The Passions, 1945–1948: The Birth of the Two Koreas

The Historical Pathos of Liberation and Sinparam

• Verbatim Definition of Sinparam: A Korean word expressing the pathos and inner joy of a person moved to action not by coercion but by his own volition.

• The Metaphor of the Wind: Param is the sound of the wind; if a person is wafted on this wind, songs burst from their lips and their legs dance with joy.

• Mystical Context: The word is redolent with a shamanistic mystique and acts as a talisman for Koreans who have freed themselves from oppression and live in mutual trust.

• The Decisive Decade: The period from $1943$ to $1953$ was the crucible for national division and the breeding ground for the two Koreas and the subsequent catastrophic war.

• Role of the United States: Despite being a footnote in many American histories, the U.S. operated a full military government from $1945$ to $1948$.

• Correction of Historical Misconceptions: A former editor of the New York Times, A. M. Rosenthal, claimed Americans stupidly let Russians into the North, but actually, the Soviets (starting August $8$) already occupied the North and stopped at the parallel, while the U.S. shunned the existing Korean People’s Republic (KPR).

The Hasty Division at the $38 ext{th}$ Parallel

• The Selection Process: Midnight on $August 10\text{--}11, 1945$, John J. McCloy directed Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles H. Bonesteel to find a division line.

• Reasoning: Given only $30\,minutes$, Rusk and Bonesteel chose the $38 ext{th}$ parallel to ensure the capital city of Seoul was in the American zone.

• Soviet Non-Objection: Although the line was further north than realistically reachable, the Soviets made no objections, which surprised Rusk.

• Lack of Consultation: No Koreans, British, or Chinese (partners in the planned trusteeship) were consulted in this unilateral and hasty decision.

• Historical Pretext: There was no historical or internal justification for the division; it even cut the city of Kaes\u014fng, the old Kory\u014f capital, in half.

Roosevelt\'s Trusteeship Strategy and Planning

• Multilateral Trusteeship Idea: Franklin D. Roosevelt suggested a gradual, tutelary policy to prepare Koreans for self-government \"in due course.\"

• The Cairo Declaration ($1943$): Used the phrase \"in due course,\" which was historically associated with Prime Minister Hara Kei\'s justification of Japanese \"cultural policy\" in $1919$.

• Duration: Roosevelt initially envisioned a trusteeship lasting as long as $40$ to $50\,years$, though the December $1945$ agreement shortened this to a maximum of $5\,years$.

• Logistical Fears: Planners as early as $1942$ worried about the security implications of Soviet involvement and exaggerated the number of Korean guerrillas fighting with the Soviets in Manchuria to as many as $30,000$.

• Absence of Roosevelt: The author argues that division was a \"cruder device\" that reflected the absence of Roosevelt’s diplomatic hand after his death in $April\,1945$.

The American Occupation and General John Reed Hodge

• The Commander: General John Reed Hodge, the war hero often called the \"Patton of the Pacific,\" led the Twenty-fourth Corps of the Tenth Army.

• Arrival at Inch\u2019\u014fn: The convoy of $21\,ships$ (including $5\,destroyers$) arrived on $September\,8, 1945$, in warm, clear weather following a typhoon off Okinawa.

• The Landing Scenario: American troops disembarked while black-coated Japanese police on horseback held back Korean crowds.

• Initial Force: The total number of American troops and civil service teams reached $25,000$ within weeks.

• Reliance on Japanese Propaganda: On $August\,29$, the Japanese colonial government-general radioed for Allied forces to take into consideration \"actual conditions,\" which Hodge used to justify his quick move to Seoul.

The Conflict of Korean Political Entities in the South

• Korean People\u2019s Republic (KPR): Formed on $September\,6, 1945$ (Choson Inmin Konghwaguk). It was anchored in rural \"people\u2019s committees.\"

• U.S. Preference: Americans backed a group of exiled nationalists and conservative domestic politicians who formed the Korean Democratic Party (KDP) on $September\,16, 1945$.

• The Dilemma of the KDP: The party consisted of landowners and the elite who had thrived under colonial rule. They had no base among the majority poor peasant population.

• Hodge\u2019s Dilemma: In $1947$, Hodge expressed confusion on how to find a middle-of-the-road political solution, fearing that fighting Communism would lead to Fascism (citing Germany and Spain as examples).

Profiles of Key Early Leaders

• Y\u014f Un-hy\u014fng (Lyuh Woon-hyung):     * Born $1885$ into poor yangban family. Mixture of Christianity, Wilsonian democracy, and socialism.     * Description of appearance by Albert Keep: Grey fedora, grey tweed overcoat, looking like he was off for a date at a Greenwich Country club.     * Political fate: Beaten in $August\,1945$, nearly lynched in $October\,1946$, home destroyed by grenade in $March\,1947$, and assassinated on $July\,19, 1947$, with the murderer firing $3\,bullets$ from a $.45\,automatic$.

• Syngman Rhee:     * Septuagenarian with a Ph.D. from Princeton and an Austrian wife (Francesca).     * Returned to Korea on General MacArthur\u2019s personal plane on $October\,16, 1945$.     * Described by later CIA studies as having a \"shallow intellect\" and behavior that was \"irrational and even childish.\"

• Kim Ku (\"The Assassin\"):     * Born $1875$; joined the Tonghak movement in $1892$.     * Strangled a Japanese man in $1896$ to avenge Queen Min, scrawling his name \"Kim [Number] Nine\" in blood on the wall.     * Engineered the $1932$ Shanghai attack that killed Kawabata Teiji and maimed Shigemitsu Mamoru.     * Reportedly traveled with a \"bevy of concubines\" and \"paid gunmen.\"

Building the Southern State: Military and Police Institutions

• Korean Military Academy: Established in $December\,1945$. The second class included future president Park Chung Hee and his assassin, Kim Chae-gyu.

• The Constabulary: Despite Washington\'s disapproval, Hodge built this mother organization of the ROK Army.

• Retention of Collaborators: SWNCC directive called for rooting out collaborators, but by $early\,October$, $85\%$ of those who served in the Japanese colonial police were employed in the KNP.

• KNP Hierarchy (November $1946$):     * Superintendents: $100\%$ Japanese-trained.     * Provincial Chiefs: $80\%$ trained in colonial police.     * Inspectors: $83\%$ trained in colonial police.

• Suppression of Dissent: Hodge declared war on the KPR on $December\,12, 1945$. Internal records state one mission was to break down the communist government \"without benefit of backing by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.\"

Political Insurgency: Cheju Island and Y\u014fsu

• The Cheju Uprising ($1948$):     * A communal area once peacefully controlled by People\'s Committees.     * Triggered when police arrested $2,500\,people$ after an $August\,1947$ demonstration and tortured a young man to death.     * Role of Northwest Youth (S\u014fbuk Youth): North Korean refugees utilized as a terrorist paramilitary for right-wing figures.     * Casualties: ROK news cited $27,719$ dead; the Governor of Cheju later privately stated $60,000$ died and $400$ villages were reduced to $170$.

• The Y\u014fsu Rebellion (October $19, 1948$):     * Started by the $6\text{th}$ and $14\text{th}$ regiments refusing to sail to Cheju to fight fellow Koreans.     * Resulted in $821$ rebels killed and over $1,000$ civilians dead.

Inauguration of the Republic of Korea (ROK)

• UN Intervention: The UN General Assembly formed UNTCOK (United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea) to observe elections.

• Manipulation: $12$ of $15$ members of the original National Election Committee were KDP members or associates of Kim S\u014fng-su.

• Election Protocol: Peasants were forced to vote, with failure to do so resulting in the loss of food ration stamps.

• The Proclamation: The ROK was inaugurated on $August\,15, 1948$. General MacArthur attended.

• Military Expansion: Rhee\u2019s inauguration saw tens of thousands of soldiers ripping off constabulary insignia to declare themselves members of the ROK Army.

Political Repression and the Kitchen Cabinet

• National Security Law: In late $1949$, $13\,members$ of the National Assembly were arrested for \"disturbing the tranquility of the nation.\"

• Guidance Alliance (National Guidance Alliance): An \"ingenious device\" set up in $1949$ to house $70,000\,prisoners$ in guidance camps for conversion and reeducation.

• Confession Process: Surrendering individuals had to provide written confessions and name every member of their former cell.

• The Kitchen Cabinet: Rhee's policy was influenced by Robert Oliver (speechwriter) and Harold Noble (intermediary with Ambassador John Muccio).

North Korea: The Development of the DPRK

• Indigenous Evolution: Author argues the DPRK was not a simple Soviet satellite but a system more like Yugoslavia or Romania.

• Soviet Influence: The South Korean defense minister estimated only $120\,Soviet\,military\,advisers$ were present before the war, roughly $15\,per\,division$.

• The Leadership Group: Kim Il Sung was $33\,years\,old$ in $1945$. He returned to Korea on $September\,19, 1945$, on the Russian ship Pugachev.

• H\u014f Ka-i: A Soviet-Korean leader described as a Bolshevik disciplinarian, though his power was eventually eliminated by $1956$.

• Chinese Connection: In $1949$, tens of thousands of Korean soldiers from the Chinese civil war returned to Korea, giving P\u2019y\u014fngyang breathing space from Soviet dominance.

Social Base and Organizational Life in the North

• Class Background of Cadres: A $1949$ study of $1,881\,cultural\,cadres$ showed $66\%$ were from poor peasant backgrounds and $19\%$ from the proletariat.

• United Front Parties:     * Chos\u014fn Democratic Party (CDP) and the \"Friends Party\" (Ch\u2019\u014fndogyo religion).     * In $November\,1946$ elections, the NKWP (North Korean Workers\u2019 Party) won $1,102\,seats$, while the CDP won $351$.

• Thought Control: Group leaders spent constant time combatting \"liberalism,\" defined as skipping meetings or staying silent.

• Security Apparatus: Ministry of the Interior staff at the county level totaled $3,732\,personnel$.

• Surveillance Anecdote: Sim Ki-s\u014fk, a county finance chief, was placed under surveillance for eating $120\,won$ worth of dog soup without paying and selling his wife\u2019s shoes on the black market.