Book introduction

　This book is a history of Korean politics during the Syngman Rhee administration(1948-1960), the first Korean government. In response to the prevailing theory in Korea that the Syngman Rhee administration is an anti-democratic dictatorship, the government was intended to clarify the reality of the administration using the first data. Based on the above awareness of the problem, this book discusses ➀ Syngman Rhee and the opposition party’s democratic ideas, 2 the actual development process of politics based on differences in perception between the two, and 3 the achievements and tasks left by the Syngman Rhee administration in later Korean politics.
　First, ➀it has been revealed that Syngman Rhee and the opposition party have different views on the will of the people and freedom. Next,2 because of the difference in ➀ perception, Syngman Rhee insisted on a presidential system and the opposition party insisted on a cabinet system, revealing that they were always at odds in the 1950s. Finally,3 it was concluded that the Syngman Rhee administration had achieved greater opportunities for people to participate in politics compared to the previous era, but left the limitation of restricting people’s freedom as before, and continued to be a task for Korea after democratization in 1988.