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Liberation and the Aftermath On August 15th, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced on the radio that Japan had surrendered and that the long war in the Pacific was finally over. The news of the Japanese capitulation was welcomed with a great deal of relief and joy in Korea. The Japanese surrender to the Allies meant that forty years of harsh colonial rule would come to an end.The 15th of August, the day that WW II was officially over, was also the Day of Liberation in Korea. Unfortunately, liberation from the Japanese would not spell the end for Korea's misfortunes. The division of Korea into two separate states loomed just beyond the horizon. And perhaps the greatest tragedy of all, the Korean War, lingered not too far behind. The events that would occur between Liberation Day and August 25th (the day that there were two official governments in the Korean peninsula) would set the stage for the tragedy of the Korean War. To learn more about the liberation of Korea, the American & Soviet occupation of Korea, or the emergence of separate states in Korea just "click " on one of the following choices: Allied Plans for Korea The Americans enter Korea The Emergence of Two Koreas Consolidation and Confrontation Timeline of main events Liberation and the division of Korea
The Allied Plans for Korea 1943 British foreign minister met with Roosevelt Anthony Eden Discussedwhat to do with should be agreed governed Manchuria Formosa Korea by an international trusteeship after the war For a period of they 30-40 years "schooled" their theories and forms of democracy prior to being granted national independence.
Which proclaimed that "the aforesaid three great powers, mindful of the enslavement of the people of Korea are determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent." Roosevelt 1943 announced the "Cairo Declaration" Churchill Chiang Kai-shek Roosevelt "some period of apprenticeship before full independence might be attained." 1944 Churchill Ask Stalin for Truman general agreement on trusteeship Churchill left a 1945 Potsdam Conference Stalin which possessed numerous holes that would later foster conflict between the former war-time allies.
The Allies move into Korea • Expecting a long and difficult campaign to drive the Japanese out of the Asian mainland and to invade Japan itself, U.S. military plannersGeneral Douglas MacArthursought Soviet assistance in ending the Pacific War. The American State Department was willing to "swallow" Soviet control of Manchuria and Korea as the price to be paid for the Soviet entrance into the war against Japan. • The sudden Japanese collapsemeant that nothing was in the way of Soviet control of the entire Korean peninsula. The State department now devised a plan which would divide the peninsula in half, leaving the Soviets to occupy Korea north of the 38th parallel and an American occupation south of the line. The State Department proposal, otherwise known as General Order #1, was drafted by two young colonels, Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel. • Depending how one looks at it, the Soviet decision to go along with General Order #1 and halt at the 38th parallel was simultaneously both predictable and an utter surprise. The Soviet halt was surprising because • nothing was in the way of Soviet domination of the whole of Korea. • Japanese forces, were in a state of disintegration in the face of the Soviet juggernaut. • American forces were in Okinawa and too far away to meet, much less challenge, the Soviet rush southward down the peninsula. This hastily drafted division of Korea along the 38th parallel still remains to this day.
The Americanproposal it was construed by the Soviets as an American test of Soviet intentions in the post-war era. because was predictable a direct Soviet challenge to the United States in Korea was deemed too "expensive" and risky, given the Soviet need to come to terms with the Americans in the post-war order of Europe, an area that was of greater strategic importance to the Soviet Union. The Soviets conclusion that the possible gains in seizing the whole of Korea were not worth inherent risks. P'yongyang The Soviets moved to occupy Hamhung all the major cities north of the 38th parallel. The Americans arrived in a full month after the Soviets crossed the border into Korea. on September 8th Inchon Harbor The American military quickly occupied the southern half of the peninsula Seoul Korea was now occupied militarily by two foreign nations with separate and conflicting agendas. Their influence on the hapless nation and its people would soon be felt.
The Emergence of Two Koreas suggested a U.S. a multi-lateral conference China swayed to follow the American line could be because before the United Nations Britain involving U.S favored Soviet Union 1947 American proposal rejected because United Nations passed a resolution It was not agreed at the Moscow Conference. "United Nations Temporary Committee on Korea" UNTCOK watchdog national elections to be scheduled sometime before March 31st 1948. denied entrance in American Occupational Zone Soviet Zone so The Committee opted for separate elections to be held in the South
separate elections would lead to a permanent partition of the country Because they believed that some rejected the Koreans U.N. plan Syngman Rhee approved of the U.N. plan for separate elections because Only a South Korean government would be able to raise a South Korean Army to repel an invasion from the north. Rightist leader Kim Ku leftist leader Kim Kyu Sik over the issue of separate elections for South Korea broke with Rhee Both attended a in "unity conference" P'yongyang voiced opposition against the idea of separate elections that transcended all political faiths But the U.S. military government in Korea decided to implement the U.N. plan.
1948 elections were held in the South UNTCOK "a valid expression of the free will of the electorate in those parts of Korea which were accessible to the Commission" declared them The new Representatives in the established the Republic of Korea southern end of the peninsula the Three months later National Assembly elected Syngman Rhee to become the president of the ROK autumnof1948 Elections were in held in the North born Democratic People's Republic of Korea elected as its first premier Kim Il Sung The creation of two separate regimes was due to the formation of quasi-governmental bodies that possessed some administrative
such as in the the Interim People's Committee North in the the Interim Legislative Assembly South With these elections the division of Korea had an air of permanence Consolidation and Confrontation Both regimes faced similar challenges The first challenge attaining legitimacy the existence of the "other" state was an obstacle in achieving it ROK led by Syngman Rhee competition for the allegiance of the nation DPRK led by Kim Il Sung domestic opposition that seriously endangered the consolidation of one-man rule.
Syngman Rhee The second challenge contend with the politically powerful southern landlords that grew suspicious of Rhee's growing autocratic ways had to confront what was left of the Left in South Korea who began threatening his rule by engaging in armed rebellions and mass demonstrations throughout the country Kim Il Sung As head of the Korean Worker's Party so he use all the autocratic means at his disposal to insure his position at the top. a union of various communist groupings was faced with a party that had four different "voices". leader of the Soviet faction The first "voice was accented by Russian headed by Ho Kai-I The second "voice“ led by Pak Hon yong which had a southern Korean accent The third "voice" led by Kim Tu Bong had a heavy Chinese accent leader of the Yenan faction The last "voice" was Kim Il Sung's own Kapsin "guerrilla" faction
He embark on a campaign to systematically wipe out all the other voices leaving the party and the state united under the only voice of Kim Il Sung. so 1948-1950 was marked by an intense drive towards political consolidation on the part of the two regimes and its rulers. Kim Il Sung & the Consolidation of the North was Kim Il Sung on the road to socialism was able to nationalize nine-tenths of the nation's industrial production with Soviet assistance and advice, embarked on a two-year economic plan 1950 placed on heavy industry the economic life of the country was firmly in the hands of the government. strove for political consolidation of his own rule when he became chairman of the Korean Worker's Party
was able to Kim Il Sung remove potential challengers from "center stage" Pak was delegated as vice-chairman of the party erstwhile leader of the South Korean Communists yet contained and enclosed enough so that Kim was able to pull the reins in on Pak if it ever proved necessary prestige Kim's own image in the south relegating remove most Soviet-Koreans from positions of power Ho Kai-I Kim Tu Bong co vice- chairman with Pak Hon Yong. Was the leader of the Chinese "Yenan" faction leader of the "Soviet" faction within the Korean Worker's party become chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly Kim Il Sung was the lone master of North Korea. unification Was of The Central issue of North Korean regime the sole legitimate government in Korea The DPRK considered itself as because wanted to extend their rule southward to Pusan the southern regime did not have the support of the populace
"the most important and immediate task of the party and the people". June 1949 declared that unification was Kim Il Sung Later than made the fateful decision that he would have to call on the military to unify the nation Korean People's Army,(KPA) the presence of Soviet military advisors Strength ened by the large amounts of military equipment Syngman Rhee & the Consolidation of the South Rhee's hunger for the enlargement of executive authority soon ran into conflict with the legislative body. expand the mandate of the National Security Law (NSL), When he designed to used the Syngman Rhee crack down on alleged communist inspired sedition to suppress any political opposition to his authority against members of the National Assembly who called for the dismissal of Rhee's cabinet the purging of former Japanese collaborators in the Rhee bureaucracy Rhee's main base of political support
strengthening support of farmers pushed through a Rhee land reform bill weakening the influence of Korean landlords. to were Those who objected jailed by invoking the NSL • Communist inspired insurrections threatened Rhee's bid for political consolidation 1948 a rebellion of communist guerrillas and peasants that challenged the authority of the new regime Cheju-do uprising response was a severe crackdown in Cheju-do where In other areas guerrillas broke out Rhee succeeded in squashing these internal threats to his power called for a Syngman Rhee "march north" overthrow the communist regime in P'yongyang to replace it with that of his own. 1949 and 1950 stepped up his rhetoric to a feverish pitch Despite the intensity of his The Republic of Korea was incapable of launching a major military campaign to unify the peninsula. The South Korea Army much inferior was to the Korean People's Army
Until MacArthur’s ampphibious attack Towards Confrontation The Belligerent rhetoric of both sides tension created a along the of high level anxiety 38th parallel. The border separating the two Korea was often the scene of violent clashes and routine cross-border raids.
Syngman Rhee Rhee wasborninKaesongin1875, thesonof apoverty-stricken Yangban(Korean Gentry) family. As a young adult, Rheestudied English. In1896, Rhee played a minorrole in formingtheIndependence Club. By1897, Rhee wasimprisoned for variouspolitical activities. In1905, a year after his release from prison, Rhee went to theUnited Statestostudy. After receiving hisPh.D fromPrinceton University in International Law, Rhee went back to Korea for just a short while before returning to the U.S. where he remaineduntil 1945as aKorean nationalistinexile laboring and lobbyingforKorean independence. While in exile, Rhee became thePresident of the Korean Provisional Governmentfor a short stint. He maneuvered to position himself as theprincipal spokesman for the Korean Right. By1947, Syngman Rhee, had received the unofficial "blessing" of the U.S. tolead the Koreansafter thewithdrawal of theAmerican presence in Korea. Syngman Rhee was chosen by the National Assembly to become the firstPresident of the Republic of Koreain1948. As President, Rheecracked down on political opponents and coerced the press to print news more favorable to the government. Rhee's rhetoric about a"march north"to unify the Peninsula under his ruledid not lessen a bit. During the war, Rhee helped tostir controversyby encouragingGeneral Douglas MacArthurand theU.N. forcesunder his commandto liberate the north.He led Koreauntil theageof85when astudent uprisingtoppled his government in April of1960. From thereRheeleftfor theUnited Stateswhere heremained in exileuntil hisdeathin1965.
Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (Kim Song Ju) was born in P'yongi in 1912. Kim and his family emigrated to Manchuria in the 1920's where he attended a Chinese school. At the age of fifteen, Kim was arrested and imprisoned for a year for having been a founding member of a Communist Youth League. After his release from jail in 1930, Kim founded the Korean Revolutionary Army. In 1931, Kim join a Chinese Communist guerrilla group,fighting the Japanese military in Manchuria. Kim swiftly rose up the ranks of the Chinese Communist Army. Between the years 1932- 1941, Kim led a band of Korean guerrillasagainst Japanese positions and personnel in Manchuria. In 1941, Japanese counterinsurgency forces forced Kim to leave Manchuria for the Soviet Union. There he remained until he "hitched" a ride with the Soviet Army into Korea in 1945. Kim strove to unify Korea under the banner of communism. After the creation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1948, Kim became not only the head of the Korean Workers' Party, but premier of the new communist state as well. In late 1949, Kim made the fateful decision to launch a major military campaign to unify Korea under force of arms. After the war, Kim continued the trend towards one-man rule. He succeeded in constructing a cult of personality with himself as the main icon for adoration .In the post-Korean War years, Kim developed the idea of juche, an ideology of self-reliance blended with Marxism, thus creating a distinct "native" Korean communism. At the age of 82, Kim Il Sung died.
1945 1950 Timeline 1947 1951 1948 1953
1945 15 Aug Korea divided into US and Soviet occupation zones along 38th parallel 1947 26 July President Truman's National Security Act creates US Department of Defense 1948 15 Aug After supervised elections, US military government turns over power to Republic of Korea
1950 June July August September 25 - North Korean People's Army invades South Korea - UN calls for an end of aggression 27 - UN asks member countries to aid Republic of Korea - US announces intervention. North Korea attacks Seoul airfield. 28 - US bombers attack troops in Han River area - North Korean army captures Seoul 30 - President Truman orders ground forces into Korea and authorizes Air Force to bomb North Korea 5 - Near Osan, Task Force Smith troops fight for the first time and suffer heavy casualties 18 - US Cavalry lands at Pohangdong - US aircraft destroy key oil refinery in Wonsan 22 - Battle for Taejon ends with heavy US losses and retreat 4 - Pusan perimeter established in southeastern Korea 13 - First UN counterattack collapses 15 - Four-day battle of "the Bowling Alley" - UN forces hold back North Korean offensive • 15 - Inchon landing of UN forces • 29 - UN troops complete recapture of Seoul
November December October 7 - UN forces cross 38th parallel - UN sanctions defeat of North Korea and attempted reunification 14 - Chinese Communist troops cross Yalu River into Korea 19 - UN captures P'yongyang, the North Korean capital • 1 - Chinese attack in force near Unsan • - General Douglas MacArthur's final "Home by Christmas" offensive begins 11 - End of Chinese strike against marine and army divisions at Chosin Reservoir - marines retreat 1951 January February March April 4 - Seoul captured by Chinese 25 - UN forces resume offensive f 11- Chinese counteroffensive begins north of Hoengsong 1 - UN line reaches between the 37th and 38th Parallels 18 - UN forces retake Seoul 11 - MacArthur recalled - General Matthew Ridgway given command
September November June July 13 - UN forces dig in on the 38th Parallel f 10 - Truce talks begin at Kaesong - Communists break off talks six weeks later f 23 - UN forces take Heartbreak Ridge after 18-day battle d 27 - Truce talks resume at Panmunjom 1953 June March April 18 - Three-day battle of Pork Chop Hill ends in victory for UN forces 26 - Full peace talks resume at Panmunjomf 14 - Communist offensive pushes Republic of Korea troops south 18 - South Koreans release 27,000 North Korean POWs, who refuse repatriation 25 - "Little Truce Talks" secure Republic of Korea's acceptance of armistice. Chinese launch massive attacks against South Korean divisions. 28 - North Korean and Chinese leaders agree to POW exchange s
September July 10 - Communists return to negotiations 27 - Cease fire signed - fighting ends 12 hours later 4 - Processing of POWs for repatriation begins at Freedom Village, Panmunjom Bibliography • Alexander, Bevin, Korea, The First War We Lost. New York, New York. Hippocrene Books, 1986. Fehrenbach, T. R., This Kind of War, A Study in Unpreparedness, New York, New York. • Presidio Press, 1990. Paschall, Rod, Witness to War, Korea, New York, New York. • Bruce Cumings' "The Origins of the Korean War" Volumes I & 2. • "Political Change in South Korea" edited by Ilpyong J. Kim and Young Whan Kihl. • "The Failure of Democracy in South Korea" by the former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, Han Sung Joo. • George E. Ogle's "SOUTH KOREA-Dissent Within The Economic Miracle" Korean War maps
