Prisoner Number 600,001: Rethinking Japan, China, and the Korean War 1950–1953

Among more than 100,000 prisoners captured by United Nations forces in the Korean War, there was just one Japanese prisoner of war (POW). Matsushita Kazutoshi, Prisoner Number 600,001, had served in the Japanese army in China, both Nationalist and Communist armies in the Chinese Civil War, and in the Chinese People's Volunteers in North Korea, and was to end his military career in the ranks of the South Korean army. Using his forgotten story as a prism, this article explores neglected transborder dimensions of the Korean War. It argues the need to pay closer attention to the historical continuities linking the Asia-Pacific War and Chinese Civil War to the Korean War; it reconsiders the nature of Japan's connections to the conflict in Korea and reconceptualizes the UN POW camps as sites of ongoing Chinese and Korean civil wars.

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Survival Strategies of a Korean War Prisoner Who Chose Neutral Nations: A Study Based on Im Kwan-taik’s Oral History and Documents

Journal of American-East Asian Relations ◽

10.1163/18765610-27030004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 258-281

Author(s):

Jung Keun Sik

Keyword(s):

Oral History ◽

Korean War ◽

Survival Strategies ◽

Prisoner Of War ◽

South Korean ◽

The Korean War ◽

Southern Korea ◽

History Of ◽

The Republic ◽

Oral History Interviews

Abstract This article reconstructs the life history of Korean War prisoner Im Kwan-taek and analyzes his strategy for survival. Im, a North Korean who forces of the United Nations Command (unc) captured, refused repatriation to North Korea and decided to go to a neutral country. After two years in India, he finally settled in Brazil. This study examines his prisoner of war (pow) interrogation reports and the results of two oral history interviews to understand Im’s experiences and survival strategies. Born in Ch’ungch’ŏng Province, Im grew up in southern Korea. However, in 1946, he moved to northern Korea with the support of his deceased father’s comrades from the anti-Japanese movement in China. With the start of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, Im became an officer in the Korean People’s Army (kpa). As a pow, he concealed his identity as much as possible to ensure his survival, and these efforts continued in neutral countries. After the Republic of Korea awarded Im’s father the South Korean Patriotic Medal in 2001, his “secret survivalism” strategy relaxed and he began organizing communication and networks between surviving former pows.

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Aircraft and Anti-Communists: CAT in Action, 1949–52

The China Quarterly ◽

10.1017/s030574100004813x ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 654-669 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

William M. Leary

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Civil War ◽

Korean War ◽

Civil Conflict ◽

The United States ◽

Protective Role ◽

United States Government ◽

Chinese Civil War ◽

The Korean War ◽

American Policy

“The United States Government,” President Harry S. Truman announced on 5 January 1950, “will not pursue a course which will lead to involvement in the civil conflict in China.” Historians generally agree that President Truman meant what he said. American policy after the summer of 1949, writes Tang Tsou, was “to avoid, as far as possible, any further involvement in the Chinese civil war and to allow events in China to unfold themselves.” The Truman administration ruled out the use of force to prevent the fall of Formosa; non-recognition of the Communist government was adopted as “a temporary measure,” due to Republican pressure and the hope of gaining concessions from Peking. The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, observes Lyman P. Van Slyke, “brought to a sudden end the policy that the administration had followed for two years, and committed us once again to involvement in the Chinese civil war.” The United States assumed a protective role towards the remnants of the Nationalists on Formosa and became the implacable foe of Peking. This article, a study of a commercial airline's participation in a major diplomatic and legal controversy during the last phase of the Chinese civil war, will suggest that there is reason to doubt, or at least to modify, the traditional interpretation of American policy towards China between late 1949 and June 1950.

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3. Towards ‘Hot War’ in Asia, 1945–50

The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction ◽

10.1093/actrade/9780198859543.003.0003 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 35-55

Author(s):

Robert J. McMahon

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

Civil War ◽

Southeast Asia ◽

Korean War ◽

Single Event ◽

The Us ◽

Chinese Civil War ◽

The Korean War ◽

Post War ◽

The Cold War

‘Towards ‘Hot War’ in Asia, 1945–50’ discusses how Asia became the second major theatre of the Cold War, considering the US occupation regime in Japan. As many as 6 million soldiers and civilians would ultimately lose their lives in Cold War-related conflicts in Korea and Indo-China. Just as the Chinese civil war became inextricably entangled with the Cold War, so too did the independence struggles in post-war Southeast Asia. It was the outbreak of the Korean War in June of 1950, moreover, that precipitated the first direct military showdown between US and communist forces and, as much as any other single event, turned the Cold War into a worldwide struggle.

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Analysis of Developmental Chronology of South Korean Compressed Growth as a Reference from Sustainable Development Perspectives

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13041905 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1905

Author(s):

Sea Jin Kim ◽

Woo-Kyun Lee ◽

Jun Young Ahn ◽

Wona Lee ◽

Soo Jeong Lee

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

South Korea ◽

Korean War ◽

National Development ◽

South Korean ◽

Political Conflicts ◽

Developmental Indicators ◽

The Korean War ◽

History Of ◽

Economic Perspectives

Global challenges including overpopulation, climate change, and income inequality have increased, and a demand for sustainability has emerged. Decision-making for sustainable development is multifaceted and interlinked, owing to the diverse interests of different stakeholders and political conflicts. Analysing a situation from all social, political, environmental, and economic perspectives is necessary to achieve balanced growth and facilitate sustainable development. South Korea was among the poorest countries following the Korean War; however, it has developed rapidly since 1955. This growth was not limited to economic development alone, and the chronology of South Korean development may serve as a reference for development in other countries. Here, we explore the compressed growth of South Korea using a narrative approach and time-series, comparative, and spatial analyses. Developmental indicators, along with the modern history of South Korea, are introduced to explain the reasons for compressed growth. The development of the mid-latitude region comprising 46 countries in this study, where nearly half of Earth’s population resides, was compared with that of South Korea; results show that the developmental chronology of South Korea can serve as a reference for national development in this region.

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Ideology Was A Uniform to Be Taken On and Off: An Anti-Communist Prisoner’s Survival from Manchuria to Korea to India

Journal of American-East Asian Relations ◽

10.1163/18765610-27030005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 282-306

Author(s):

Sunwoo Lee

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

Civil War ◽

South Korea ◽

United Nations ◽

North Korea ◽

Republic Of Korea ◽

Prisoner Of War ◽

Japanese Occupation ◽

Chinese Civil War ◽

The Cold War

Abstract Chi Ki-ch’ŏl’s story reveals a man not driven by ideology, but buffeted by it. He began adulthood as a Korean exile in Manchuria, where the Japanese occupation army conscripted him. After Japan’s defeat in August 1945, he joined a Korean contingent of the Chinese Communist Army and fought in the Chinese Civil War. His unit later repatriated to North Korea, where it joined the invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950. When U.S.-led forces of the United Nations shattered that invasion in September, he quickly arranged to surrender to U.S. troops. While in custody, Chi worked with Republic of Korea (rok) intelligence to organize prisoner of war (pow) resistance to their being returned to North Korea after the impending armistice. He enjoyed privileges as an anti-Communist in the pow camps, and hoped it would continue. Although an active anti-Communist, Chi judged that he would not be able to live in South Korea as an ex-pow. After refusing repatriation to North Korea, he also rejected staying in South Korea. But Chi would survive elsewhere. He relocated to India, where he thrived as a businessman. He chose the space of neutrality to succeed as an anti-Communist, where life nevertheless reflected the contentious energy of the Cold War. Chi’s decision demonstrated how ideology, despite its importance to him, was not sufficient to translate his rejection of Communist North Korea into a commitment to South Korea.

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Egyedi jellemvonások a modern dél-koreai kereszténységben = Unique features of Christianity in modern South Korea

Köz-gazdaság ◽

10.14267/retp2021.02.17 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 219-247

Author(s):

Fábian Armin Vincentius

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Korean War ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Japanese Occupation ◽

Korean People ◽

South Korean ◽

Korean Christianity ◽

The Korean War ◽

Protestant Denominations ◽

High Share

A „Han folyó csodája” kifejezésről sokan hallottak Dél-Korea rendkívül gyors és drámai fejlődésének eredményeként, ám az talán kevesek számára ismert, hogy a Japántól való felszabadulást (1945), illetve a koreai háborút (1953) követően a kereszténység is komoly áttörést ért el az országban. Jelenleg a lakosság több mint negyede, 13.5 millió személy vallja magát kereszténynek, a domináns protestáns felekezetek mellett pedig számottevő a hozzávetőlegesen 5 millió katolikus száma is. Mindez nemcsak a régióban található többi államhoz viszonyítva különleges, hanem azt is jelenti, hogy a Dél-Koreában élő keresztények aránya meghaladja az országban létező többi vallás követőinek számát együttvéve. A folyamat különösen érdekesnek tekinthető azon szempontból, hogy a távol-keleti állam teljesen más kulturális, vallási és történelmi szempontok alapján fejlődött a kereszténység megjelenése előtt, napjainkra azonban mégsem a sámánizmus vagy a buddhizmus, hanem a kereszténység bír központi szereppel vallási életében. Jelen tanulmány célja épp arra választ adni, hogy milyen okoknak köszönhetően volt képes a kereszténység hívek sokaságának bevonzására, illetve milyen egyedi, Dél-Koreára jellemző sajátosságok alakultak ki a fejlődés eredményeként. Jelen kutatás során egy rövid összefoglaló keretén belül szó esik a kereszténység Korea területét érintő kezdeti megjelenéséről, majd külön fejezetekben olvasható a katolicizmus, ortodoxia, anglikanizmus és protestantizmus helyzete. A munka autenticitásához és részletességéhez hozzájárul, hogy a szerző kilenc kvalitatív interjút készített a különböző felekezetek képviselőivel, illetve délkoreai tanulmányútja során személyesen is meglátogatta több felekezet lényeges helyszíneit. = The term "Miracle on the Han River" has been heard by many as a result of South Korea's fast and dramatic development, but it is probably known to few that in parallel Christianity managed to gain as well a significant popularity in the country after the liberation from Japanese occupation (1945) and the end of the Korean War (1953). Currently, more than a quarter of people living in South Korea consider themselves as Christians, and in addition to the dominant Protestant denominations, the number of Catholics is also significant with a number of around 5 million followers. The high share of Christians may seem peculiar not only compared to other states in the region, but also by acknowledging that before the emergence of Christianity Korea evolved based on different, cultural and religious principles. Still, instead of Buddhism or Shamanism nowadays Christianity has a central role in the religious life of South Korean people. This study attempts to find the main reasons behind the remarkable popularity of Christianity, as well as to show the unique features of South Korean Christianity resulted by the distinctive development. After a short introduction presenting the first stage of Christianity on the territory of Korea, the main features and situation of different Christian branches are discussed, namely Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Anglicanism and Protestantism. Contributing to the authenticity and detail of the work, nine qualitative interviews with representatives of different denominations are included, all conducted by the author during his study trip to South Korea. Also, as the author had the opportunity to visit important religious sites during his field trip in Seoul, his experiences are briefly reported too in the study.

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The Intimacies of Conflict

10.18574/nyu/9781479800797.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Y. Kim

Keyword(s):

Asian American ◽

Korean War ◽

The United States ◽

South Korean ◽

Transnational American Studies ◽

Hollywood Films ◽

The Korean War ◽

The Cold War ◽

Rolando Hinojosa ◽

Chinese Subjects

Though known primarily in the United States as “the forgotten war,” the Korean War was a watershed event that fundamentally reshaped both domestic conceptions of race and the interracial dimensions of US imperial endeavors as they took shape during the Cold War. The Intimacies of Conflictworks against the historical erasure of this event first by returning us to the 1950s, revealing the emotionally compelling dramas of interracial and transnational intimacy that were staged around this event in Hollywood films and journalistic accounts. Through detailed analyses of such works, this book illuminates how the Korean War enabled the emergence of not just a military multiculturalism but also a military Orientalism and a humanitarian Orientalism: cultural logics that purported to make surgical distinctions between Asians who were allies and those who were legitimately killable. This book also demonstrates how an emergent tradition of US novels, primarily by authors of color, provides an exemplary assemblage of cultural memory, illuminating the intimacies that join and divide the histories of Asian American, African American, and Chicanx/Latinx subjects, as well as Korean and Chinese subjects. Novels by eminent US writers like Susan Choi, Chang-rae Lee, Rolando Hinojosa, and Toni Morrison and the South Korean author Hwang Sok-yong speak to the trauma experienced by civilians and combatants while also evoking an expansive web of complicity in war’s violence. Drawing together both comparative race and transnational American studies approaches, this study engages in a multifaceted ethical and political reckoning with the Korean War’s unended status.

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Narrating the Postwar Crisis

Youth for Nation ◽

10.21313/hawaii/9780824855949.003.0002 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Charles R. Kim

Keyword(s):

Publishing Industry ◽

Korean War ◽

Colonial Rule ◽

Ordinary People ◽

Slow Speed ◽

South Korean ◽

Financial Difficulties ◽

The Korean War ◽

The Many

After the Korean War, South Korean publishers made steady progress in rebuilding the publishing industry, despite endemic material shortages and financial difficulties. This chapter introduces the three major postwar magazines that are used throughout the book – Sasanggye (World of thought), Sint’aeyang (New Sun), and Yŏwŏn (Women’s garden). Through an examination of the three monthlies, it relates the ways in which intellectuals and ordinary people gave expression to the major upheavals since the end of colonial rule, as well as the many challenges of the war and the postwar crisis. Deep-seated poverty, moral decline, pervasive anxiety, and the slow speed of recovery were their primary areas of focus. Although many South Koreans lived in despair, some writers put forth restrained expressions of hope that the crisis would soon abate.

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