1946년경 남한 주민의 사회 의식 = Public Opinions in South Korea circa 1946

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper intends to analyze public opinion trends in South Korea circa 1946. 1946 was the most critical year in the history of the U. S. occupation of South Korea, 1945~1948 l11e United States tried to install a multinational trusteeship in Korea, however, only to fail. 1946 was also a year of extreme political instability and economic crisis, which ultimately culminated in the Harvest Uprising. It was in this historical context that the U. S. forces in Korea carried out an intensive public opinion survey in the spring and summer of 1946. And now the raw data are available. Regarding the issue of land reform, ordinary people, including the peasant, seems rather conservative. They did not demand a revolutionary change in land ownership pattern. Koreans in the post-colonial moment preferred a social (ist) mode of industrial development. Instead of a pure-type capitalism, they felt that a strong intervention by the state was necessary. They were also critical of the politicized labor movement at that time. Both the trusteeship plan and the division of Korea were hardly acceptable to Korean people. And the U. S. forces in Korea failed to appeal to the hearts of the Korean mass. Koreans were highly critical of the United States, even though it is difficult to conclude that they were anti-American. finally, the ideological terrain at that moment was predominantly a socialism. The socialism in people``s mind was, however, not necessarily identical with the Marx-Leninism.