- P-ISSN0023-3900
- E-ISSN2733-9343
- A&HCI, SCOPUS, KCI
Vol.65 No.3
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The present article examines the historical (or cultural) memory of August 15 in South Korea. As a memorial day, August 15 incorporates the double meaning of liberation from colonial rule in 1945 and the formal promulgation of the South Korean state in 1948. While existing studies have shed light on how disputes over August 15 unfolded after the emergence of the New Right in the mid-2000s, this article analyzes the commemoration of August 15 since its institutionalization as a memorial day in 1949, and traces the origins of conservative challenges to its inscribed memory. The article dissects how the cultural memory of August 15 gradually evolved from an independence day in the 1950s towards a de facto liberation day since the 1960s. Only on round anniversaries is 1948 commemorated as well. The article traces concentrated conservative dissent with prevailing cultural memory to 1998, and shows how this was closely tied to Cold War triumphalist re-evaluations of Syngman Rhee. New Right contestations evolved out of this, and succeeded in state-led 1948-centered August 15 commemorations in 2008. This success was shortlived, and August 15 has since become sharply polarized in politics. Opinion polls suggest that South Koreans mostly reject the 1948-centric narrative.
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America’s occupation and liberation of southern Korea from Japanese rule has usually been examined as an example of Cold War diplomacy in which civilian and military officials working for the US government facilitated the rise to power of Korea’s anticommunist far right as they confronted the Soviet occupation of northern Korea. Historians treat this history as a case study of US-Korea bilateral relations and rarely study its broader contexts. By contrast, this article explores the history of America’s occupation of southern Korea in the context of comparative and connected histories, examining in particular the linked themes of liberation and decolonization. The narrative interrogates how Korea’s independence from Japan in 1945 was similar to, or different from, big power diplomacy in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and how the United States and other big powers’ responses to World War II in Asia impacted the subsequent history of empire and decolonization. It outlines the ways in which events in Korea were connected to the wider history of the American empire in Asia, and explores American military operations in World War II in colonial Southeast Asia as foreshadowing US occupation policy in Korea. This methodology helps us to rethink existing chronologies and to connect the world before and after 1945, while also better contextualizing Korean history, at perilous crossroads in 1945.
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The liberation of 1945 marked a transnational turning point, with far-reaching consequences that reshaped both individual lives and migration patterns across East Asia. For Koreans in Manchuria, the initial joy following Japan’s defeat quickly gave way to uncertainty, as the collapse of empire and the outbreak of civil war in China triggered widespread displacement. This article examines the migration of Manchurian Koreans during the immediate post-liberation period (1945–1950), arguing that return to Korea was an active response to the political turmoil and revolutionary upheaval unfolding in Manchuria. Drawing on autobiographies, local newspapers, and US military interrogation records, this study explores the experiences of migrants and highlights their agency in navigating these disruptions through networks of kinship, friendship, and community. It contends that these migrant networks grew increasingly complex during this period of displacement, laying the foundation for persistent transnational migration between North Korea and Northeast China in the 1950s and 1960s. By tracing the trajectories of Korean migrants in Manchuria, this paper contributes to broader understandings of refugee experiences, migrant agency, and the role of migrant networks in shaping East Asia’s postwar transformation.
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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.
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This article examines the post-liberation abolition of the licensed prostitution system (Kōshōsei 公娼制) in South Korea. Drawing on archival materials and discourse analysis, it explores how US military authorities (1945–1948) and Korean political actors in the American zone mobilized the language of moral reform, liberation, and freedom to restructure the governance of women’s sexuality in the emerging South Korean. While the abolition of the Kōshōsei was publicly framed as a necessary step toward decolonization and gender equality, the institutional and rhetorical frameworks often reproduced older patriarchal forms and state control. In particular, the emergence of the category eoptaebu 業態婦 marked a shift in which prostitution was no longer seen as a structural issue but was reconfigured as a matter of individual choice and morality. This liberal reframing displaced the violence of institutionalized prostitution onto the presumed voluntariness of sex workers themselvs. This article argues that the binary of voluntary versus coerced sex work, rooted in this postcolonial liberal discourse, has constrained abolitionist activism and impeded more structural approaches to justice. This study offers a deeper understanding of the persistent logics of gendered exclusion and offers a critical lens for reimagining anti-prostitution politics beyond carceral and moral frameworks.
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The human right to health of over 1,080,000 citizens living near Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea is potentially at risk. In early 2024, the South Korean Ministry of Unification identified 17 among 80 North Korean defectors who suffered from chromosomal abnormalities, raising the possibility of severe impact from radiation exposure. The United Nations (UN) has played a pivotal role in promoting climate and human rights norms, intended to induce policymaking that is more supportive of both climate change and human rights. Furthermore, the UN and related agencies have perhaps been the only forces to provide humanitarian aid for the disaster-affected citizens in North Korea. The Kim Jong-un regime has been incapable of meeting the needs of its citizens and has systematically violated their human rights by prioritizing its nuclear program. This article analyzes the current human rights shortcomings of the Kim Jong-un regime, particularly the human right to health of its citizens, which it has put at risk in the region near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. Further, this article analyzes past efforts at socialization in the context of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and how IGOs have contributed to promoting North Korean policymaking more supportive of climate and human rights norms by the Kim Jong-un regime. It argues that the application of socialization in the IGO context should also be undertaken to address the human rights situation of North Korean citizens living near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site to encourage greater adherence to climate and human rights norms by the Kim Jong-un regime.
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This paper explores the changing social identities and development trajectory within a gyochon village through the human geographical concept of perirural agency. Gyochon villages, pockets of rural space located on the outskirts of metropolitan areas, are classified as peri-rural spaces due to their unique spatial, socio-economic, and legislative characteristics. Peri-rural agency refers to the capacity of village business owners to adapt to socio-economic changes balancing local opportunities and constraints and metropolitan demands. Using grounded theory approach in a case study village in Namyangju City, the research identifies three stages of peri-ruralization: revitalization, diversification, and trendification. The study highlights the strengthening of rural agency of returnees in agritourism and leisure businesses, along with café investors, who successfully leveraged their urban social and financial capital, forming a crafted social identity which predicts and utilizes modern urban needs and consequentially commodifies the gyochon. A gap in rural geography within Korean studies is addressed, and the need for a collaborative response to the increasing vulnerabilities of elderly farmers and rural restaurant owners is emphasized.
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This article examines the evolving partnership between Russia and North Korea and its implications for economic security on the Korean Peninsula. Against the backdrop of Russia’s geopolitical isolation following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has intensified engagement with Pyongyang, culminating in the 2024 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty. This partnership expands cooperation across political, military, and economic domains, undermining international sanctions and complicating regional security dynamics. This article analyzes key areas of economic cooperation, including trade, energy, labor, infrastructure, and such emerging sectors as tourism and digital technology. It argues that although Russia’s economic capacity to support North Korea remains limited compared to China’s, the political and strategic significance of this partnership is considerable. North Korea gains enhanced autonomy and leverage, while Russia positions itself as a spoiler in US-led containment efforts. Importantly, the partnership is not one-sided: North Korea has also supplied Russia with munitions and possible personnel support, underscoring its reciprocal nature. This study concludes by assessing the policy challenges facing South Korea and its allies, emphasizing the need for stronger trilateral security cooperation, expanded diplomatic outreach, and a balanced strategy that preserves future pathways for dialogue and engagement.
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