Korean Civlization

1. Korean 10: Korean Civilization
Week 4: Slide Presentation 2 of 2
Liberation, Division, & War
1945-1954
Prof. Mickey Hong
Modern Languages & Civilizations

2. Surrender of
Japan (1945)
 Japanese Emperor
Hirohito announces
surrender of Japan on August
15
 Japanese foreign affairs
minister Mamoru
Shigemitsu signed
the Japanese Instrument of
Surrender aboard
the USS Missouri as
General Richard K.
Sutherland witnessed on
September 2, 1945

3. Aftermath of the Liberation
 New Occupation (USSR
& US)
 Consequence of the
pro-Japanese
collaborators
[ch’inilp’a]
 Who would lead the
(two) Korea(s)?
DMZ (Korean Demilitarized Zone)

4. No Tŏksul, “The
King of Torture”
(1899-1968)
 Notorious policeman during
the Japanese occupation
 Chief investigator for the
capital city‘s police
headquarters
 Active Japanese
collaborator
 Cruelly tortured Korean
nationalists
 Briefly prisoned after the
Liberation
 Worked under Syngman
Rhee
 Continued to torture those
accused of being
communists in South Korea
 Was never punished for his
crimes

5. Park Chunghee (1917-1979)
 Takagi Masao
 Manchukuo Imperial Army
Academy: when he first applied
the academy, he was rejected
because of his age. Then Pak
wrote a letter with his blood
saying that he is determined to
give away his life for Japan.
 Army Staff College in Japan
 Lieutenant in Manchukuo
Imperial Army
 Showed loyalty to Japan
 President of South Korea (1963–
1979)
 Pro-Japanese collaborator?

6. Legacies of colonialism
(8/22/1910-8/15/1945)
 Clashes between old and new
classes, ideologies
 Strong state, (relatively) weak
civil society
 Active and passive resistance
 Atomic bombs on Hiroshima
(8/6/1945) and Nagasaki
(8/9/1945)
 Japanese surrender 8/5/1945
 “Liberation” from Japan but not
freedom

7. Origins of the division of the Korean
peninsula
 Korean people’s Republic incorporated leftists and right-learning nationalist
exiles.
 Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence (Chosŏn kŏn’guk
chunbi wiwŏnhoe), Yŏ Unhyŏng
 Korean People’s Republic (Chosŏn inmin konghwaguk) est. Sept 6, 1945,
headed by Syngman Rhee
 However, US government did not recognize the committee comprised of
Korean people.
 Korean could not be free from the intervention of the powerful countries.
 US ordered to Japan to keep all system intact and transfer to US.
 Called for land reform confiscating only the land owned by Japanese and
collaborators.

8. Liberation and the New Occupation
 USSR (The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) declared war against Japan (Aug
8, 1945)
 US: Atomic bombs (Aug 9 & 14, 1945)
 Entering Seoul (Sep 9)
 USAMGIK: General Hodge
 Moscow Conference/Agreement (Dec 1945):US, USSR, UK, China
 5-year trusteeship under US, UK, China, USSR
 Korean opposition
 Moscow Agreement (Dec 1945):US, USSR, UK, China
 US-Soviet Joint Commission (1946, 1947): Establish interim Korean government
-

9.  USSR declared war against Japan and attacked Manchuria.
 Powerful countries already debated before the official liberation of Korea.
 The word powers had meetings in 1943 and 1945 and agree to split Korea into
two at 38th parallel
 It was done on August 10, 1945, before the official surrender of Japan.
 Korea to become free and independent “in due courses”
 US and Soviet Union share interest in Korea and agreed to split Korea at 38th
parallel in August 10, 1945.

11. From Japan to US
 Japanese flag down then the US
flag went up in Seoul on Sept 9,
1945
 Korea flag should be there
instead of US flag
 General McArthur: adopted
Koreans who collaborated Japan
as officials
 "The U.S. policy in postwar
Korea demonstrated a lack of
vision, planning, and
coordination between the
branches of the U.S. home
government and with the U.S.
personnel in Korea, as well as a
paucity of consideration for the
people of the land. Overall, the
policy was comprised of
reactive, incremental stop-gap
measures.” B.C. Oh, Korea
Under American Military
Government, 1945-1948 (2002)

12. 38th Parallel
 United States Military
Government (USMG) in South
Korea
 Soviet occupation in North Korea

13. North and South
 Competition for power in the South (Syngman Rhee vs. Kim Ku)
 Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai (KPG)
 Kim Ilsung in North Korea
 Decision of the UN
 General election under UN supervision
 Withdrawal of foreign troops
 Creation of the UN Temporary Commission on Korea
 Operation of the UN Temporary Commission on Korea
 Rejected by the North
 New UN resolution: election in the possible area only
 General election in the South (May 1948): Republic of Korea
(ROK)
 North (Sep. 1948): Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(DPRK)

14. Korean Provisional
Government (KPG)
 National leaders as Syngman Rhee,
An Ch’angho, and Kim Ku
 Korea was able to make more
concerted efforts toward achieving
independence from Japan
 the leaders published a
newspaper, The Independent, which
greatly enhanced popular
consciousness of political
participation
 Syngman Rhee was elected the
president; remained in the United
States, attempting to solicit
Western moral support
 Kim Ku drew close to the right-wing
Chinese Nationalists of Chiang Kai-
shek

15. Two Koreas
 Republic of Korea est. Aug. 15, 1948
- Syngman Rhee (1875-1965)
 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
established Aug. 25, 1948
- Kim Il Sung (1912-1994)

16. Founding South Korea
(1945-48)
 Political Organization under US Occupation, 1945-1948
 KPR (Korean People’s Republic)
 Preparation Committee
 Yŏ Unhyŏng: socialist coalition government
 People’s committee
 Leftwing peasant organization
 KDP (Korean Democratic Party)
 Kim Sŏngsu: against KPR
 Cooperated with the The United States Army Military Government
in Korea (USAMGIK)Syngman Rhee: pro-US, anti-communist
 US chose KDP and Rhee Syngman
 Nature of the KDP-Rhee coalition => nature of the SK elites
 Korean Independence Party
 Kim Ku: president of Korean Provisional Government (KPG)
 USMG did not recognize the KPG
 Single coalition government: objection to founding of the SK
 Assassination of Kim Ku (1949)

17. US Occupation Policy, 1945-1948
 US concerns
 Reverse Course of 1947 (in Japan and Korea)
 Containment of communist expansion in Korea
 Reconstruction of Japan’s capitalist economy
 US goal: anti-communist/ pro-American government
in the South
 Repression of KPR/ People’s Committees (1947)
 Hodge’s Four Steps to create pro-American rightist
government
 Creation of army (Korean National Army)
 Recruited Korean officers from Japanese
Army => nature of the SK army
 Buttress of the Korean National police (KNP)
 85% served in the Japanese police
 Alliance with rightist parties (KDP)
 Suppression of any defiance => nature of the SK
politics => authoritarianism

18.  Francesca Maria Barbara Donner was
the inaugural First Lady of South
Korea, from 1948 to 1960, as the
second wife of Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee

19. Founding of North Korea (1945-1948)
 Political organization under the USSR
 Noncommunist nationalist group
 Cho Mansik: Christian nationalist
 Attributes of P’yŏngyang: center of religion (Christianity, Chŏndogyo),
petty-bourgeoisie, education
 Indigenous communist faction
 Active in Hamgyŏng and Chŏlla provinces
 Partisans-Soviet faction
 Anti-Japanese guerrillas under Kim Il Sung
 Korean-Russian intellectuals and technocrats
 Yenan faction
 Korean CCP members and Korean soldiers in CPA (led by Mao Zedong)
 Anti-Japanese guerrillas
 Final victory of Kim Il Sung over opponents

20. Kim Il Sung
Becomes a cult of personality in the North

21. Precursors to War:
Rebellions on Cheju Island and
Yŏsu/Sunch’ŏn
(1948)
 There was many communist sympathizers and left-wing guerilla
hiding in South Korea
 a rebellions on Cheju island lead by left-wing.
 Military regime in Yŏsu are ordered to transfer Cheju to
suppress a communist rebellion there.
 Some members of the regime in Yŏsu refused to transfer
to Cheju (Jeju) Island, they were sympathetic to the
communists and against the Rhee government and the decisive
U.S. influence In South Korea.
 The rebels soon occupied parts of Southern part of Korea
(eastern South Chŏlla province) and attempted to establish
their own “Korean people’s republic.”
 U.S. Army and South Korean government forces were dispatched
to suppress the rebellion, and brutality was reported on both
sides of the conflict.
 The insurgents targeted and executed military commanders,
local government authorities and police, and those who had
collaborated with the Japanese during colonial period.

22. Precursors to
War
 US policy toward Korea, 1949-
1950
 Two opinions in the Truman
Administration
 Containment
(trusteeship)
 Rollback
 USSR and PRC attitudes toward
Kim’s Plan
 Main concern: possibility of
the US intervention
 Kim’s visit to Stalin
 Kim’s visit to Mao

23. Korean War
(June 1950-July
1953)
 The Korean War (1950-1953): deepening of
the division
 Rhee and Kim, 1949-1950
 Military power of two Koreans
 Both South and North: 100k
troops
 KPA (Korean People’s Army)
exceeded 100K
 Korean War: Koreans call it Six-Two-Five
War (June 25)
 The first “hot” war of the Cold War

24. The Invasion
 North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950 and took
Seoul in 3 days
 the United States and other countries passed a Security Council
resolution authorizing military intervention in Korea.
 the Soviet Union boycotted the United Nations Security Council.
 In the absence of a veto from the Soviet Union,
 UN intervention, US Task Force Smith from Japan arrived but the task
force ill prepared;
 Task Force Smith was named for Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Smith,
commanding officer,
 Suffering severe casualties within the first two months, the UN and
South Korean defenders were pushed back to the Pusan perimeter.
 UN dispatched another general, Duglas MacArthur.
 He lands at Inch’ŏn early Sept. Incheon is close to capital city, Korea.
 The Inchoen landing attacked the Notrth Koreans on the backside
 He retake of Seoul Sept. 28;
 MacArthur pushes past 38th parallel, going as far as Yalu river

25. Korean War Timeline:
June 1950-September 1950
 June 25, 1950: outbreak of war
 June 28, 1950: Seoul falls to NK
forces
 July 5, 1950: Task Force Smith
arrives
 Early Sept 1950: Pusan Perimeter
 Sept 15, 1950: MacArthur’s
landing at Inch’ŏn
 Sept 28, 1950: Seoul retaken by
Allied forces

26. The Chinese
involvement
 General MacArthur believed that the Chinese would never
defeat the US forces.
 However, when the US army went up to the Yalu river, border
area between Korea and China, Chinese government decided to
support the North Korea to stop the American domination of
East Asia.
 Then the People's Republic of China (PRC) entered the war on
the side of North Korea.
 With the intervention of Chinese, Korean war became a war
between Communist and Capitalist blocs (American Imperialism)
 Chinese military strategy in the Korean war is called “Human
wave attack,” (Human wave; Human sea)
 Chinese-North Korean forces chased US-South Korea forces back
down the peninsula up to Seoul.
 Seoul captured again by North Korea and Chinese forces;
 Allied force retook Seoul Sept. 28, 1950

27. Stalemate
 Stalemate from 1951 to 1953 refers to the lack of movement of the battlefront
itself, but at high cost. Movie Frontline shows that people are dying out during the
stalemate
 More allied bombs were dropped on NK than on Germany or Japan during WWII,
where three years of bombing left hardly a modern building standing.
 It took two years that armistice agreement was signed at P’anmunjŏm on July 27,
1953
 The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when the armistice agreement was signed.
 The agreement restored the border between the Koreas near the 38th Parallel and
created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), buffer zone between the two
Korean nations.
 Minor incidents still continue.

28. Korean War Timeline:
September 1950-July 1953
 Oct 1, 1950: Allied forces cross
38th parallel
 Jan 4, 1951: Seoul retaken by
NK/PRC (People’s Republic of
China) forces
 Sept 28, 1951: Seoul retaken
by Allied forces
 Stalemate but at high costs
 July 27, 1953: Armistice signed
 Korean Demilitarized Zone
(DMZ)

29. DMZ (Korean Demilitarized Zone)

30. 5 Phases Timeline
Click link for the poster
6-9/1950
Phase 1
9-11/1950
Phase 2
11/50-1/51
Phase 3
1-7/1951
Phase 4
7/51-7/53
Phase 5

31. Conclusion: the nature
of the war
 NK view: liberation war
 SK view: communist invasion of a
‘free’ state
 International and/or civil war?
 What lead to the chain reaction?

32. Korean War: Casualties
 750,000 military; 800,000 civilian deaths
 300,000 NK
 227,000 SK
 200,000 (- 500,000) CPV
 37,000 U.S.
 4,000 U.N. Allies
 “More allied bombs on NK than on Germany or
Japan during WWII”

33.  Tragedy of the Korean War: the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians
mostly innocent bystanders
 Collateral damage: used as a military term where it can refer to the
incidental destruction of civilian property and non-combatant casualties.
Unintended damage, injuries, or deaths caused by action, especially
unintended civilian casualties caused by a military operation.
Pablo Picasso, “The Massacre in Korea” (1951)

34. From
Conventional to
Guerrilla
Warfare

35. Economic Recovery
 South Korea was extremely poor with 1960 per capita income of $100.
 South Korea almost entirely relied on aid funds in the 1950s
 $12 billions of US funds to South Korea 1945-1965.
 US willing to help Syngman Rhee in return for strong support in Cold War

36. South Korea
Post War, 1950s - 1960s -1970s

37. Aftermath
 Emotional hostility deepened
between North and South
 Extreme rightist (SK) and extreme
leftist (NK): no neutral
 Dictatorship and militarism in both
South and North: Beneficial Enemy
 Separated, Divided, Lost families

38. Red = Communism
 Soviet Russia had a Red Army, while the flags of
Communist Russia and China are both awash in red.
 Red symbolize communist revolution
 Starting in the French Revolution, red flags symbolized
uprisings against entrenched authority
 The red color became phenomenon with the Russian
Revolution in 1917 and the rise of the Red Army in China
 The red in the Russian and Chinese flags today are
believed to represent the blood of the workers
 Red honors the suffering and sacrifices of the proletariat.
 The red star in North Korean flag is a universal symbol of
communism.
 The two blue stripes stand for unity (sovereignty, peace
and friendship). The white stripes symbolize purity.

39. Anti-Red = Anti-Communism:
South Korean Propaganda
 Because of severe
purge toward
communists in South
Korea, people have
negative reaction red,
it’s called red
complex.
 South Koreans develops
Red complex: extreme
anti-communism

40. North Korea Propaganda against the US

41. Censorship in South Korea
 South Korea has one of the freest media environments in Asia
 Since the inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak in 2008, South Korea has
experienced a noticeable decline in freedom of expression for both journalists
and the general public.
 South Korea's status in the 2011 Freedom of the Press report from Freedom
House declined from "Free" to "Partly Free"
 Reflecting an increase in official censorship and government attempts to
influence news and information content.

42. Banned Books in South Korea (2008)
 Ha-Joon Chang's Bad Samaritans: The Myth
of Free Trade and the Secret History of
Capitalism
 criticizes mainstream economics
and neo-liberalism
 Rich and powerful governments and
institutions = "Bad Samaritans"
 Hans-Peter Martin's The Global Trap:
Globalization and the Assault on Democracy
and Prosperity
 Worldwide bestseller
 "20/80 society“: society of the 21st
century, 20 percent of the working age
population will be enough to keep the
world economy going, The other 80
percent live on some form
of welfare and are entertained with a
concept called "tittytainment,” a form
of lowest common denominator
entertainment designed to appeal to
the masses and refrain people from
thinking

43. How did “RED” change
meaning?
 Red Devils is the name of the official supporting group
for the Korea Republic national football team.
 Term coined by the international media in 1983
 The main activity for the Red Devils is supporting the
national football team, i.e. cheering.
 The cheering of the Red Devils is noted for being highly
organized and extremely passionate.