Noriyo Isozaki

Abstract This chapter analyzes how South Korea, despite adopting democratic institutions at independence in 1948, quickly transitioned into a personal dictatorship under President Syngman Rhee. After liberation from Japanese colonial rule and three years under US military occupation, a democratic system was introduced, but the process of decolonization empowered charismatic independence activists over institutional actors. Rhee, a long-exiled nationalist leader, used mass mobilization and anti-trusteeship rhetoric to gain popular legitimacy. Although initially constrained by democratic institutions and lacking strong party backing, he manipulated constitutional amendments, suppressed opposition, and exploited Cold War anti-communism to consolidate power. Rhee’s dictatorship—justified through elections and nationalism—was enabled by weak party institutionalization and inherited colonial administrative structures. The regime collapsed in 1960 following widespread protests against election fraud. The chapter argues that South Korea’s first political regime deviated from democratic paths not due to Cold War imposition, but through a homegrown personalist trajectory rooted in the politics of decolonization and weak democratic foundations.