Crisis Phase (November 17, 1905-September 9, 1948): Representative of the Japanese and Korean empires signed the Japan-Korea Protectorate Treaty on November 17, 1905. Korea became a protectorate of the Japanese Empire. Korean Emperor Gojong (Gwangmu) was forced to abdicate on July 20, 1907, and he was succeeded by his son, Emperor Sunjong (Yunghui). Some 10,000 members of the Righteous Army commanded by Yi In-yong mutinied against the Japanese government beginning on July 25, 1907. After the dissolution of the Korean military on August 1, 1907, Korean troops clashed with Japanese troops near the Namdaemun Gate in Seoul, resulting in the deaths of four Japanese soldiers and 68 Korean soldiers. The Japanese government deployed some 20,000 troops to suppressed the Korean mutiny. The Japanese government formally annexed the Korean protectorate on August 22, 1910. Japanese troops suppressed the Righteous Army mutiny in 1912, resulting in the deaths of more than 17,000 Koreans and 150 Japanese government soldiers. Ahn Chang Ho established the Korean Resurrection League (Hunh-sah-dang) in May 1913. Suh Sang Il established the Korean Independence League (KIL) in January 1915. Former Emperor Gojong (Gwangmu) died in Seoul on January 21, 1919. Korean nationalists formally declared Korea’s independence from the government of Japan on March 1, 1919. The Japanese government deployed 6,000 troops to suppressed the independence movement in Korea, resulting in the deaths of more than 7,500 individuals. Japanese government security personnel suppressed pro-independence demonstrations in Seoul and other cities. Korean nationalists convened the Korean People’s Congress in Manchuria on March 17, 1919, and elected Son Pyong-hi as president of a government-in-exile. Two other governments-in-exile were established in Shanghai, China and Seoul, Korea. Syngman Rhee, who had been chosen as prime minister in two of the three governments-in-exile, proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Korea in Washington DC on August 31, 1919. Representatives of the three competing governments-in-exile established a provisional government in Shanghai, China in September 1919. Korean nationalists unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Baron Saito, the Japanese governor-general of Korea, in Seoul on September 2, 1919. Korean nationalists and Japanese troops clashed in Fengwudong in northeastern China (Manchuria) on June 6-7, 1920, resulting in the deaths of 13 Korean nationalists and more than 100 Japanese soldiers. On October 2, 1920, members of the Korean Independence Army (KIA) attacked the Japanese consulate in Hun-chu’un in northeastern China (Manchuria), resulting in the deaths of 13 Japanese citizens. KIA and Japanese troops clashed in Qīngshānlǐ in northeastern China (Manchuria) on October 21-26, 1920, resulting in the deaths of at least 11 Japanese soldiers and 60 KIA soldiers. Korean communists established a Communist Party in Seoul on April 12, 1925. Government police suppressed student demonstrations in Kwangju and other cities from November 1929 to February 1930. The governments of China and the U.S. jointly expressed their support for a “free and independent” Korea on December 1, 1943. Soviet troops intervened in northern Korea on August 13, 1945, and U.S. troops intervened in southern Korea on September 8, 1945. Following the Japanese surrender to the Allies on August 15, 1945, the governments of the U.S. and Soviet Union divided Korea at the 38th parallel into two occupation zones. On December 27, 1945, the US, Soviet Union, and Britain agreed in Moscow to establish a “four power trusteeship” (U.S., Soviet Union, China, and United Kingdom) to government Korea and to negotiate the independence of Korea. Right-wing Koreans led by Syngman Rhee and left-wing (communist) Koreans led by Kim Il-Sung competed for control of the Korean peninsula beginning in 1946. U.S. troops and Korean police suppressed peasant and laborer uprisings throughout southern Korea between October 1 and November 30, 1946, resulting in the deaths of some 1,200 individuals. Syngman Rhee and Kim Koo established the Anti-Trusteeship Independence Struggle Committee (ATISC) on January 24, 1947. The U.S. government established the South Korean Interim Government (SKIG) headed by Ahn Chai-hong in February 1947. The US referred the Korean matter to the UN General Assembly on September 17, 1947. On November 14, 1947, the UN General Assembly established the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) chaired by K. P. S. Menon of India to supervise elections in Korea. The UNTCOK, which consisted of eight representatives from Australia, Canada, China, El Salvador, France, India, Philippines, and Syria chaired by Miguel A. P. Valle of the Philippines, arrived in the U.S. occupation zone (South Korea) on January 8, 1948. Parliamentary elections were held in South Korea on May 10, 1948. Some 38 UNTCOK observers monitored the elections from May 7 to May 11, 1948. The U.S. government sent an election observation team consisting of some 400 military and civilian personnel to monitor the elections from May 9 to May 10, 1948. Some 500 individuals were killed in election-related violence. The South Korean National Assembly adopted a constitution on July 17, 1948, and the National Assembly elected Syngman Rhee as president on July 20, 1948. The Republic of Korea (ROK) was formally established in South Korea on August 15, 1948, and the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (PDRK) led by Kim Il Sung was formally established in North Korea on September 9, 1948. UNTCOK was dissolved on December 12, 1948. Soviet troops withdrew from North Korea on December 25, 1948, and U.S. troops withdrew from South Korea on June 19, 1949. More than 100,000 individuals were killed during the crisis from July 1907 to September 1948.
[Sources: Beigbeder, 1994, 120-125; Clodfelter, 1992, 651-652; International Organization, June 1948; Keesing’s Record of World Events, March 27-April 3, 1948; Langer, 1972, 1111-1114, 1347-1351.]
Selected Bibliography
Choy, Bong-youn. 1971. Korea: A History. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Company.
Cummings, Bruce. 1981. The Origins of the Korean War. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Hatada, Takashi. 1969. A History of Korea. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc.
Lee, Ki-baik. 1984. A New History of Korea. Seoul, Korea: Ilchokak, Publishers.
Woo-keun, Han. 1970. The History of Korea. Honolulu, Hawaii: East-West Center Press.