Korea in the 1900sJapanese OccupationLiberation and Division

19

Japanese Occupation1910-1945

Koreans continue to look to US as potential savior Look to Protestant churches as special connection to

America Japan annexes Korea 1910

Taft-Katsura Agreement US concurs secretly that Japan should lead to

modernize and develop Korea Protestant Missionaries agree:

Japan is the one modern Asian Nation Korean’s need Japanese tutelage Koreans today see this as a major betrayal

Japanese Occupation:Independence Movements

Case of 105, 1911 Alleged plot to assassinate Japanese

occupation officials 105 arrested Heavy Christian component Christians seen as “nationalists” and loyalists Japanese recognized Christian “problem” but

looked away because they needed Western acquiescence for the occupation

Japanese Occupation:Independence Movements

Case of 105, 1911: cont.

Churches maintained national organizations Sermons focused on Moses and Exodus from

Egypt

YMCA became a political organization lots of them not really Christian – just political

Missionaries tried to depoliticize churches and YMCA but failed

March 1st Movement

March 1st Movement, 1919 Declaration of Independence

35 signatories – half Christian Clergy

Coordinated protests throughout the nation Led by religious leaders, mostly Christians

and Chondokyo, some Buddhists Peaceful Japanese response

was mass violence Attack churches

Provisional Government

March 1st Movement

March 1st Movement

After March 1st Movement Korean Protestants Heavily persecuted Most pastors rejected “Exodus” theology Focused on next world salvation

Some still worked for independence YMCA Study Groups Teaching Hangul and Korean history in

“Sunday Schools” and “Bible Schools”

March 1st

MovementTrial

Japanese Occupation Independence Movements

1935 Shinto Shrine Controversy and Christians in Korea

Japan requires all schools to start with Shinto rights revering the Emperor Some Pastors see it as Shinto Worship Presbytery concludes it is “political” Most Christian Schools comply rather

than shut down Some prefer to shut down and pastors in

Pyongyang go to jail Christians again get credit for being anti-

Japanese and independence activists

Japanese Occupation Independence Movements

Independence Movements in Exile US Based: Syngman Rhee

Raised money in US to support Korean independence

Based in Hawaii Lobbied among US leaders to

support Korea Heavy Methodist support

Japanese Occupation Independence Movements

Independence Movements in Exile: China and Soviet Based: Kim Il Sung

Studied Marxism/Leninism Engaged in Anti-Japanese

gorilla attacks Mobilized for Russian and

then Soviet and Chinese support for Korean independenceKim Il Sung

as Japanese resistance

fighter

Occupation Repression under Japan READ: When my Name was Keoko

Japanese Language Japanese Names Japanese Education Forced labor and military service “Comfort Women”

WW II in Korean History

World War II

Pearl Harbor

US Plan: Germany first, then Japan

WW II in Korean History

Cairo Conference: 1943

Korea to be occupied

Korean Independence “in due time”

WW II in Korean History

Yalta Conference: Feb. 4—11, 1945

USSR to join war on Japan 3 months after German surrender

USSR to participate in occupation of Korea

WW II in Korean History

Potsdam Conference

July 17—Aug. 2, 1945

Yalta Conference arrangements for Korea Confirmed

WW II in Korean History August 6, 1945, Atom

bomb on Hiroshima August 8, 1945, Russians

enter the war against Japan, fulfilling their Yalta Conference agreement

August 9, 1945, Atom bomb on Nagasaki

WW II in Korean History August 10/11, 1945 (about

midnight), young colonels, Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel, under orders from Gen. McArthur, draw a division line at the 38th parallel, keeping the capital city, Seoul, in the American area.

August 15, 1945, Japan Surrenders.

Cold War History: Korea US occupies Southern Korea, Soviets

occupy North

USA/USSR tensions emerge almost at once

USA envisions capitalist democracy

USSR envisions communist government

Postwar South Korea People’s committees all over Korea

Japanese forces provide US occupation lists of “good” and “communist” Koreans

US occupation accepts Japanese assessment, effectively labeling Anti-Japanese activists as “communists”

US Employs Collaborators as officials

Postwar South KoreaOctober, 1945 Syngman Rhee returned to

South Korea from the US Welcomed as a nationalist

resistance leader by US leadership.

Clearly the US favorite for new Korean government

Incorporates Christian elite into his movement

Chooses a policy of forgiveness and reconciliation toward collaborators

Rhee’s major potential rivals all die in assassinations or “accidents”

North Korea October, 1945 Kim Il Sung returns to North

Korea from Manchuria

Welcomed by Soviets as a nationalist resistance leader

Purges collaborators Attacks “capitalists” Excludes Christian elite

Attacks Churches as the only institution that could challenge his supremacy

Christians learn that Christianity and Communism don’t mix Kim’s major potential rivals all die in assassinations or

“accidents”

Postwar Dictators Both Rhee in the South and Kim in the North are

tyrannical and dictatorial

Rhee is OUR tyrant: He’s Christian, pro-American, Capitalist, and Speaks English

Kim is THE SOVIET’S tyrant: He’s Communist, pro-Soviet, Speaks Chinese and some Russian

Neither is Democratic Neither stands truly independent of his occupation

supporters Each blusters about unifying the nation by force under

his own “legitimate” government

Cold War History: US

Containment1947

George Kennan writes Mr. X article Coins term and policy of “Containment”

Emerging Cold War conflict between USA and USSR

No compromise possible from either the US or USSR perspective

Two Koreas Joint elections impractical Two separate Korean Governments

established 1948 “Elections” in both North and South

Korea

Soviets withdraw troops Soviets and NK point to US occupation as

proof that SK government is a puppet US withdraws troops from SK to bolster claim

of SK legitimacy

Korean War January 12, 1950 United States Secretary of

State Dean Acheson US Press Club:

“US Vital Interests” America's Pacific defense

perimeter Implies that the U.S. might

not fight over Korea This omission encouraged

the North and the Soviets

US Vital Interests

Korean War

War begins June 25, 1950

North Korea Invades Takes all but Pusan

US Proposes UN action to defend South Korea

Soviet Ambassador storms out in protest – forgetting to use his veto

X Pusan

Korean War MacArthur

assigned to command UN forces

Incheon landing, September 15 - September 28, 1950

Korean WarMacArthur Insists on pushing

to Chinese border Rants about liberating

China Seems to ignore President

Truman’s policy

January 4, 1951: Communist Chinese and North Korean forces recapture Seoul.

April 11, 1951: MacArthur removed from command by President Truman.

Stalemate, July, 1951

X Pusan

Korean War and Christianity During Korean War Christians flock South

Bring with them horror stories of anti-Christian Persecution under communism

Establish large, successful protestant churches in South Korea

ALL South Koreans learn this history and ALL South Koreans believe that: Christians CAN NOT be communists Communists CAN NOT be Christian This matters in the role that Christian Churches

play later

Korean Division

Originally 38th parallel

Post Korean War: Red line called the DMZ

Korean War Ends Cease Fire July 27, 1953 Neither Korea Signed Armistice State of war continues

Both Koreas considered themselves the only legitimate authority

Both Koreas had authoritarian dictatorships at least through 1987

North Korea still has a dictatorship (2010)

Post Korean War History South Korea: 40,000 US troops

remain to guard South Korea (Now 29,000)

US supports pro American authoritarian regimes

North Korea: Chinese troops leave North argues that South Korea is an

occupied country, not independent North sees US troops as a threat

South KoreaRhee’s South Korea languishes: Corruption, incompetence,

and cheating on elections lead to Syngman Rhee’s departure 1960 Student Riots erupt Rhee tries to suppress them US Government intervenes Suggests Rhee’s retirement to Hawaii – provides

military transport for his exodus

Side Note: Buck Shaffer told me about his memory of these riots, he and the Panther Band were in Seoul for a USO tour at the time.

South Korea

Chang Myon Establishes leadership of the

government upon Rhee’s departure Chang is a Catholic

Unrest, labor strikes and democracy movements create “chaos”

Military Coup brings Military to power in South Korea

South Korea Park Chung Hee

leads South Korea Military Dictator Harsh discipline Anti-communist Economic

development for national security

Fantastic economic growth

Terrible human rights

North Korea Kim Il Sung in North

Korea Juche Ideology

National independence

Aligned with USSR and China

Plays them off against each other until 1991

Standard pattern of brinksmanship to get what he wants