to be held in South Korea, President

Kim Koo Kim Gu (, ; August 29, 1876 – June 26, 1949), also known by his pen name Baekbeom (백범; ), was a Korean statesman. He was the sixth, ninth, and president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea; a leader of the Korean indepen ...

and others left the party. In the 1948 elections it won 55 of the 200 seats, emerging as the largest party.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p428 The party was subsequently renamed the "National Association". In the 1950 elections it was reduced to 14 seats, finishing third behind the Democratic Nationalist Party and the

Korea Nationalist Party The Korea Nationalist Party (; KNP) was a political party in South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with ...

. In 1951 Rhee established the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. However, the National Association remained extant until the end of his presidency in 1960. It won three seats in the 1954 elections, but lost parliamentary representation in the 1958 elections.

Election results

President

Vice-President

Constitutional Assembly

House of Representatives

References

{{Authority control Defunct political parties in South Korea 1946 establishments in South Korea Conservative parties in South Korea Far-right politics in South Korea Political parties established in 1946 Right-wing parties in Asia