The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body of the southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 8 September 1945 to 15 August 1948.

[2] Popular discontent stemmed from the United States' military government's support of the Japanese colonial government; then once removed, keeping the former Japanese governors on as advisors; by ignoring, censoring, and forcibly disbanding the functional and popular People's Republic of Korea (PRK); and finally by supporting United Nations elections that divided the country.

[5] The U.S. administration also refused to recognize the members of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, led by Kim Ku, who were obliged to enter the country as private citizens.

He ordered the XXIV Corps under Lt. General John R. Hodge to not only accept the surrender of Japanese forces but also to set up a military occupation of Korea.

The majority of the Council seats were given to members of the Korean Democratic Party which had been formed at the encouragement of the U.S. and was primarily made up of large landowners, wealthy businesspeople, and former officials in the colonial government.

In December 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to administer the country under the U.S.–Soviet Joint Commission, as termed by the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers.

[18][19][20] The Jeju Uprising started during the U.S. occupation period in April 1948 when left wing radicals killed 30 South Korean police officers.

[citation needed] Although the military government was hostile to leftism from the beginning, it did initially tolerate the activities of left-wing political groups, including the Korean Communist Party.

Within a short time, the military government actively disempowered and eventually banned popular organizations that were gaining support within the general public, including the People's Republic of Korea.

[citation needed] A good symbol of how the U.S. military occupation of southern Korea went overall was when Hodge and the USAMGIK created the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly in December 1946.

The conservative faction's Korea Democratic Party, supported by landlords and small-business owners, also opposed the assembly because their main leaders were excluded from it by the USAMGIK.

The North, controlled during this period by the Soviet Union, had the ability to cut off supply of electricity or fertilizer to the south, and the U.S. State Department reported it frequently did so.

A 1947 assessment by the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee found that the U.S. had mismanaged the Korean economy and failed to enact needed land and labor reforms.

[citation needed] Following the constitutional assembly and presidential elections held in May and July 1948 respectively, its first government officially proclaimed the existence of the Republic of Korea on 15 August 1948.