Gwangbokjeol

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Gwangbokjeol
Hangul:	광복절
Hanja:	光復節
Revised Romanization:	Gwangbokjeol
McCune-Reischauer:	Kwangbokchŏl

Gwangbokjeol is one of the four national holidays in Korea, celebrating independence from Japan and the subsequent creation of the Korean government three years later. It is celebrated yearly in both South Korea and North Korea; in the latter, it is known as Chogukhaebangŭi nal (조국해방의 날).

Despite the date, Korea did not gain actual independence on August 15, 1945 (except for the short-lived People's Republic of Korea), but was occupied by the armies of the world's two superpowers, who oversaw the decommissioning of Japanese troops on the peninsula. The North was occupied by the Red Army and governed by the Soviet Civil Authority.

The South was occupied by the United States starting August 13, 1945. Unlike North Korea, the South was not put under a civil authority, but under the United States Army Military Government in Korea (similar to occupied Japan and the Ryukyus). South Korea was not independent until Syngman Rhee was sworn-in as first president of South Korea on August 13, 1948. There is speculation as to why the celebration is August 15, one of them supposing a political strategy to associate Korean independence with the date of Japan's surrender to the Allies of World War II (August 15, 1945), though the true reason is unclear.