Before United States forces had landed in Korea in September 1945, the Koreans had established self-governing bodies, or people‘s committees. The leaders of these committees had organized the Central People‘s Committee, which proclaimed the establishment of the „Korean People‘s Republic“ on September 6, 1945. Exiles, abroad, mainly in China, had organized the „Korean Provisional Government“ in Shanghai as early as 1919 and had sustained a skeletal organization in other parts of China until 1945.

The United States recognized neither the republic nor the provisional government. T