United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea

The United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) was a body that oversaw elections in U.S.-controlled South Korea in May 1948. The commission initially was composed of nine nations, and Australia, Canada and Syria played a dissenting role, resisting US plans to hold separate elections in South Korea. That position was in line with Korean moderates Kim Ku and Kim Kyu-sik.[1]

A welcome sign by UNTCOK in Seoul in 1949

In North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union, the body was not even recognized, with the Soviets arguing that the commission would break the 1945 Moscow Accords.[2] The Soviets also argued that it violated Articles 32 and 107 of the UN Charter. Article 32 requires that both sides of the dispute be consulted, but Korean representatives from North and South Korea were never invited to address the UN. Also, Article 107 denied jurisdiction to the UN over postwar settlement issues.[3]

See also

References
  1. Cumings, Bruce (2005). Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 211–212. ISBN 0-393-32702-7.
  2. "infoKorea". Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  3. Hart-Landsberg, Martin (1998). Korea: Division, Reunification, & U.S. Foreign Policy. Monthly Review Press. p. 85.


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