Major South Korean Protests since the Korean War
There have been many political protests (around 20) in South Korea post-1953, but I’ve decided to only go in depth on three major and revolutionary protests. Mostly student uprisings and ones that enacted severe democratic change that has shaped the way modern South Korea functions. In light of the American Black Lives Matter movement and now the North Korean leaflet revolution, I find it important to reflect and compare on previous demonstrations to see how history played out.
Trigger Warning: There are some heavy topics gone over in this blog post, major injury, death, light gore (mentioning of severe injuries), and police brutality. Please read with caution!
April Revolution 1960
things to know before we move on:
Cronyisitc/Cronyism is the practice of favoring one’s close friends, especially in political appointments.
South Korean Progressive Party was a short-lived moderate socialist political party founded after the Korean War. A major political force from 1956 – 1958, its political position was central-left to left-wing.
Associated Press is an American non-profit news agency. It operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association.
The Blue House is South Korea’s equivalent to America’s White House. Where the sitting President and his/her family lives.
Martial Law is when a military government takes place under Presidential orders – it is the act of suspending ordinary law for a period of time.
Syngman Rhee was the first President of South Korea elected in the 1948 presidential election. Rhee had heavy ties with the United States Army Military and with the creation of the First Republic of Korea. He led South Korea during the Korean War. Rhee’s political standing was heavily anti-communist and pro-American – he commonly used communism as an excuse for political repression.
According to the South Korean public, Rhee was a corrupt dictator who abused his power to maintain his rule in the government. In the name of political unity, this was all tolerated for the duration of the Korean War, but in 1953 (the year the Korean War ended) his cronyistic rule had achieved nothing besides limited economic and social developments – effectively angering the general public.
In the March 1960 presidential elections there was the small Progressive Party (Cho Bong-Am) and the Democratic Party (Cho Pyong-Ok) who were both running against Rhee. Both parties’ candidates died during the pre-election period and this was a tipping point for the South Korean public as many assumed both deaths were the direct results of electoral corruption.
March 15th, 1960, the say day as election results, the Democratic Party in Masan launched a protest against this assumed corruption. At seven-thirty in the evening, roughly one thousand residents gathered in front of the Democratic Party’s Masan headquarters. Here protesters faced off with the police and the city was shut down. The police opened fire on the citizens, who responded by violently fighting back.
April 11th, the body of Kim Ju-Yul, a high school student who went missing during the March 15th rioting, was found in the harbor at Masan. Protestors who did not trust the autopsy authorities conducted forced themselves into the hospital where Kim was kept, and they found that his skull had been split open by a teargas grenade. Which had penetrated from his eyes to the back of his head. Police has shot the teargas at an angle that could more than likely be fatal if shot directly at someone’s face. The news on this incident was heavily censored on South Korean news channels but the story was covered by the associated press thus being delivered to the world. Masan then exploded into spontaneous mass protests that lasted three days and led to even more violent clashes between police and protestors.
April 18th the Masan protests traveled to Seoul, South Korea where university students started non-violent protests at the National Assembly against police violence.
April 19th thousands of university students (with some high school students) marched to the Blue House – their numbers were documented at over 100,000. The protesters demanded for Rhee’s resignation from office. Police opened fire on them, killing 180 and leaving thousands wounded. The Rhee government proclaimed Martial Law on this day in an effort to suppress the demonstrations.
April 26th Syngham Rhee resigned from his position of power and Lee Ki-Poong was blamed for the corruption in the government. (the following day Lee and his entire family was killed in a murder-suicide by the family’s eldest son.)
June Democratic Struggle – June 10-29 1987
things to know before we move on:
Sixth Republic was established in 1987 and remains the current polity of South Korea. With the Sixth Republic the country has gradually stabilized into a liberal democracy.
Yushin Constitution was what governed the Forth Republic of South Korea – Yushin translates to “rejuvenation” or “renewal.” The constitution was a severely authoritarian document marking the sweeping executive and legislative powers granted to the President.
Gwangju Massacre or Gwangju Uprising happened in 1980. Police and military forces opened fire on civilian protesters during a martial law command. 144 civilians, 22 troops, and 4 police officers were killed during these riots. This was the uprising of the Democratization of South Korea.
Roh Tae-Woo was a former South Korean President from 1988 to 1993, the first in the Sixth Republic of Korea.
When former President Park Chung-Hee implemented the Yushin Constitution in 1972, South Korean Presidents were elected indirectly through an electoral college. Even after Park was assassinated and Choi Kyu-Hah replaced him, this electoral college election system stayed in place. The college though, was hand picked by the regime itself, it didn’t represent any semblance of a check on presidential power. This system led to Choi being replaced by Chun Doo-Hwan – who was the nations de facto leader in late 1979 through 1980 under Choi – and later served as the President of South Korea until 1988.
In the 1980s, university student activists struggled against the dictatorship of Chun Doo-Hwan and the enormous aftermath of the Gwangju Massacre. The president of the student council at Seoul National University was one of these students. While detained by authorities in an investigation about previous activist movements, this student was waterboarded in an effort to get him to confess the location of a fellow activist. This torture technique eventually led to his death on January 14th, 1987.
June 9th, 1987, at a demonstration led by Yonsei University students, Lee Han-Yeol was critically injured when a tear gas grenade penetrated his skull. Lee rapidly became a symbol of the protests that followed over the following couple of weeks.
June 10th Major demonstrations happened throughout the country in opposition of Roh Tae-Woo, who was nominated as a candidate for presidency. There were an estimated 240,000 people participating in these demonstrations in twenty-two cities including Seoul.
June 18th 1.5 million people fled into the streets across sixteen cities for the National Rally for Banishment of Tear Gas Grenades. White collar workers joined the protests also, throwing rolls of toilet paper, applauding, and outwardly voicing their support.
June 19th President Chun Doo-Hwan ordered mobilization of the Military in the protesting cities but fueled by the fear of a repeat of the Gwangju Massacre, Chun reversed the order within hours.
June 26th the national movement headquarters for the gain of Democratic constitution held the Great National March of Peace. In thirty-four cities over one million people were in attendance at the demonstration and 3,467 people were arrested.
June 29th Roh Tae-Woo issued the June 29th Declaration. Capitulating to the demands of the protestors by promising to amend the constitution.
2016 – 2017 Candlelight Demonstrations
things to know before we move on:
Chaebols are family owned multi-industry businesses (i.e. Samsung).
College entrance exam is a standardized test that South Korean students take during their senior year in high school to determine acceptance.
Sewol Ferry Sinking on April 16th, 2014 the ferry boat MV Sewol sank in route from Incheon towards Jeju in South Korea. 304 people died including 250 school children on a field trip. 15 crew members and officials have received jail sentences for homicide, fleeing and abandoning ship, and negligence.
Constitutional Court established in 1988, this is an independent and specialized court in South Korea whose primary role is the reviewing of constitutionality under the constitution of the Republic of Korea.
Due to President Park Geun-Hye’s hidden connections to Choi Soon-Sil (a woman with no official position or security clearances) and the disposed secret council Choi was giving Park, a political scandal manifested in October 2016. Choi was revealed to have access to confidential documents and acted as a close governmental confidante for President Park. Park and Choi’s senior staff extorted roughly USD774 million from Korean Chaebols through fake foundations. Choi was also accused for embezzling money and was reported that she rigged the admissions process at Ewha Woman’s University to get her daughter enrolled.
October 25th, 2016 President Park Geun-Hye acknowledged her close relationship with Choi in a press release. Dismissing valuable members of her top office staff and Park’s public opinion rating dropped to just five percent – the lowest ever for a sitting South Korean president. This drop-in rating prompted Park to fire various cabinet members as well as the Prime Minister of South Korea, Hwang Kyo-Ahn. This, in particular, resulted in a controversy as Hwang claimed he was fired through a text message from the President.
October 29th was the first candlelight protest (relatively small in size at 20,000 participants) calling for the resignation of Park Geun-Hye.
November 2016 was the highlight of these protests; every week was a demonstration or altercation, and this was what cemented the beginning of this movement.
November 1st, 2016 a man, using an excavator, crashed into the entrance of the Supreme Prosecutor’s office building in Seoul.
November 5th early Saturday evening, people attended a rally in petition for President Park’s resignation. Organizers claimed more than 100,000 people in attendance.
November 12th Demonstrations led to four police officers being injured, twenty-six protestors taken to the hospital, and an additional twenty-nine were injured and treated at the sight of the protests (Yonhap).
November 19th after taking the College Entrance Exams, a staggering number of South Korean high school students joined the crowds. However, not all South Koreans were against President Park. On this day a short distance from the main protests, a group of conservative protesters gathered outside Seoul Station in defense of the President.
November 28th 1.9 million people fled to the streets in a nationwide anti-President rally.
December 3rd, 2016 2.3 million attended the largest anti-president rally in South Korean history. An estimated 1.6 million people demonstrated from City Hall to Gwanghwamun Square and Gyeongok Palace in Seoul. Around 200,000 more around the city of Busan, and 100,000 in Gwangju.
December 10th hundreds of thousands of people started gathering weekly for protests that were cheering for the impeachment of President Park Geun-Hye.
December 17th the pro-Park supporters held their first major demonstration in Seoul. Organizers claimed roughly 1 million people calling to reinstate the currently impeached president.
December 24th 550,000 people held the Christmas Santa Rally – calling for immediate removal of President Park.
December 31st New Years Eve in South Korea was celebrated with mass protests. Over 1 million people in the streets – bringing the total number of protesters since October to an outstanding 10 million.
January 7th, 2017 Protesters returned to the stress in Seoul with numbers in the hundreds of thousands, demanding the impeached Parks’ immediate removal from office. At this same time these protesters were demanding the salvaging of the remains of a sunken ferry boat that left three hundred dead. Seven in the evening that first Saturday of the new year hundreds of yellow balloons were released and protesters blew out their candles in a symbolic gesture asking for Park to clarify why she was missing for seven hours at the time of the ferry sinking. The people of South Korea were preparing to mark the 1000th day anniversary of the Sewol Ferry Sinking.
January 21st the thirteenth candlelit protest calling for President Park Geun-Hye to resign. Persisting through heavy snow and freezing cold, hundreds of thousands of protestors also demanded the Constitutional Court speed up the finalizing of Parks Impeachment.
February 4th, 2017 the 100th day of the candlelight rallies. 400,000 people gathered at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, calling for an extension of the Special Prosecutor’s investigation and for Park to step down immediately.
February 11th hundreds of thousands of South Koreans held conflicting rallies between pro- and anti-impeachment groups. Anti-Park demonstrations held their fifteenth weekly protest and pro-Park supporters waved ROK flags outside Seoul City Hall for their twelfth week. Democratic Party Presidential hopeful, Moon Jae-In, attended the anti-Park rally. He would later go on to become the President of South Korea after Park.
February 25th the fourth anniversary of Park Geun-Hye being sworn into office, saw rival demonstrations in Seoul against her impeachment. As the court prepared to hold its final hearing on Parks Impeachment over corruption, demonstrations continued in full force. Anti-Park organizers claimed 1 million turnout and Pro-Park organizers claimed a turnout of 3 million.
March 2017 The constitutional court removed President Park from power due to the corruption scandal (Park remained silence during). The nation was massively split in a way it’s never seen before, over it’s future. The celebration for Park’s ousting saw tens of thousands of people carrying flags and lit candles in jubilation marching in downtown Seoul. Nearly 20,000 police officers were deployed to monitor these protesters.
Overall, the numbers of people participating in those months long demonstrations totaled an impressive 46 million South Korean citizens. Although it is noted that pro-Park organizations’ claims on numbers of participants has been openly criticized for being “unrealistic” and “exaggerated.”
Sources
Adesnik, A. David, Sunhyuk Kim. “If At First You Don’t Succeed: The Puzzle of South Korea’s Democratic Transition Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine”. CDDRL Working Papers. Number 83, July 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
Clyde Haberman and Special to the New York Times. “Seoul Students Torture Death Changes Political Landscape”. Retrieved 11 June 2020
Herald, The Korea (December 3, 2016). “More than 2 million take to streets calling for Park’s resignation”. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
Kim, Quee-Young (1996). “From Protest to Change of Regime: The 4-19 Revolt and the Fall of the Rhee Regime in South Korea”. Social Forces. 74: 1179–1208. doi:10.2307/2580348. ISSN 0037-7732. JSTOR 2580348.
Kim, C. I. Eugene, and Ke-soo Kim (1964). “The April 1960 Korean Student Movement”, The Western Political Quarterly, 17.
“Left wings outrage regarding text firing of Hwang Kyo-ahn”. KyungHyang.
People order Park to step down. (2016, November 27). Retrieved June 23, 2020, from http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/phone/news/view.jsp?req_newsidx=219030
“South Korea scandal: President Park’s friend Choi arrested”. BBC News. November 3, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
South Korean protester crashes into prosecutors’ office with excavator”. Reuters.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
Tennant, Roger (1996). “A History of Korea”, Kegan Paul International London and New York
History of Korean Music
I debated posting this one on this blog because it was different from what I normally wrote about – but I decided it fits the criteria! That being said this will look and feel a bit different than the others but different is good, I hope you learn something today!
There are three different main categories of Korean Music: Traditional Korean Folk music, popular music (know as K-pop), and western-influenced non-popular music.
Traditional Korean Music is known as Kugak (National Music). The first evidence of Korean Music appeared in the texts of Samguk Sagi (History of the three kingdoms) in 1145 – this text described the use of two string-like instruments: Kayagum and Komun’go.
Top: Kayagum. Bottom: Komun’go
Like any social hierarchy, there were specific observed people during the Joseon Dynasty, specifically under the Lee Kings between 1392 and 1897. There was the King and the Yangban (government officials, generals, and the elite) at the top of the hierarchy, and the Sangmin (merchants and craftsmen) and slaves at the bottom. From these two groups came two forms of music: Jeongak (“orthodox music”) and Minsokak (“people’s music”).
Jeongak was listened to for enjoyment by the Yangban and was played during rituals like banquets, military percessions, etc. and was considered aristocratic music. But, Minsokak (also known as Nongak (farmers music)) was extremely popular among the common people. People’s music had three different types: Pansori, Pungmul Nori, and Minyo (folk).
Pansori originated in the seventeenth century and gained respect over time. Now, it is considered as the ideal traditional music in contemporary South Korea. Pansori requires a solo singer as well as a percussionist, the music contains elements like body language, emotions, and sounds observed in nature.
Pungmul Nori is the traditional Korean percussion music with sounds of the drums as the main focus.
Minyo was enjoyed by commoners while Nongak was played during agrarian festivals. The most famous folk song in both North and South Korea is Arirang. The song was sung solo at the screening of a slient nationalistic film in 1926, which cemented its popularity.
The Joseon Dynasty came to an end when the Japanese military ultimately took over the Korean Peninsula in 1910. Japan controlled the major levels of the politics, economics, and culture in Korea. Surprisingly, instead of Japan imposing the Japanese music of Chinese influenced court music (Gagaku), it imposed European art music. Western music education soon became a part of the Korean educational curriculum for the elite. The Japanese and Korean elites embraced western music, effectively neglecting Kugak. In the 1900s, Pansori – in an effort to not go extinct – gave rise to a new genre influenced by western music called Ch’angga (choral song/theater); which led to the creation of musical theaters and opera. The most well known Ch’angga song is “My Darling Valentine.”
WESTERN-INFLUENCED NON-POPULAR MUSIC
The oldest form of Korean pop music is Trot music, pronounced as “teur-oteu.” Developed in the yers before and during World War Two around the early 1900s. Some popular trot artists are Lee Mi Ja, Bae Ho, and Jang Yoon Jeong.
There are many forms of current non-pop music genres, too many to go through all of them. But some of my favorite and personally most notable are K-rock, K-hip hop, and K-OSTs.
(I wanted to say that all the artists I’m about to mention are in no way a show of who was most popular or who is best – but simply just who I currently know and listen to in my own time.)
K-Rock
Historically, rock music is said to have spread to Korea from the Eighth United States army bases after the Korean War. Shin Jung Hyeon (know as “The Godfather of Korean Rock”) got his start in music by playing popular rock covers for American soldiers in the 1950s. in the 1980s, rock moved away from mainstream music and the scene was dominated by heavy metal music. But, by the 1990s, rock music was revived, Korean youths were exposed to decades of popular foreign music in a short span of time due to the democratization following Roh Tae Woo’s presidency. Because of this, many young people started to form bands.
Even though the surge of K-Rock was in the 1900s there are stil a lot of bands that are popular in modern music as rock bands in South Korea. Crying Nut and No Brain are bands from the 90s, whereas Day6, The Rose, and FTISLAND are current rock bands.
Korean Band The Rose
K – Hip Hop
Hip hop became a cultural phenomenon in cities like Seoul, Busan, and Daegu. The first Korean rap song that became popular was The Story I Want to Tell You by 015B in 1991. Korea’s first large-scale exposure of hip hop was in the clubs in a neighborhood inside Seoul called Itaewon. At first the clubs in Itaewon were only for American soldiers as they were catered for those stationed in the Yongsan base. Drunken Tiger – made up of Tiger JK and DJ Shine – are known as “The Godfathers of Korean Hip Hop,” but the underground hip hop scene is made up of more than just the household names. Leading figures in K-hip hop are DEFCON, Junoflo and MyunDo, and RM. Some more mainstream K-hip hop artists are Jay Park, Sik-k, G-Dragon, and Beenzino.
K – OST (Original Soundtrack)
Influenced by western melodies and the sentimental ballad-style songs, this genre was initially introduced into the mainstream market in the 1960s but did not gain popularity until the 1980s where it became a staple genre in modern Korean music. its song style is meant to capture the feeling of love, unrequited love, or heartbreak. The OSTs are for popular Korean dramas that contain slow, dramatic ballad songs that are played whenever important plot points occur. These original soundtracks can often be sung by popular idols or the actors themselves (sometimes the actors are the popular idols too). Some examples are the dramas Itaewon Class which has an ending title track sung by BTS idol V, and Hwarang which the same idol, V, has a title track and is one of the main actors alongside his co-star Park Hyung Sik who as a title tack, as well.
Popular Music – K-pop
from the top: BTS, Twice, EXO
Idol groups typically feature several entertainers of the same gender who perform a fusion of dance music, rhythm and blues, funk, hip hop, and electronic influenced songs. K-pop is split up into “generations”; what Americans would call “90s music”, in K-pop the same time period idols are referred to as “First generation.” Another notable aspect of K-pop is the industry companies who have reign over the idol groups, each generation has top companies that have the front runners in the Industry.
First generation – 1990s – early 2000s
This generation changed South Korea’s music landscape and paved the way for other artists to become more flexible and be more experimental. K-pop began the potential for global success. The faces of the first generation were Seo Taiji and the Boys, Shinhwa, god, and BoA.
The companies on the top were SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, DSP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment.
Second Generation – 2003 – 2009/10
The rise of K-pop groups gained more enthusiasts. Hallyu (or Korean Wave) has expanded and become more popular; not just in Korea but across Asia and other parts of the world. Their unique style, distinctive choreographies, captivating melodies, and lyrics are what most people think of when they think of K-pop. The artists that make up the second generation are BigBand, 2NE1, SHINee, Epik High, f(x), and Super Junior.
The companies on top were what was called “The Big Three,” they were mamoths in the industry, producing hundreds of idols even to this day: SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment.
Third Generation – 2011 – early 2018
Some K-pop fans say that this generation ended in 2018 and some say it’s still the current generation. I say it ended in 2018. K-pop became more creative, expressive, and interesting during this generation. Becoming more modern with combinations of styling like techno, rock, ballads, etc. companies are more open to producing groups of different origins and ethnicities. The prominent groups of the third generation are EXO, Seventeen, BlackPink, BTS, GOT7, and CLC.
“The big three” companies retained their success with SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entrainment, but the company BigHit Entertainment came up as a front runner too with their management of global sensation BTS.
Unofficial Projected Fourth Generation – 2018 – current
It is hard to determine what accomplishments this generation of K-pop groups will do as it is still currently starting. But these groups are hitting the global scale full force – especially in the western music industry. Debuting on the US Charts and releasing English albums. While there will certainly be more artists coming out from this generation the current recently debuted groups are Stray Kids, ATEEZ, Tomorrow X Together (TXT), ITZY, LOONA, and MCND.
That’s it! There’s going to be a lot more K-pop, K-rock, and K-Hip Hop music coming out and I hope you’re interested and want to listen. I know I name dropped a lot of artists and bands and it could be overwhelming- but fear not I’ve created a playlist for you! Each group or artist I mentioned is on the playlist with a few popular songs per act.
Sources
^“Traditional Arts”. Korean Culture and Information Service. Archived from the original on 2015-02-23. Retrieved 2018-01-22
Kim, Hŭng-gyu; Fouser, Robert (1997). Understanding Korean Literature. Translated by Fouser, Robert. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 57–58. ISBN978-1563247736.
The Birth of South Korean Nationalism
Nationalism was an element prominent in almost all major countries in the late 19th and early 20th century. Nationalism itself is a complicated concept but I think for most Americans it becomes synonymous with Patriotism and that’s not necessarily the case. One of my history professors this semester explained it in a way I find is easiest to distinguish the two. Patriotism is someone sacrificing for their country out of a sense of reason and logic whereas Nationalism is someone sacrificing for their country out of a sense of emotion. When someone is devoted to their country, they might wave their countries flag proudly on their property, but nationalism is a strong identification with one’s own nation. Almost unconditional support in its roots, interests, traditions, etc. Korean nationalism is heavily rooted in emotional ties to their culture, which makes it a bit rawer and individually significant than a sense of patriotism.
Things to know before we move on
Yi Wan-Yong was a Korean stateman who was pro-Japanese and remembered for signing the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty; he served as the last prime minister of Korea.
Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁) was the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty, located in northern Seoul, South Korea: built in 1395.
1910 Treaty of Japan-Korea, also known as the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, was proclaimed to the public on 22 August 1910, officially starting the period of Japanese Rule in Korea.
Hangul (Chosŏn’gŭl in North Korea) is the official writing system of both North and South Korea, created in the 15th century by King Se-Jong the Great. Its creation is a huge source of pride for Koreans with a national holiday on January 15th celebrating the invention.
Shin Chae-Ho was a Korean independence activist wo was a founder of Korean ethnic nationalist historiography. He is held in high esteem in both North and South Korea.
Minjok Sahak (민족 사학) (sometimes shortened to Minjok) has no direct translation but is commonly translated as “nation,” “people,” “ethnic group,” etc. The conception started to emerge when the Japanese were trying to persuade Koreans that both nations were of the same racial stock.
The cause of the excessive nationalism in south Korea comes from a sense of victimization and apathy experienced from other nations, particularly in the last century.
Koreas annexation (1910), and events that led to it, seemed to have a significant impact on the rise of Korean nationalism. Before that, Korea’s nationalism seemed at an all-time low, with regular peasantry rebellions and aristocracy corruption. The latter certainly played a role in the former, a common characteristic of the two was a lack of pride and respect for their country, with their ‘higher ups’ treating the nation as unworthy of care. This was a low point in Korean history, and they were particularly vulnerable by the fact that it happened at the height of western imperialism.
As other nations began to gain footholds in the peninsula, many Koreans (not the majority but many) saw an opportunity to improve their lives in ways that either their own government could or would not. In particular, Japan took advantage of this fact by providing incentives to Koreans who supported pro-Japanese policies, enabling them to rob the Korean King of sovereignty piece by piece. Yi Wan-Yong was instrumental in signing several treaties that gave Korea sovereignty to Japan, most notably the 1910 treaty of Japan-Korea.
Rise of Nationalism During Annexation
Nothing really creates a strong desire for national identity like having your national identity taken away, for Koreans this is what they experienced. After Japans occupation in 1910, the Japanese government initiated numerous reforms aimed at modernizing the country to some degree but also conforming it to its own cultural standards. Although education was made more available, many schools prohibited the use of the Korean language, with other schools relegating Korean studies as “elective” courses. Several symbols of Korean sovereignty were either destroyed, modified or replaced outright. The most notable example of this was the destruction of the Gyeongbokgung which was almost completely destroyed (only 10 buildings out of 100 were left standing) and had a new General Governor building placed on its grounds.
Japanese scholars also started to rewrite history, promoting this notion that the Korean and Japanese people were of the same ethnic stock and that modern Koreans were merely descendants of the Japanese alone. The independence activists, therefore, were not only concerned with regaining power, but many became more and more worried about how much of their society would be left once they were free. Through the fostering of Korean cultural and national pride, so many started to find ways to counter this cultural genocide. By this time, Hangul was used extensively by nationalists and activists for independence and Shin Chae-Ho developed the Korean ethnic identity, the concept of “one blood,” with the creation of minjok. Thus, the strongest elements of Korean nationalism developed in many ways as a reaction to abuses of their cultural identity.
Sources
Caprio, Mark (2009). Japanese Assimilation Policies in Colonial Korea, 1910–1945. University of Washington Press. pp. 82–83
Ch’oe, Yŏng-ho (1980). “An outline history of Korean historiography”. Korean Studies. 4: 1–27. doi:10.1353/ks.1980.0003.
“네이버 뉴스 라이브러리.” NAVER Newslibrary. Accessed February 10, 2020. https://newslibrary.naver.com/viewer/index.nhn?articleId=1995101700209102003&edtNo=45&printCount=1&publishDate=1995-10-17&officeId=00020&pageNo=2&printNo=22999&publishType=00010#.
Prisoners of War: The Korean War (South Korean, American, and Chinese)
Things to know before we move on
The Geneva Conventions are four treaties (and three additional protocols) that establish the standards of international law for humanitarian treatment in war.
Songbun System ( 성분 )is the system of ascribed status in North Korea. Based on the political, social, and economic background of one’s direct ancestors. Used to determine whether an individual is trusted with responsibilities, given opportunities within North Korea, or even receive adequate food.
There was a group of captured Americans during the Korean War who decided to stay in North Korea instead of returning home. The Chinese and North Koreans have held about 50,000 South Koreans as slave laborers. These men were kept off the prisoner-of-war rosters and denied any due process regarding the hearings on repatriation agreed to by both sides.
They were forced during the war to repair railways and air strips that were bombed around the clock by the American Air Force. The work involved removing ordnances that were unexploded. It was a serious breech of the Geneva Conventions to use prisoners of War in this way.
These men worked in North Koreas mines after the war. They were granted nominal citizenship in North Korea, but they were kept in file by the secret police and disqualified from any opportunity in North Korea to enhance their education, job, or rank.
In the most isolated and dangerous mines there were so many such prisoners that some towns in the northernmost part of North Korea began using many borrowed words from the southernmost parts of South Korea (where many of these prisoners were from). They and their children, besides political prisoners, were the lowest class in the Songbun system in North Korea. Many of them ended up in penal labor camps because they were the lowest and poorest class.
The south Koreans and the Americans realized that thousands of South Korean POWs were being held by the Communist forces. This was one of the main reasons why it took so long to conclude the ceasefire at the end of the war. But the Americans eventually gave up demanding the return of South Korean by 1952. South Koreans were extremely, and understandably, unhappy about this but they could do nothing about it. Because of this, South Korea grants immediate citizenship to all North Korean refugees.
Sources
North Korea’s Continued Detention of South Korean POWs Since the Korean and Vietnam Wars.” Taylor and Francis. Accessed December 10, 2019. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/alos/10.1080/10163270209464030?journal code=rkjd20.
Power, John. Soldier Captured by North Korea 47 years Ago Reveals Horrors he endured.” Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, July 22, 2015. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3125100/it-hot-sweat-sting-died-soldier-captured-north-korea-47-years-ago-reveals-horrors-endured-forced-work-decades.html.
POWs in American History: A synopsis. Andersonville National Historic Site. (US National Park Service). http://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/histroycutlture/pow_synoposis.htm. (October 2019).
Atrocities Against American POWs in Korean War http://www.b-29s-over-korea.com/POWS-in-korean-war/POWS-in-korean-war_2.html. (October 2019).
The Impact on Relations between Korea and the United States After the Korean War
Most of the current US and South Korean relations have to do with the North Korean nuclear crisis that President Trump is trying to get a handle on. President Moon, while having moved into office around the same time as Trump, has been trying to maintain relations mostly between the US and North Korea.
Things to know before we move on
The Korean Armistice Agreement is the agreement which brought about a complete cease of hostilities of the Korean War. Signed on 19 July 1953 by U.S. Army Lieutenant General William Harrison, Jr. and Nam Il, delegate of the KPA (Korean People’s Army) and the PVA (People’s Volunteer Army).
The Mutual Defense Treaty between the U.S. and R.O.K. was the agreement that commits the two nations to provide mutual aid if either faces external armed attack and allows the US to station military forces in South Korea. Signed 1 October 1953.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organization with 36 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.
North Korean forces invaded the Republic of Korea on 25 June 1950. A United Nations group of sixteen countries conducted its intervention under the leadership of the United States. When China entered the war later that year on behalf of North Korea, a stalemate prevailed for the remaining two years of the conflict until an armistice was signed. Never before has a peace treaty been signed. In 1953, at the end of the Korean War, a Mutual Defense Treaty was signed between the United States and the Republic of Korea, the foundation of a comprehensive alliance was upheld until 2017 when R.O.K. President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un signed a peace treaty to officially end the Korean War.
The R.O.K. endured political turmoil under autocratic governance in the decades following the war but established a vibrant civil society which led to strong demonstrations against authoritarian rule. The 1980s accelerated prodemocracy movements and the R.O.K. started the transition to what is a vivacious, democratic system.
The United States and the Republic of Korea share a long history of alliance and cooperation based on shared values and interests. The two countries are working together to fight regional and global threats and reinforce their economies. The US has maintained personnel in the army, air force, and navy in South Korea.
The two countries celebrated the 60th year alliance anniversary in 2013. The United States and the Republic of Korea are closely coordinating the North Korean Nuclear issue and the Korean Peninsula’s denuclearization. Trade and investment ties have become an increasingly important aspect of the US-ROK relations as the economy developed (they joined the OECD in 1996).
The emergence of South Korea as a word leader has led to a dynamic growth of US – ROK relations. The alliance focused on opportunities for future – oriented partnerships including space, energy, health, climate change, and cyber.
Sources
Avalon Project – Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea; October 1, 1953. Accessed December 9, 2019. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/kor001.asp.
“Civil Society: Definition of Civil Society by Lexico.” Lexico Dictionaries | English. Lexico Dictionaries. Accessed December 9, 2019. https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/civil_society.
“U.S. Relations with the Republic of Korea – United States Department of State.” U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State. Accessed December 9, 2019. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-the-republic-of-korea/. ntain
How the Korean War is Taught in US and Korean Schools
The research I did during the process of writing this blog has been some of the most difficult research I’ve ever done, and I loved it! It was a lot of chasing people for information and coming to dead ends but I think the greatest thing I took out of this was asking for help, I was able to ask my friends for help finding textbooks and ask professors for help when usually for projects I stick to my toxic philosophy where I feel like I failed if I couldn’t finish it on my own.
That aside, something that I didn’t mention in the blog but is super interesting to mention is the school curriculum in South Korea. I was so caught up in searching for books and class curriculum that would match the educational path that I took and didn’t stop to think that it might be different in Korea. According to the National Curriculum Information Center (NCiC), South Korean students don’t study Korean History to its fullest extent until lower secondary school (international ages 11-14). Then they have the option to continue on to what western standards would consider the traditional path of academic senior secondary school (high school certification) or students can go to vocational senior secondary school.
I had imagined that both South Korea and the United States would have similar educational paths with small variations but it’s quite different.
Things to know before we move on
Pak Hon-Yong was a Korean independence activist, politician, philosopher and communist activist. One of the main leaders of the Korean Communist movement during Japans colonial rule.
Kim ll-Sung was the first leader of North Korea which he ruled from the country’s establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He also was the leader of the Workers’ Party of Korea from 1949 – 1994.
Two American historians in 1993 said they have found proof in recently opened soviet archives that Joseph Stalin approved the North Korean attack that began the Korean War in 1950.
South Korean Schools
The general knowledge given to high school student in South Korea when learning about the Korean war was:
- South Korea won independence from Japan at the end of World War Two
- Russia was with North Korea – the word used among Korean textbooks was “정치” which roughly translates to “politics” – and the United States was with South Korea
- Textbooks were pressed on the specifics of the relationship between the pairs, they descried the United States as an older brother to South Korea and Russia as a father figure to North Korea.
- They were adamant that the United States was a “democracy” and Russia empathetically was not.
- The North attacked. At first North Korea was winning, until the UN joined South Korea and they jointly attacked North Korea. In this, they were successful.
- Then China joined North Korea and attacked again, with strength.
- At this point both Koreas decided to stop the war and made a truce.
American Schools
American school’s history curriculum has often been presented chronologically with more time spent on things that have had a major impact on American Society. The Korean War is usually shortened because there are two things that have had a much greater collective impact on Americans, the Second World War and the Civil Rights Movement. Its easy to connect these topics to the student’s contemporary lives. The Korean War doesn’t have that kind of impact. It has a lasting effect on foreign affairs. Not as much on American students in foreign affairs. Not as much as the defeated Nazis or the end of legal segregation.
The average middle or high school history textbook has an entire unit for World War To, and an entire unit for the Civil Rights Movement. Whereas the Korean War is just a couple pages in the middle of the general overview of the 1950s.
North Korean Schools
North Korean textbooks seldom come out of the country, but some examples are described online, often with page and cover images. The Soviet Union under Stalin, and China under Mao, were depicted as the junior allies of Kim Il-Sung. And from that point on all things about history were Kim, Kim, Kim, “The evil Japanese and American imperialists” vanquished by himself.
Some interesting aspects of the Korean War taught in Korean textbooks that are different from United States textbooks:
- Koreans refer to the Korean war as “6 – 25,” the date that the war broke out
- Although there was already frequent unpremeditated fighting between North and South before the war, Korean textbooks do not really cover it. Instead they blame the outbreak of the war solely on Kim II-Sung, as if he broke the peace randomly.
- Existence of Pak Hon-Yong: he tried to organize the Korean Communist Party during the Japanese occupation of Korea. He went into hiding after Japanese authorities stopped the Party. In august of 1945, he set up the Communist Party of Korea in the South, but ultimately was pressured to move to North Korea by American authorities. Pak convinced Kim that the United States wouldn’t intervene and that spies in the South will quickly take over the South government and military. Pak was later assassinated by Kim himself as revenge for the loss and failure.
- Emphasis on how Kim II-Sung went to Joseph Stalin more than forty-five times to have his okay to go to war. The emphasis is there to undermine Kim’s authority and autonomy.
- Korean textbooks used to teach of the United States involvement in detail, but gradually the textbooks changed, reducing US’ role and credit.
- Korean textbooks without fail say how the war was an opportunity for Japan’s economic growth, a perfect comeback from World War Two aftermath.
Sources
An, Sohyun, and Suh, Younghee. “Simple Yet Complicated: U.S. History Represented in South Korean History Textbooks.” Social Studies 104, no. 2 (March 2013): 57-66.
Cho, H., Oh, K., Ryu, K., Chung, J., Kim, T., Kim, K., Lee, C., Son, B., Park, K., Han, J., Suh, T., Lim, J., and Song, H. Middle School Social Studies 2. Seoul, Korea: Kumsung, 1997/2001.
Cooperman, Alan. “Stalin Approved Start of Korean War, Documents Show.” AP NEWS. Associated Press, January 13, 1993. https://apnews.com/adf271706570fbe753e6783955675e60.
Locke, Joseph l., and Ben Wright. The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open US History Textbook. Stanford, CA: Stanford Universality Press, 2019.
Lin, Lin., Zhao, Yali., Ogawa, Masaio., Hoge, John., Bok, YongKim., Whose History? An Analysis of the Korean War in History Textbooks from the United States, South Korea, Japan, and China. Heldref Publication, 2009. ffffffff
The Korean Perspective of the United States during the Korean War
This blog was especially interesting to write! There was so much about this topic and it was difficult to choose which to put in and what to talk about. I think the information I discuss is important to understand in terms of the South Korean people’s general opinion on America. That being said, there is not a lot of information regarding the actions of our current president so the viewpoints might be different than they were before the 2016 election.
Things to know before we move on
In South Korea, if you hear “외국 (oeguk; foreign country)” or “외국인 (oegugin; foreigner)” from a Korean, then that would mean the person is saying “America” or “American.”
No Gun Ri Massacre happened on July 26 – 29, 1950. A previously undetermined number of South Korean refugees were killed in a US air attack and by small and heavy weapons fire of the 7th cavalry regiment at a railroad bridge near the village of Nogeun-ri, 100 miles southeast of Seoul. The south Korean government-funded No Gun Ri Foundation estimated in 2011 that 250 – 300 people were killed (mostly women and children).
The phrase “Axis of Evil” was repeatedly used throughout George W. Bush’s presidency to describe foreign governments that sponsored terrorism and sough weapons of mass destruction.
The Sunshine Policy refers to the theoretical basis for South Korea’s foreign policy towards North Korea. Official title is “The Reconciliation and Cooperation Policy Towards the North.”
The North Perspective
In June 1950, in an effort to unite Korea, Kim II-Sung moved his army South. Massacres of leftist supporters and those sympathetic to the North happening in the south, and Kim’s desire for a united Korea was the motivation for the military move. To the United States, this was seen as a Communist attempt to spread the Soviet empire. The US is seen today as the primary reason for not unifying Korea.
The United Nations and Chinese involvement meant that during World War Two, the Korean peninsula was an even worse war zone that the pacific battlefields. South of the 38th parallel, the US air force leveled everything. In 1953, it was said that Pyongyang had only two mutli-story buildings left. The nation had been completely destroyed. Mass massacres have been blamed on US forces in the area of the Sinchon region.
Despite 60 years of hatred and all propaganda dished out daily, Raymond Cunningham says that during his various trips to North Korea in 2009 the people of the North have “nothing but warmth for Americans.”
The South Perspective
South Koreans following the Korean War (1950 – 53) generally were very pro-United States. Because of American assistance to restore the devastated economy of South Korea after the war and willingness of the United States to sacrifice its own soldiers to help South Korea gain independence from the North. But anti-Americanism in South Korea peaked between 2002 and 2005 due to several reasons.
The first noteworthy reason for this shift was the Yangju Highway Incident in 2002, where American military units carrying out a military exercise accidentally killed South Korean school-girls, fourteen-years-old, who were on their way to a birthday party. The American military acquitted the two soldiers responsible for the “negligent homicide” incident, sparking waves of anti-American protests that were unseen in the history of South Korea. Tens of thousands (in Seoul alone, an estimated 50,000) took to the streets to protest the presence of the US military. The military then began attacking Korean citizens, involving firebombing US installations and attempts to knife US military personal.
The second large reason for the increase of anti-Americanism for South Korean people was the Iraq war, which sparked outrage from all of America’s allies at international level (except Britain and Poland). The actions of America angered South Koreans, specifically the act of ignoring the UN and invading Iraq based on sketchy evidence. The majority of South Koreans turned on the US for possibly the first time in decades, and it did not help when reports of Americans torturing Iraqi prisoners brought up painful memories of the incidents when Americans killed South Korean civilians during the Korean War.
Third, and most currently relevant, was President Bush and his administration. In the early 2000s, Bush effectively insulted the entire left wing of Korea by claiming North Korea to be part of the “Axis of Evil” in his State of the Union address in 2002. Korea’s first two liberal leaders, Kim Dae Jung and Roo Moon Hyun, sought after a “Sunshine Policy” with North Korea to ease relations and eventually promote unification. While the feasibility of the plan is doubtful, Bush’s breaking the program into pieces led to the anti-US sentiment. During that time, many considered President Bush to be a fool who embodied all South Korean negative stereotypes towards Americans (stupidity, eagerness to shoot, etc.)
Since these early 2000s instances, the overall opinion of America from South Koreans lifted, currently the sentiment is pro-America once again. In the results from the 2015 BBC World Service Poll “Views of The United States’ Influence by Country” had South Korea at 58% positive and 28% negative. But the aforementioned incidents are still fresh in the country’s memory of the US. Our current president is teetering very close to doing such negative things that Bush did in the 2000s and our most loyal ally could quickly flip again.
Sources
“Army Department Message, Joint Chiefs of Staff to Douglas MacArthur: Harry S. Truman.” Army Department Message, Joint Chiefs of Staff to Douglas MacArthur | Harry S. Truman. Accessed December 9, 2019. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/research-files/army-department-message-joint-chiefs-staff-douglas-macarthur?documentid=NA&pagenumber=2.
“Correspondence between Harry S. Truman and Douglas MacArthur: Harry S. Truman.” Correspondence between Harry S. Truman and Douglas MacArthur | Harry S. Truman. Accessed December 9, 2019. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/research-files/correspondence-between-harry-s-truman-and-douglas-macarthur?documentid=NA&pagenumber=15.
Haruki, Wada. Korean War: An International History. Lamham: Boulder: New York; London: Rowman et Littlefield. 2018.
“Memo, ‘How the Government of Korea Has Been Staffed’: Harry S. Truman.” Memo, “How the Government of Korea Has Been Staffed” | Harry S. Truman. Accessed December 9, 2019. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/research-files/memo-how-government-korea-has-been-staffed?documentid=NA&pagenumber=2.
Press, The Associated. “G.I.’s Tell of a U.S. Massacre in Korean War.” The New York Times. The New York Times, September 30, 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/30/world/gi-s-tell-of-a-us-massacre-in-korean-war.html. 786d6c3
How the United States got Involved in the Korean War
this blog goes into detail of the reasoning behind the United States entering the Korean War as well as the perspective the South Korean soldiers had when the United States (with the United Nations) came to support South Korea in the war.
Things to know before we move on
The Truman Doctrine is the principles that the US should give support to countries or peoples threatened by Soviet forces or Communist insurrections.
The Marshall Plan was a US program providing aid to western Europe following the devastation of World War Two. Was meant to halt the spread of communism on the European continent.
The 38th Parallel is the line on the Korean map that marks the boarder between North and South Korea.
The Battle of P’ohang-dong: due to a severe lack of manpower, South Korean commanders had assigned a company of Seventy-one Student Soldiers to defend P’ohang-dong Girl’s Middle School to delay NKPQ advances into the town. On August 11, 1950 the Squad held their ground and confronted numerous North Korean forces.
The decision to intervene in Korea came out of the tense atmosphere that dominated the politics of the Cold War, many events had left Truman nervous at the face of the North Korean Attack.
- In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded an atomic bomb, ending the monopoly of the weapon by the United States.
- In Europe, the Soviet Union intervened in Greece and Turkey, giving rise to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, which diverted aid to war-torn Europe in the hope of preventing communist political victories.
- In the early 1950s, President Truman ordered the National Security Council (NSC) to preform an evaluation of the Soviet and American capabilities.
Korea was at the forefront of the Cold War. Russia and US worked together during World War Two to free Korea from Imperial Rule of Japan. After the war, the result was a divided nation run by two powers, similar to East and West Germany. The difference was much more complicated in regard to the relationship between the occupants of the country and the superpowers. Stalin saw an opportunity to spread communism while keeping his hands clean by supporting the North Koreans only indirectly, though the Chinese who owed the Koreans a debt.
The US basically had no choice but to respond. If they had not, the precedence of weakness would have been set. Stalin would have been emboldened to participate in an indirect invasion of some other nations, now with more power given to a centralized basis for communist collaboration. Between Russia, China, and a unified Korea. The result could have been anything between the second world war and the world-wide communist rule. Instead, Korea’s relative skirmish led to a stale mate that substantiated the delicate balance of world power that maintained the Cold War for decades to come.
The South Korean perspective of the US entering the war
June 25, 1950 the beginning of the Korean War. It was the first full-scale conflict since World War Two and the region around P’ohang-dong saw fierce clashes between South Koreas 3rd infantry division and North Korean forces. Korean student soldiers ordered to uphold the 38th parallel that MacArthur set while American military advised the South Korean troops to demolish a bridge connecting the territories. Effectively abandoning hundreds of North Korean refugees.
For forty days prior to the beginning of the War, South Korean forces have only been retreating. There was nowhere else to fall back, the only option was to wait for the arrival of the Allies in the Nakdong River. The seventy-one student soldiers delayed the North Korean’s advance for eleven hours, giving time for South Korean and UN troops to counteract later on.
Sources
Cumings, Bruce. The Korean War: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2010, 11-13.
“US Enters the Korean Conflict.” National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed December 9, 2019. https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/korean-conflict.m
Why South Korea is Referred to as a “US Puppet Government” and it’s Correlation with The Korean War
On some base level we all know the United States had a huge impact in the outcome of the Korean War. But if you’re like me, that understanding doesn’t go much deeper. It’s just something we know. This blog is going to explain just how deep the United States was in their involvement with the Korean War before it even began.
Things to know before we move on
Lyuh Woon-Hyung was a Korean politician who argued that Korean independence was essential to world peace. He was assassinated in 1947 in Seoul.
General Douglas MacArthur was an American general who commanded the Southwest Pacific in World War Two, oversaw the successful Allied Occupation of postwar Japan and led United Nations forces in the Korean War.
Gojong of Korea, the emperor Gwangmu, was the last king of Joseon (the Korean dynastic Kingdom that lasted for five centuries) and the first Emperor of Korea.
Park Yeong-Hyu was a Korean politician of the Joseon Dynasty period. He was an enlightenment activist, diplomat and pro-Japanese collaborator.
The Battle of Port Arthur was February 8th and 9th 1904 and marked the commencement of the Russo-Japanese War. It began with a surprise night attack by the Japanese on the neural Russian fleet anchored at Port Arthur, Manchuria, and continued with an engagement the following morning.
The May 1948 Elections were the first Constitutional Assembly Election since South Korea’s freedom from the thirty-five year long colonial control of Japan in 1945.
While it is usually known that the United States got included in the Korean war when they touched down with the United Nations (UN) at Incheon, it was actually General Douglas MacArthur being heavily involved in all governmental decisions leading up to the UN getting involved.
On September 6, 1945 the internationally recognized Korean Government in exile during World War Two elected Lyuh Woon-Hyung (or Yo Un-Hyung) as president of a Unified Korea. When US forces under General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Korea after World War Two and discovered Korea already had a government, he flew into a rage and took steps to dismantle their authority. He deposed Lyuh, removed his government and installed a US appointed Dictator. MacArthur conspired with Rhee Syngman from 1946 – 1947 to create the Republic of Korea (ROK) better known as South Korea and have Lyuh assassinated.
Rhee Syngman became a founder of the White Eagles in 1895, a group of American Christian missionaries involved in espionage activities in Korea. In 1897, working as an American Spy, he was captured in a botched attempt to assassinate the Gojang Emperor of Korea for hiring Park Yeong-Hyo. Rhee was imprisoned with a life sentence for the plot of assassination.
After Japan invaded Port Arthur in 1904 and massacred all of the city’s Europeans, Rhee fled from prison and his white Eagle Missionaries smuggled him to the United States. His position as a US spy arose from his participation in the August 1905 United states hosted Port Smith Peace Talks between Japan and Russia.
In 1919, Lyuh Woon-Hyung formed a provisional Korean Government in exile in Shanghai, recognized by both China, Russia and the entire League of Nations (precursor to the Unite Nations). Rhee Syngman soon joined the government of Lyuh in Shanghai as a US spy. Rhee was expelled in October 1920 for undefined “acts contrary to the interests of the Korean People.” Upon his return to the States, Rhee was appointed as the lifelong president of the influential Korean Comrade Society, where he lobbied US Naval leaders to form US policies towards Korea.
MacArthur who himself was a Republican candidate for the 1948 primaries in the United States, had Rhee Syngman granted a fake passport and flew him to Japan after World War Two against the wishes of the US president Truman’s Democrat Administration. MacArthur had Rhee flown on his personal plane from Japan to Korea and Rhee was then appointed President of the Central Committee for Independence promotion in charge of managing the elections scheduled for May 1948. Rhee Syngman managed elections by rounding up and arresting trade unionist, opposition politicians and ordinary Koreans opposed to his provisional government of South Korea, all with the blessings and oversight of General MacArthur. Until 1987, South Korea had experienced no democracy. General MacArthur was directly responsible for Koreas position under a UN Trustee that he insisted on. Under Lyuh Woon-Hyung, MacArthur was responsible for removing a unified elected Korean government.
Sources
History.com Editors. “Douglas MacArthur.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, October 29, 2009. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/douglas-macarthur.
“Japan’s Attack on Port Arthur.” History Today. Accessed December 11, 2019. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/japan’s-attack-port-arthur.
Robert T. Oliver, Syngman Rhee: The Man Behind the Myth (New York: Dodd Mead, 1954), 21.
Chong-sik Lee, Syngman Rhee: The Prison Years of a Young Radical (Seoul: Yonsei University Press, 2001), 55.
The Forgotten War 