The Workers Party of South Korea (abbreviated as 남로당 Namrodang) was a communist party

Communist party

A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...

 in South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 from 1946 to 1949. It was founded on November 23, 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of South Korea, New People's Party of South Korea

New People's Party (Korea)

New People's Party was a communist party in Korea. It was formed on 16 February 1946 by Korean Communists who had been exiled in China. New People's Party had more moderate positions in some issues compared with the Communist Party of North Korea, therefore it was rather popular at wide range of...

 and a fraction of the People's Party of Korea

People's Party of Korea

People's Party of Korea was a moderate left-wing political party created on November 12, 1945 by Lyuh Woon-Hyung. The People's Party did not claim to exclusively represent a particular class, instead it tried to represent the entire Korean people....

 (the so-called 'forty-eighters'). It was led by Pak Hon-yong

Pak Hon-yong

Pak Hon-yong was a Korean independence activist, politician, philosopher and Communist activist. One of the main leaders of the Korean communist movement during Japan's colonial rule . his nickname was Ijung.During the Japanese occupation of Korea, he tried to organize the Korean Communist Party...

.

The party was outlawed by the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 occupation authorities, but the party organized a network of clandestine cells and was able to obtain a considerable following. It had around 360 000 party members.http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0305-7410(196304%2F06)14%3C3%3APINKPW%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N In 1947 the party initiated armed guerrilla struggle. As the persecution of party intensified, large sections of the party leadership moved to Pyongyang

Pyongyang

Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...

.

The party was opposed to the formation of a South Korean state. In February-March 1948 it instigated general strike

General strike

A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...

s in opposition to the plans to create a separate South Korean state. On April 3, 1948 the party led a popular uprising on Jeju island, against the unilateral declaration of the foundation of the Republic of Korea. In the suppression of the revolt, thousands of islanders were killed (see Jeju massacre

Jeju massacre

The Jeju Uprising was a revolt on Jeju island off the south coast of the Korean Peninsula, beginning on April 3, 1948. Between 14,000 and 60,000 individuals were killed in fighting or execution between various fractions on the island...

).

On June 30, 1949 the party merged with the Workers Party of North Korea

Workers Party of North Korea

The Workers Party of North Korea was a communist party in North Korea, a predecessor of the current Workers Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on August 28–30, 1946, by the merger of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea and the New People's Party. Kim Tu-bong, the...

, forming the Workers Party of Korea. The WPNK leader Kim Il-sung

Kim Il-sung

Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death...

 became party chairman, whereas Pak Hon-yong became deputy chairman. Pak Hon-yong and other leaders of WPSK in North Korea were later purge

Purge

In history, religion, and political science, a purge is the removal of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, from another organization, or from society as a whole. Purges can be peaceful or violent; many will end with the imprisonment or exile of those purged,...

d.

The clandestine trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 movement, the All Korea Labor Union (Jŏnp'yŏng) was connected to the party.