동아시아의 평화와 화해의 정치학 Scrapbook: Critical Korean Studies |Jeju 4.3 Uprising

2025-04-14

𝙊𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝘿𝘼𝙔: 𝟳𝟳 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙤, 𝙆𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙅𝙚𝙟𝙪 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙆𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙖.

In response to the uprising, the nascent Republic of Korea (ROK), with the help of the US military, massacred an estimated 20% of the island’s population.

The end of WWII in 1945 also ended almost four decades of Japanese occupation of Korea. Immediately after, self-governing People’s Committees (PCs) began forming throughout the peninsula.

The PCs south of the 38th Parallel found themselves under the fiercely anti-communist US Army Military Government in Korea (USMAGIK). Fearing a “𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳,” the USMAGIK swiftly outlawed the PCs and began their purge.

Aiming to establish a separate government in the south, the US reinstated Japanese colonial-era police and officials to their positions, striking down all PCs throughout the south, safe for Jeju Island.

Jeju’s isolation had always meant the Seoul government was a distant influence compared to other areas of Korea. However, tensions boiled over in 1948 when US police officers violently cracked down on a rally opposing the division of the peninsula and the holding of separate elections in the south.

Aggravated by the incident and the ensuing terror, on April 3, the local population rebelled. Guerrilla fighters attacked police stations and burned polling stations for the upcoming elections, calling for the people of Jeju to “𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯!”

The US reacted by designating Jeju an “𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴.” A combination of government forces and violent far-right paramilitary groups began to wreak havoc on Jeju, blaming the communist administration in the north for the civil unrest.

What ensued was total war against the people of Jeju, involving mass arrests and detentions, torture, indiscriminate killings, and many large-scale massacres of civilians. By 1954, up to 60,000 people had been killed.

It wasn’t until 2000, after decades of military rule, that the events of the Jeju Massacre came to light in an official investigation. The US never acknowledged its role in the massacre and continues to claim to have “𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥” Korea from communism.

𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦: 𝘳𝘦𝘥.

#Korea #JejuIsland #Uprising #US #ROK #PCs

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Tae Kim

what a grothesque misleading awful post. This was a communist uprising instigated by the north

Brendan Wright

Tae Kim No it wasn't. There are some things that I disagree with in the post in terms of the framing, but it's closer to the truth than your comment.

Sungik Yang replied

3 replies

Tae Kim

the official closure of the incident point to clear north communist infiltration and instigation orchestrated by pyongyang. It was designed to cause chaos and division among general population and south military in preparation for a wider invasion from the north. Daegu Jeju Yeosu Suncheon all instigated by the communist elements

Wayne Kelly replied

2 replies

Tae Kim

Rising up against America. The phrase itself points to my argument

Adhy DH

No it wasn’t instigated by the North, yes there were communists in the uprising. Yes tens of thousands of Jejuans were killed for no reason. Your point is?

Mitch Dowler

There were only about 1,000 U.S. military in Korea at the time as the Korea Military Advisory Group. KMAG only reached the size of 1,800 just before the Korean War. There wasn’t sufficient American military to massacre any group near this size and the KMAG was mostly operating in the area of Yongsan in Seoul training the Korea military and helping to establish a Korean government. The Korean military was not under the command of the U.S.

Mitch Dowler

The person posting this has a communist slogan on their profile “Our victory over capitalism” to enlighten on their point of view.

Wayne Kelly

At the beginning of the uprising, Jeju Island was under direct control of the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) which officially governed the entire southern half of the peninsula from 8 September 1945 to 15 August 1948.

U.S. Army Captain Jimmy Leach stated there were six Americans on the island, under the command of an American colonel who was in charge of all security forces on Jeju until August 1948.

On March 8, 1949, U.S. Armed Forces sent an investigation team headed by Colonel James A. Casteel to Jeju to investigate the causes of the rebellion. They summarized the 1948 Jeju strike prior to the rebellion as stemming from hostility towards the government resulting from mass shootings by Korean Constabulary. They labeled the strike as "communist inspired" but with participation by both the left and right in violent response to the shootings.

In 1949, four South Korean Army battalions arrived and joined the local constabulary, police forces, and civilian right-wing Northwest Youth Association partisans to violently suppress protests. The U.S. military labeled the complete destruction of Jungsangan village a "successful operation." U.S. liaison aircraft helped arrest and facilitate the killing of villagers who evacuated to interior mountain areas. (The US military documented these and other massacres but did not intervene to stop them.)

The National Committee for the Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju April 3 Incident concluded that the US Army Military Government in Korea shared responsibility for the uprising and subsequent killings as it began under the rule of USAMGIK.

On May 13, 1949, the U.S. ambassador to Korea, John J. Muccio wired Washington that all Jeju rebels and their sympathizers had been, "killed, captured, or converted." A verified number of 14,373 civilians were killed in the operation. Other estimates range up into the many tens of thousands.

Tae Kim

Bruce Cumings argument that more than 100,000 already died from these communist forces vs South Korea forces in this period, isn´t it clearly evident what caused these deaths, which took place in the south, not the north. Do you call these deaths a result of native South Koreans rising up against the US rule? It is a common sense duducing to think unarmed South Koreans would not rise up against the US rule

Wayne Kelly

https://english.hani.co.kr/.../e_international/1135099.html

ENGLISH.HANI.CO.KR

US calls Jeju April 3 Incident a ‘terrible tragedy’ in first statement on bloody history

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Tae Kim

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2025-04-14

Critical Korean Studies |Jeju 4.3 Uprising

Critical Korean Studies

Zachary L. Bunch

US calls Jeju April 3 Incident a ‘terrible tragedy’ in first statement on bloody history

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