It was founded on 23 November 1946 through the merger of the
Communist Party of South Korea,
New People's Party of Korea and a faction of the
People's Party of Korea (the so-called 'forty-eighters'). It was led by
Ho Hon. The clandestine
trade union movement, the
All Korea Labor Union (''Chŏnp'yŏng'') was connected to the party. The party was outlawed by the
United States occupation authorities due to the party being an aggravating opposition to South Korea and the US, but the party organized a network of clandestine cells and was able to obtain a considerable following. It had around 360,000 party members. In 1947, the party initiated armed
guerrilla struggle. As the persecution of party intensified, large sections of the party leadership moved to
Pyongyang. The party was opposed to the formation of a South Korean state. In February–March 1948, it instigated
general strikes in opposition to the plans to create a separate South Korean state. On 3 April 1948, the party led an
insurgency on
Jeju Island, against the United Nations and South Korean government. In the suppression of the revolt, thousands of insurgents and their sympathizers were executed and massacred, respectively, by the South Korean government. In one of its first official acts, the
South Korean National Assembly passed the
National Security Act in September 1948, which among other measures, outlawed the Workers' Party of South Korea. On 24 June 1949, the party merged with the
Workers' Party of North Korea, forming the
Workers' Party of Korea. Former members of the WPSK in the party became known as the domestic faction. The WPNK leader
Kim Il Sung became party chairman, whereas Pak Hon-yong became deputy chairman. During the
Korean War, 60,000 to 200,000 members of the party and suspected communist supporters, many of them civilians, were extrajudicially massacred by the South Korean Army in what became known as the
Bodo League massacre. Pak Hon-yong and other leaders of the WPSK in North Korea were later
purged. ==See also==