“The’Vulnerable Country’ Korea, nationalism, etc. endured ideological resources”

The US ranks 15th in global strategic importance, 20% of factory productivity compared to the Japanese colonial period, more than half of bureaucrats under their 20s, soaring prices and scarce resources… ,
The U.S. troops on the Korean peninsula clamored to send them home as soon as possible, and the U.S. government, which focused on Europe, was only contemplating how to quickly conclude negotiations with the Soviet Union and withdraw from the’unimportant’ place.

The first President Syngman Rhee is reading his inauguration address on July 24, 1948, wearing a hanbok at the Central Office. [중앙포토]

This is the situation in South Korea after liberation in 1945, drawn by the recently published 『The Birth of a Vulnerable Country Korea: The Age of National Construction 1945~1950』. This book is a provocative book that overthrows the widely established myths about the history of liberation and war. According to the arguments of revisionists, including professor Bruce Cummings of the University of Chicago, the United States repressed the establishment of a nation-state and planned division to establish a single anti-communist-South Korean government centered on Syngman Rhee. . In addition, the Republic of Korea (first republic) that entered this way is defined as a fascist country composed of public powers such as pro-Japanese, anti-ethnic capitalists, and police.

However, Taek-sun Lee, a professor at Chungnam National University’s Social Science Research Institute, who wrote 『The Birth of a Vulnerable Country Korea: The Age of State Construction 1945~1950』, refuted this theory and suggested a new concept of’vulnerable country’. It is said that the Republic of Korea, which entered in 1948, did not develop the class of capitalists to exploit the people, and was a’vulnerable country’ that was difficult to suppress various riots centered on the left. The US support was also poor. On the 26th, a written interview was conducted with the author who made this claim. The following are questions and answers

『The Birth of a Vulnerable Country Korea: The Era of National Construction 1945~1950』 [사진 미지북스]

Taek-sun Lee, a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences, Chungnam National University, who wrote 『The Birth of a Vulnerable Country Korea: The Age of National Construction 1945~1950』 [사진 이택선]

-The Republic of Korea, which was founded after liberation, was described with the word’vulnerable country’.
= Japan’s resources and manpower, who ruled the Korean peninsula during the Japanese colonial period, escaped like an ebb with liberation. Building and governing a state requires skilled manpower and capital, which is almost nonexistent. It was a’vulnerable country’ where there was no bourgeois to lead the modern state construction like the West. Therefore, it is the policy of the First Republic and Syngman Rhee to nurture the bourgeoisie through land reform and the sale of Jeoksan. It is difficult to say that there was a large-scale bourgeois or heritage class in South Korea at that time, close to a vicious reaction that should be overthrown from a communist perspective. At the time, the situation in Korea was so poor that it was difficult to revolutionize. Also, since Korea was not rich in natural resources, which are the main targets of imperialism, and was not a region of great importance to the US global strategy, there was no specific support plan.

-In a similar situation, North Korea has fewer pro-Japanese factions, and the process of its founding was stable.
=The reason Korea was more vulnerable than North Korea was because the US, acting as a guardian, did not have a strong will to build a state than the Soviet Union. Unlike the US, which pursued a graceful withdrawal from the Korean Peninsula, the Soviet Union focused on the Korean Peninsula and actively supported North Korea’s national construction. A large number of Soviet North Koreans were dispatched and a plan for economic construction was drawn up. In addition, the People’s Committee was formed to promote land reform and military construction, etc., to promote state construction faster than South Korea. The fact that the Soviet Union paid more attention to the Korean peninsula than to the United States is revealed in that the salaries they paid to the police, interpreters, and officers at the level of government offices showed a marked difference. For example, in September 1945, the salary of the Korean police was only $3. By comparison, the translator who worked for the Soviet army around January 1946 received a salary of 200 rubles, about 40 dollars. Also, in February 1950, the North Korean ensign received about 260 dollars. It clearly shows the difference in interest between the USSR and the US on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Gu Rhee Syngman’s Provisional Government Return Event [중앙포토]

-There are criticisms and criticisms that many pro-Japanese groups were employed after the founding of the country.

=The governing body must have skilled manpower with experience. However, immediately after liberation, in order to engage in the police, military, and other administrations, at least a middle school graduate must have an educational background, and there were only about 25,000 people. Even if all the inexperienced people were mobilized, it was only about a third to a quarter of the number of personnel required by the police or the military. In addition, in the situation immediately after liberation, where the career of working during the Japanese occupation became like a kind of “scarlet letter”, experienced people ran away and were forced to mobilize. In other words, due to the lack of personnel, there was a problem in that pro-Japanese officials or police were hired and part of the public power was dependent on the right-wing youth group.

-Still, is it not a problem that South Korea is not thoroughly liquidated like France?
= Looking at the book 『The Dark Continent』 by Professor Mark Mazowar, an authority in European history, the police, the military, and other administrative agencies required special skills. For this reason, French government officials who served under Nazi rule were not well purged. Even in Eastern Europe, where the communist regime was established, it was difficult to acquire the know-how in a short period of time, so many police, soldiers, and officials who served under the Nazi rule remained. However, even the US military was aware of the pro-Japanese issue. So, in a textbook published under the U.S. military politics, he emphasized the ideology of Samgyunism adopted by the Hongik people or the Provisional Government, and also recruited Kim Gyu-sik, a former vice-president of the Provisional Government, as the chairman of the South Korean Legislative Council. The same applies to the support of Kim Guo and Rhee Syngman, who was the leader of the Provisional Government.

The leading actors of the liberation regime (from left), Syngman Rhee, Koo Kim, and Haji (November 24, 45, the day after Kim Gu returned to Korea). [중앙포토]

-How did the’vulnerable country’ Korea survive?
=Compared to a standard national model created by intensive national construction cases supported by the United States, Korea is a country created with only one-26th of national construction funds. The US did not provide enough budget to focus on Europe. Koreans had to bear the burden and cost, but Koreans were too poor. The government had no choice but to appeal to the ideological resources of Koreans’ patriotism and nationalism. Even Syngman Rhee’s government, which appointed a pro-Japanese bureaucrat, used’anti-Japanese nationalism’. Through this, voluntary dedication and donations were encouraged from the people, filling up the scarcity of resources in many ways, and promoting the construction of a modern state. Relying on these ideological resources continued to the government afterwards. Fundraising for the Peace Dam and IMF fundraising are typical. The side effects of excessive ethnic tribalism also emerged. Now is the time to cultivate civic nationalism that can embrace multicultural communities as Koreans. Unlike the current Cold War generation in their 40s and older, I think that the future of Korean society, led by those in their teens and 30s, who have experienced internationalization since childhood, can be different.”

Reporter Yoo Seong-woon [email protected]