1948 North Korean parliamentary election

1948 North Korean parliamentary election
All 572 seats in the Supreme People's Assembly
	Elected Premier ; Kim Il Sung; Fatherland Front

Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 25 August 1948 to elect the members of the 1st Supreme People's Assembly.^[1] Organised by the People's Committee of North Korea, the elections saw 572 deputies elected, of which 212 were from North Korea and 360 from South Korea.

Background

Voters on the way to polling stations

United Nations-sponsored elections for the Constitutional Assembly in US-occupied South Korea were held on 10 May 1948 under supervision of UNTCOK.

Elections in the Soviet-occupied North were announced at the fifth session of the People's Assembly of North Korea on 9 July 1948 as part of the preparations for the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. At the second conference of leaders of political parties and social organizations from North and South Korea held from 29 June to 5 July, it was decided that the elections should also be held in South Korea. A decision of the Election Guidance Committee determined that the 360 South Korean deputies would be elected indirectly, with South Korean voters electing people's delegates who would subsequently elect the South Korean deputies.^[2]

In North Korea, registration of candidates took place until 5 August 1948, with 228 candidates registered in 212 electoral districts.^[3] Among the 228 candidates were 212 candidates nominated by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea and 16 other candidates recommended by voters at meetings.^[3] The candidates from the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea consisted of 102 candidates from the Workers' Party of North Korea (one of precursor of the WPK), 35 candidates from the Democratic Party, 35 candidates from the Chondoist Chongu Party and 40 independent candidates.^[4] There were 34 women among the 228 candidates.^[3]

Results


Party or alliance			Seats
	Fatherland Front	Workers' Party of North Korea	157
		Chondoist Chongu Party	35
		Korean Democratic Party	35
		Laboring People's Party	20
		People's Republic Party	20
		Democratic Independent Party	20
		Other parties	171
		Independents	114
Total			572

Source: Nohlen et al.,^[5] Yonhap News Agency^[6]

North Korea


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats
	Fatherland Front	Workers' Party of North Korea	4,456,621	98.49	102
		Chondoist Chongu Party			35
		Korean Democratic Party			35
		Independents			40
	Other candidates		68,341	1.51	0
Total			4,524,962	100.00	212

Registered voters/turnout			4,526,065	–
Source: Korean History Database, Monthly Chosun^[4]

South Korea

The North Korean government claimed that 78% of eligible voters in South Korea took part in the election of 1,080 people's delegates.^[2] The South Korean people's delegates subsequently met on 21–26 August in Northern Haeju, with 1,002 of the 1,080 elected representatives participating. They elected 360 deputies to the Supreme People's Assembly on the basis of one deputy per 50,000 South Koreans.^[2]

Election of representatives


Bloc and party			Votes	%	Seats
	Left-wing	Workers' Party of South Korea			137
		National Farmers League			70
		People's Republic Party			68
		Korean Federation of Trade Unions			66
		Democratic Independent Party			53
		Democratic Women's League			30
		League of Cultural Organizations			24
		Democratic Patriotic Youth League			23
		National Confucian League			18
		National Democratic Christian League			18
	Center	Laboring People's Party			62
		Korean Social Democratic Party			43
		Democratic Korean Independence Party			35
		New Progressive Party			31
		National Independence Federation			30
		People's Alliance			20
	Right-wing	Industrious Masses Party			19
		Chondoist Chongu Party			7
		Healthy People's Society			7
		Korean Independence Party			7
		National Buddhist Federation			7
		Buddhist Youth Association			6
		Korean Farmers Party			6
		National Assembly of Village Representatives			6
		National Youth Association			6
		Patriotic Youth Association			6
		Federation of Objectors to Student Conscription			4
		Democratic Independent Women's League			2
	Independents				269
Total					1,080

Total votes			6,782,407	–
Registered voters/turnout			8,681,746	78.12
Source: Korean History Database, The Academy of Korean Studies

Election of South Korean deputies


Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Fatherland Front			360
Total				360

Total votes		1,002	–
Registered voters/turnout		1,080	92.78
Source: Korean History Database

Elected members

The following were elected as members of parliament:^[7]

References

^ Malkasian, Carter (2001). The Korean War 1950-1953. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-57958-364-4. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c 해설목록. 한국사데이터베이스 (in Korean). Retrieved 5 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c 조선최고인민회의 선거 결과 보고. Academy of Korean Studies (in Korean). Retrieved 25 March 2020.
^ ^a ^b 南北共産主義者들의 도전 속에서. Monthly Chosun (in Korean). Retrieved 25 March 2020.
^ Nohlen, Dieter; Grotz, Florian; Hartmann, Christof, eds. (2001). Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook. Vol. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924959-8.
^ North Korea Handbook. Seoul: Yonhap News Agency. 2003. p. 124. ISBN 0765610043.
^ Suh, Dae-Sook (1981). Korean Communism, 1945–1980: A Reference Guide to the Political System. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii. pp. 393–400. ISBN 978-0-8248-0740-5.