People's Republic of Korea

People's Republic of Korea 조선인민공화국 (Korean) Chosŏn Inmin Konghwaguk (MR)
1945–1946
Flag of the Preparatory People's Committees Emblem
Motto: 자주독립국가 Chaju tongnip kukka "Self-reliant and independent state"
Anthem: 애국가 Aegukka "The Patriotic Song"
Capital and largest city	Seoul
Common languages	Korean
Government	Democratic republic under a provisional government
President
• 1945–1946	Syngman Rhee[1][2] (nominal)
Chairman of the National People's Representative Conference
• 1945	Lyuh Woon-hyung
Historical era	Cold War
• Surrender of Japan	15 August 1945
• Soviet forces stationed in Pyongyang	24 August 1945
• PRK established	6 September 1945
• American forces stationed in Seoul	9 September 1945
• PRK dissolved in the South	12 December 1945
• Committees co-opted in the North	8 February 1946
Currency	Korean won
Preceded by Succeeded by Chōsen 1945: United States Army Military Government in Korea Soviet Civil Administration 1946: Provisional People's Committee of North Korea
Today part of	North Korea South Korea

The People's Republic of Korea (PRK; Korean: 조선인민공화국) was a short-lived provisional government that was organized at the time of the surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of World War II. It was proclaimed on 6 September 1945, as Korea was being divided into two occupation zones, with the Soviet Union occupying the north and the United States occupying the south. Based on a network of people's committees, it presented a program of democratization of society and the economy.

In the south, the US military government declared the PRK to be illegitimate on 12 December 1945. In the north, under the auspice of the Soviet military government, the Korean Worker's Party led by Kim Il-sung took over the PRK by incorporating them into the political structure of the emerging Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and by exerting an ever-increasing direct influence on the agenda and structure of other smaller political parties (such as the KDP and the DIP).^[3][4]