Abstract

This study examines public health and welfare policies during the US military occupation of South Korea (1945–1948) through the lens of Foucault’s biopower. The US military government (MG) established the Department of Public Health and Welfare, which attempted to implement American-style public health reforms based on medical professionalism embodying a form of bio-power aimed at improving Korean people’s lives. However, its initiatives faced numerous challenges due to personnel shortages, inconsistent policies, and an ongoing reliance on colonial structures. Postwar refugees became key targets of bio-power as vulnerable but dangerous sources of disease and unrest. The MG’s interventions aimed at refugees, such as quarantine, immunization, and relief, proved insufficient, leading to infectious disease outbreaks and social unrest. Welfare programs for refugees and other vulnerable groups often continued inadequate and oppressive colonial systems. These policies fostered a division between general society and a social welfare sector. General society was envisioned as a space where voluntary organizations and individuals could assist their suffering compatriots. In contrast, the social welfare sector consisted of marginalized individuals subject both to insufficient and often oppressive government oversight and to the fluctuating goodwill of general society.