# 1st Republic (TV series)

1st Republic (Korean: 제1공화국; RR: Je Il Gonghwaguk) is a South Korean historical television series that was originally broadcast on MBC TV from 2 April 1981 to 11 February 1982. According to some sources, it is considered the first political drama television series in South Korean history, and the first to depict a recent president during an era of heavy media censorship. It covers the First Republic of Korea: the government of South Korea between 1948 and 1960. The series consisted of 39 episodes, each around an hour long, and led to multiple sequel series over the next few decades that covered each of the Five Republics of Korea, including the 2005 5th Republic TV series.

## Premise

The show covers events from 1945 to 1960, including the 1945 liberation of Korea from the Japanese Empire, the 1950 Korean War, and the 1960 establishment of the Second Republic of Korea.

## Cast

* Choi Bool-am as Syngman Rhee
* Lee Young-hoo as Kim Ku
* Park Gyu-chae as Lee Ki-poong
* Kook Jong-hwan as Kim Il Sung
* Shim Yang-hong as Yu Chin-san
* Lee Jung-gil as Chang Taek-sang
* Kim Mu-saeng as Chough Pyung-ok
* Park Jong-gwan as Cho Man-shik
* Kim Yong-gun as Yun Chi-young
* Choi Myeong-soo as Kim Chun-yon
* Kim Gil-ho as Lyuh Woon-hyung
* Park Geun-hyung as Song Jin-woo
* Park Yeong-ji as Kim Tu-bong
* Lee Mug-won as Kim Kyu-sik
* Han In-su as Chang Deok-soo
* Im Hyun-sik as Choe Hyon
* Kang In-deok as Kim Du-han
* Park Woong as Kwak Sang-hoon
* Kim Ae-gyeong as Maria Kim
* Jung Ae-ri as Kim Soo-im
* Bak Il as Park In-soo
* Jo Kyung-hwan as Lee Jeong-jae
* O Yeong-su as Military Prosecutor

## Production

The series was created just after Chun Doo-hwan seized power at the beginning of the Fifth Republic of Korea, shortly after Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979. During both the Chun and Park eras, media censorship was common, making dramas depicting political topics extremely sensitive.
The president of MBC at the time, Lee Jin-hui [ko], closely monitored the creation of the show, to ensure it did not draw the ire of the government.
Go later served as the head of the Korea Creative Content Agency in the Korean Government from 2007 to 2009.

## Episodes

1981 :
| Episode | Broadcast Date | Title (English) | Title (Korean) |
| 1 | 2 April 1981 | Syngman Rhee and Kim Ku | 이승만과 김구 |
| 2 | 9 April 1981 | Assassination, Assassination, Assassination | 암살, 암살, 암살 |
| 3 | 16 April 1981 | Cho Man-shik and Kim Il Sung | 조만식과 김일성 |
| 4 | 23 April 1981 | Terror | 테러 |
| 5 | 30 April 1981 | Syngman Rhee in 1946 | 이승만 1946년 |
| 6 | 7 May 1981 | The Namro Party | 남로당 |
| 7 | 14 May 1981 | The Three Leaders of Summer 1947 | 1947년 여름 삼영수 |
| 8 | 21 May 1981 | United Nations Commission on Korea | 유엔 한국 임시 위원단 |
| 9 | 28 May 1981 | Kim Ku and North-South Talks (Part 1) | 김구와 남북협상 (上) |
| 10 | 4 June 1981 | Kim Ku and North-South Talks (Part 2) | 김구와 남북협상 (下) |
| 11 | 11 June 1981 | The First President Syngman Rhee | 초대 대통령 이승만 |
| 12 | 18 June 1981 | Female Spy Kim Soo-im | 여간첩 김수임 |
| 13 | 25 June 1981 | Miscalculation | 오판 |
| 14 | 2 July 1981 | Jogakdang at Ihwajang House [ko] | 이화장의 조각당 |
| 15 | 9 July 1981 | The National Assembly's Fraktsiya Scandal [ko] | 국회 프락치 사건 |
| 16 | 16 July 1981 | The Banmintukui Affair (Part 1) | 반민특위 사건 (上) |
| 17 | 30 July 1981 | The Banmintukui Affair (Part 2) | 반민특위 사건 (下) |
| 18 | 6 August 1981 | The President's People | 대통령의 사람들 |
| 19 | 27 August 1981 | Ah, Baekbeom (Part 1) | 아, 백범 (上) |
| 20 | 3 September 1981 | Ah, Baekbeom (Part 2) | 아, 백범 (下) |
| 21 | 10 September 1981 | The May 30th Election | 5·30 선거 |
| 22 | 17 September 1981 | 90 Days Under the Enemy | 적치하 90일 |
| 23 | 24 September 1981 | Gyeongmudae [ko] During Wartime | 전시하의 경무대 |
| 24 | 1 October 1981 | The Pusan Political Crisis [ko] | 부산 정치파동 |
| 25 | 8 October 1981 | Woonam's Restart | 우남의 재출발 |
| 26 | 15 October 1981 | The Peace Line | 평화선 |
| 27 | 28 October 1981 | Merchants During Wartime | 전시하의 상인들 |
| 28 | 5 November 1981 | The Release of Anti-Communist Captives and Truce | 반공포로 석방과 휴전 |
| 29 | 12 November 1981 | The KNYA's Elimination and Lee Ki-poong | 족청계 거세와 이기붕 |
| 30 | 19 November 1981 | The Park In-soo Affair | 박인수 사건 |
| 31 | 26 November 1981 | The Liberal Party's Landslide Victory (Part 1) | 자유당 압승 (上) |
| 32 | 10 December 1981 | The Liberal Party's Landslide Victory (Part 2) | 자유당 압승 (下) |
| 33 | 17 December 1981 | Lee Ki-poong and the Liberal | 이기붕과 자유당 |
| 1982 ||||
| 34 | 7 January 1982 | Kim Il Sung and the Purge | 김일성과 숙청극 |
| 35 | 14 January 1982 | The Hangul Simplifiation Movement [ko] | 한글파동 |
| 36 | 21 January 1982 | Kim Du-han and Lee Jeong-jae | 김두한과 이정재 |
| 37 | 28 January 1982 | Adoptee Lee Gang-seok | 양자 이강석 |
| 38 | 4 February 1982 | The Artists Corps and Lim Hwa-su | 예술인단과 임화수 |
| 39 | 11 February 1982 | The Democratic Party's Dispute with New and Old Parties and the End of the First Republic | 민주당 신구파 분쟁과 제1공화국의 종식 |