Korean History › Japanese rule › March 1st Movement
Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
April 1919 (Shanghai) – 1948; formed the Korean Liberation Army 1940· Empire, kingdom or state· Rulers & states
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
A Korean government-in-exile founded in Shanghai in April 1919 that kept the claim to Korean statehood alive until 1945.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
After the March 1st Movement, exiles set up a government (대한민국 임시정부) under a republican charter dated April 11, 1919, and merged rival bodies into it that September, with Syngman Rhee as president. Splits among Rhee, Ahn Chang-ho, socialists and others weakened it, and its assembly impeached Rhee in 1925. Japanese pressure forced moves through Chinese cities to Chongqing in 1940. There Kim Gu's government formed the Korean Liberation Army and declared war on Japan in December 1941. No major Allied power formally recognized it.
Why it matters
It established the name Daehan Minguk (Republic of Korea) and the idea of a democratic republic; South Korea's constitution claims descent from it.
How we know
Its charters, assembly and cabinet records, its newspaper Dongnip Sinmun, Chinese Nationalist government files, Allied diplomatic papers, and surviving buildings in Shanghai and Chongqing, now museums.
Still debated
How far it represented Koreans at home is debated, as is whether it counts as a true government, since no major Allied power recognized it.
Inside this (1)
Connections (4)
▸March 1st Movement led to the founding of Provisional Government of the Republic of KoreaWell documented
The connection
The movement showed broad support for independence and a republic, and exiles moved quickly to give it a government. Rival bodies formed in Vladivostok, Shanghai and Seoul in spring 1919 and merged that September in Shanghai. The Provisional Government's charter opened by invoking the March uprising.
When and how
Shanghai, April 10–11, 1919, with a provisional assembly; unified with the Vladivostok and Seoul (Hanseong) groups in September 1919.
How we know
The April 1919 Provisional Charter and its preamble, assembly records, and the Dongnip Sinmun newspaper published from August 1919.
Debates and open questions
Which of the three 1919 governments had the strongest claim, and how much support the Shanghai government really had inside Korea, are debated.
▸Kim Gu led Provisional Government of the Republic of KoreaWell documented
The connection
Kim Gu began as the government's police chief in Shanghai in 1919. As factions drifted away in the 1920s, he held it together and became its head in 1926. After Yun Bong-gil's 1932 bombing he won Chinese Nationalist support, and from 1940 he served as chairman in Chongqing and created the Korean Liberation Army.
When and how
Shanghai from 1919, then Hangzhou, Changsha and other Chinese cities, and Chongqing from 1940 until he flew home in November 1945.
How we know
Provisional Government cabinet records, Kim Gu's autobiography Baekbeom Ilji, and Chinese Nationalist archives on aid to the government.
Debates and open questions
Critics then and now say his leadership leaned on a narrow faction; how far he could have united the rival exile groups is debated.
▸Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea is cited in the constitution of Republic of Korea (South Korea)Well documented
The connection
The Republic of Korea took its name, Daehan Minguk, and the idea of a democratic republic from the Provisional Government. The 1948 constitution's preamble invoked the 1919 independence movement, and the current 1987 constitution says the nation upholds the 'Provisional Republic of Korea Government born of the March First Independence Movement'.
When and how
Seoul; the first constitution was promulgated July 17, 1948, and the current preamble dates from the October 1987 revision.
How we know
The texts of the 1948 and 1987 constitutions, and 1948 National Assembly debates on naming the state.
Debates and open questions
This link fuels the dispute over whether South Korea was founded in 1919 or 1948, which divides progressives and conservatives.
▸Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea returned home only after Liberation of Korea (Gwangbokjeol)Well documented
The connection
Japan's sudden surrender came before the Chongqing government's Liberation Army could fight inside Korea. The US refused to recognize it as a government, so Kim Gu and his ministers flew home only in November and December 1945, and only as private individuals.
When and how
Chongqing to Seoul, November 23 and December 2, 1945, on US military aircraft.
How we know
US military government records, Provisional Government documents, and Kim Gu's own account in Baekbeom Ilji.
Debates and open questions
Whether recognizing the exile government would have produced a more unified Korea, or simply deepened factional fights, is a lasting counterfactual.