“The Republic of Korea shall be a democratic republic. The sovereignty of the Republic of Korea shall reside in the people and all state authority shall emanate from the people.”
This is the first article of the Republic of Korea constitution, and the lyrics of a song “Article 1 of the Constitution” which citizens sang at the candlelight vigil protesting the United States beef imports this June and July. Everybody knows the words to the song, but few know who wrote it or how it became the Constitution of Korea. Moreover, just a few KU students know who drafted the Constitution Dr. Yoo Jin-oh, a former president of KU. This summer, the KU Museum held a special exhibition called “Painting the World with the Constitutional Law” and presented some cultural treasures related to the enactment of the Constitution.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Korea, and it also means the 60th anniversary of the enactment of the constitution. The exhibition commemorates the enactment, and is in memory of Dr. Yoo Jin-oh. Dr. Yoo was a novelist, a politician, and the only specialist in public law in his time. After the independence of Korea, he joined the codification committee under the interim government of South Korea and made a draft of the constitution. At the constitutional assembly, his draft was chosen as a main proposition for the constitution in 1948. Regardless of some changes made to the articles mainly regarding organization of the government and assembly, his draft became the corner stone of the Republic of Korea.
The most interesting articles at the exhibition are the four different proposals for the first constitution. First of all, the Military Government Office of the United States put forth a proposal for the constitution to systemize the trusteeship by the U.S. Its original copy does not exist now, so the article in the exhibition is a handwritten copy by Dr. Yoo, and has been placed on exhibition for the first time ever. The second one is a proposal suggested by left-wing activists. The Democracy National Front wrote it for the first United States- the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Joint Commission, and this proposal is also exhibited for the first time. The third proposal is suggested by the middle-of-the-roaders. It was affected by the constitution of the Provisional Government, so it intends to create the equalized society. According to this proposal, Korea is a democratic republic adopting the presidential system. The last one, written by Dr. Yoo, became the foundation of the current constitution. It named the country Chosun and adopted the parliamentary cabinet system and planned economy. The original copy of the first constitution does not exist, so it is a meaningful document in understanding the basic structure of the current constitution.
In addition to the interesting articles, the exhibition introduces the history of the constitution and the early Republic of Korea by various means. On the one side of the wall, there is a huge chronological table of the constitutional history. Reference materials such as pictures and caricatures are presented with the dates of the important events. Also, to help understand the historical figure of those days, caricatures of politicians at that time, such as Rhee Syngman and Cho So-ang are drawn on a bristol board. For example, Rhee Syngman, who advocated the presidential system says, “If the assembly does not adopt the presidential system, I will not participate in the government and lead a national movement in the private sector. The president should not be an old man in a back room under the parliamentary cabinet system”.
The exhibition “Painting the World with the Constitutional Law” is meaningful because of some of the proposals and drafts that are exhibited for the first time. Most of all, the draft handwritten by Dr. Yoo Jin-oh allows viewers to look back upon the origin of the constitution, feel how important it is and understand what democracy means. However, it is not completely academic or hard for the public to approach. Detailed and well-explained information on the background of the constitution and historical facts are displayed at the exhibition, so not only historians or law experts, but also regular people can understand the historical meaning of the constitution and the modern history of Republic of Korea. For those interested in knowing how the basic structure of Republic of Korea was created, the exhibition would be an instructive journey to the past.
The exhibition ran for about a month, and finishing on August 15. To contact the museum or to get further information, call 02-3290-2772.
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crimson2315@korea.ac.kr
