An American officer discusses plans on Jeju Island on May 15, 1948. (Image courtesy of the National Archives and Record Administration)
SEOUL, Apr. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – The U.S. State Department has officially referred to the Jeju April 3rd Incident, a dark chapter in South Korea’s history, as a “tragic event” that “should not be forgotten.”
This statement marks a significant shift as the United States, which governed the southern part of the Korean Peninsula from September 1945 to August 1948, has been criticized for its direct and indirect involvement in the events that led to the outbreak and escalation of the incident but had previously not responded to these claims.
Responding to an inquiry by The Hankyoreh, a South Korean newspaper, the U.S. State Department conveyed on March 27 that “the Jeju events of 1948 were a terrible tragedy. The tremendous loss of life is something we must never forget.”
The statement further added, “As a close ally dedicated to democratic values and the promotion of human rights, the United States shares South Korea’s resolve to prevent such tragedies from occurring anywhere in the world in the future.”
This formal acknowledgment by the U.S. government comes 76 years after the incident, highlighting a long-standing demand among modern historians and the Jeju community for a responsible stance from the U.S. government regarding its involvement in the events of April 3rd.
Documents produced by the U.S. military government, military advisory group, and the U.S. Embassy in Korea during the Jeju April 3rd Incident period indicate the U.S.’s direct and indirect involvement in the suppression of the uprising.
The “Jeju April 3rd Incident Investigation Report,” published by the South Korean government in October 2003, states that the U.S. military government and the U.S. military advisory group in Korea cannot be absolved of responsibility for the outbreak and suppression of the incident, noting that the suppression operation was directly commanded by a U.S. Army colonel who served as the commanding officer in Jeju.
Brown famously stated, “I am not interested in the causes of the incident. My mission is solely suppression.” (A news scrap from Chosun Joongang Daily Newspaper, dated June 8, 1948)
Since around 1988, when civic organizations in South Korea began to actively seek truth and reconciliation for the April 3rd uprising, there has been a consistent call for acknowledgment and a responsible response from the United States.
In October 2018, marking the 70th anniversary of the incident, organizations such as the Jeju April 3rd Research Institute and the Jeju April 3rd Victims’ Families Association collected more than 100,000 signatures urging the U.S. to take a responsible stance on the issue and delivered them to the U.S. Embassy in Korea, which had not issued any response until recently.
Following the immediate aftermath of the armed uprising in April 1948, the U.S. military government ordered the suppression of the rebellion, deploying Roswell Brown, a colonel of the 20th Regiment of the U.S. 6th Infantry Division, as the highest-ranking commander in Jeju.
Brown famously stated, “I am not interested in the causes of the incident. My mission is solely suppression.” Under his command, more than 5,000 Jeju residents were indiscriminately arrested.
Even after the establishment of the South Korean government, the U.S. continued to support counter-insurgency operations through its military advisory group and kept abreast of developments related to the Jeju situation through the U.S. Embassy in Korea.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
