남북한의 국가형성과정에 있어서 토지문제

Issues regarding land are important research subjects in social science. The reason lies in the fact that they are keys to the power base of rulers and to the justification of political power. Land issues were very important factors as well in the course that South and North Koreas formed the nations after the liberation from Japan. As American military government declared that it was the sole legitimate ruling body in South Korea when it began to occupy South Korea after the liberation. In the meantime, the rightists and leftists were fiercely opposed to each other. Finally, the rightists weakened the power of leftists by maintaining close relationships with the American military government, resulting in the single government established by Lee Seung-man-led rightists. In the North Korean region, Soviet military government that was in occupation of it promoted Sovietization. To that end, the military government weakened the power of nationalists and established a communist party by the leftists. During the initial stage of nation formation in South Korea, the American military government tried to solve land problems based on its statutes through Shinhan Public Corporation, but encountered strong resistance from the General Federation of National Peasants Unions. As such, the military government attempted an agrarian reform starting from 1947, but the reform was not realized due to the strong opposition from the rightists and lukewarm attitude of the government. In contrast, in the course of national formation it is evaluated that North Korea was successful in land reform, and it centralized and consolidated power based on socialist reform.