Korean Political History I: Chapter 2, Exercise 1 — Possible Solution
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TASK
Explain how the US and Soviet authorities each treated the People's Republic
and the People's Committees, and say what that suggests about their aims.

ANSWER
SOUTH: the US Army Military Government refused to recognize the Provisional
Government of the Republic of Korea and outlawed the People's Republic of
Korea (12 December 1945), which the source says was popular among Koreans.
NORTH: the Soviet Civil Administration co-opted the local People's
Committees on 8 February 1946, creating a centralized control structure. The
Provisional People's Committee for North Korea had no autonomy and
executed the decisions of the Soviet Civil Administration.

WHAT IT SUGGESTS
Both authorities kept control in their own hands and neither let a Korean
body run its zone independently. The US removed the Korean-organized body;
the Soviets took over its local structure and used it. That suggests each
wanted a Korean administration it could steer.

CAUTION
The sources describe actions, not the occupiers' stated aims, so this is an
inference. The Soviet source also does not say how the north treated
colonial administrators, so the comparison there is incomplete.