Men of Task Force Smith, I report we completed our assigned task with honor

Transcription

1 Men of Task Force Smith, I report we completed our assigned task with honor Go! February 19, 2008 Background History - Why was Darrigo there? We're going to throw a lot of history at you in this section. We want to explain what Capt. Darrigo was doing as the only American on the 38th parallel when the North Koreans invaded. And, we want to explain the background that led to the employment of Task Force Smith and others during the first few weeks of the Korean War. This is not all together a happy read. But it's history we must understand. Ed Evanhoe, a contributor to Gordon L. Rottman s book, Korean War Order of Battle, US, UN, and Communist Ground, Naval and Air Forces, , described the US military situation prior to the Korean War. It's the same story that applied to our situation prior to WWI, WWI, and Vietnam: When the Korean War began, 25 June 1950, United States armed forces were in a sad state of preparedness. We honor service and sacrifice. Please click the "Donate" button and contribute $20 or more to help keep this station alive. Thanks. 1 of 29

2 Truman giving Truman Doctrine address, March 12, Presented by the Truman Library & Museum. Following WWII, President Truman and the Congress forced a major military drawdown. Force levels were drawn back, military spending was reduced significantly, and industrial production shifted to civilian pursuits. Americans were tired of war. While they were tired of war, the Soviets became an obvious strategic problem. As a result, the Truman Doctrine of 1947 directed attention to preventing further expansion of the Soviet sphere. The Cold War had begun. Strategic deterrence was the lexicon. Strategic Warfare against the Soviet Union and all-out war in Europe dominated military planning. Nonetheless, military demobilization continued. What forces we would develop would be mostly strategic, the B-52 strategic bomber, Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs) with potent nuclear warheads, and some ground divisions and fighter wings in Europe to serve as a trip-wire. What is a "trip-wire?" The Soviets, and their Warsaw Pact allies, massed significant forces in eastern Europe, while the US and its allies deployed substantial forces there, but not enough to defeat a Soviet invasion. If the Soviets were to invade western Europe through Germany, they would immediately meet US force. Those US forces would not be enough to stop the invasion, but they would fight and die, and the US public would rise up to fight. That is the trip wire. Those US forces on the line were the trip 2 of 29

3 wire. Once such fighting began, the US would have to move quickly to employ strategic and tactical nuclear weapons against Soviet forces and the Soviet Union to stop the onslaught. That was the essence of deterrence in Europe. The Soviet threat devoured American foreign and military policy. The trip-wire approach enabled the US to continue drawing down its military forces while building up its technologic capacity to deliver strategic nuclear weapons with speed, accuracy and lethality. Herman S. Wolk, in his book, Fulcrum of Power: Essays on the United States Air Force and National Security, explains the situation this way: "... Demobilization continued, and the US military establishment that had triumphed in the war no longer existed... (General) Marshall, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, and Navy Secretary James V. Forrestal (among others) had warned against a rapid, massive military drawdown, but public and congressional pressures understandably were too great to be resisted." The point to be made here was that the Korean peninsula did not fit into this calculus. Japan, however, did. The US was far more interested in rebuilding Japan than liberating the Korean peninsula. As you'll see, this train of thought flew in the face of Korean history and aspirations and in the end drew the US into a war on the peninsula. 3 of 29

4 Remarkably, US national policy-makers could not see the strategic importance of the Korean peninsula in the immediate post-wwii era. This map depicts the obvious threats. The USSR and China were communist countries, both were hostile to the US, and the US was, at the very least, very distrustful of each of them. By 1949, the Communist Chinese defeated the Nationalist Chinese, an American ally during WWII, and forced them to leave the mainland and move to Formosa, now called Taiwan. The Soviets began to occupy northern Korea, prematurely, just before the end of WWII, ahead of schedule. The US occupied southern Korea and all Japan, and maintained the alliance with the Nationalist Chinese to form the Republic of China on Formosa. While the US occupied Japan, the Soviets wanted a piece of that action and had a long bill of particulars against the Japanese. The communists were also making headway in Indochina, having declared independence, and the French were having trouble holding on. The net result was that all the East 4 of 29

5 Asia mainland and Soviet Far East from Indochina all the way to Alaska was communist and hostile to the US, with the exception of one little parcel of land, known as southern Korea. She was an island in the midst of threats. Both the USSR and China wanted the entire Korean peninsula to be communist. The US was mostly offshore, in the Philippines, Formosa and Japan. Both the USSR and China were interested in all three. How American policy-makers failed to see the strategic importance of this peninsula stands in my mind as a great American foreign policy failure. Not only did our national policy makers not see Korea s strategic importance, they did not understand the fundamentals of Korean history. Korean workers mobilized to carry supplies for Japanese troops. Note the looks on the faces of the two Japanese soldiers to the right, looks of mockery. Presented by Global Korean Network of Los Angeles. The central feature of Korean history always has had to do with its location. Its small size and geographic location amidst Japan, Russia (later the USSR) and China destined the peninsula to be a focus for such struggles. In one form or another, Korea's history is marked by being occupied by one of these three. Each one of those occupying nations despised the Korean people, seeing them as inferior, second-rate, and unworthy of serious attention. It was so bad that in the 19th century, Korea chose to be close to China, but otherwise wanted everyone to stay away. In those days, it was known as the "Hermit Kingdom." The Korean government in the day held Westerners in great contempt, seeing 5 of 29

6 them as barbarians. China also resisted foreign entrees, but was inundated with Western traders nonetheless. Japan too kept its ports closed to Westerners, except for a very few. Commodore Perry meeting Japanese officials at Yokohama. Presented by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Commodore Matthew Perry in the 1850s demanded Japanese ports be opened to American trade, and succeeded in obtaining a treaty to that end. The Koreans saw some benefits to the Chinese from the trade, but also saw many negatives, so they remained adamantly closed. The Americans, and other Western nations, did not like that. An American merchant, W.B. Preston, arranged with a British firm, Meadows & Co., to send the US merchant ship General Sherman, formerly the US Navy armed merchant-marine schooner, Princess Royal, to Korea. She traveled up the Daedong (Tao-dong) River to Pyongyang in 1866 trying to open trade. The ship ran aground, the crew abandoned ship, there was fighting on shore, and eight of the crew were killed with the rest imprisoned. Kim Il Sung, the North Korean leader who invaded South Korea in 1950, would later claim that his great-grandfather was involved in this incident and boasted of his anti-american heritage. In any event, the Koreans destroyed the Sherman. In response, in 1868 the US sent the USS Shenandoah to investigate, but she returned home after being unable to find out anything. 6 of 29

7 The USS Monocacy towing landing boats in the Han River, during the Korean expedition of May-June Presented by US Naval Historical Center. In the 1871, the US sent five Navy ships loaded with 1,230 Marines to the area. The ships included the the USS Colorado, USS Alaska, USS Palos, USS Monocacy, and USS Benicia, Rear Admiral John Rodgers, commander, Asiatic Fleet, in command. The mission was to support an American diplomat, Frederick W. Low, sent to establish trade and diplomatic relations with the Koreans, and find out more about the General Sherman. The fleet entered the Han River, prohibited by Korean law, and is said to have been fired on. In response, Marines and Navy "bluejackets" landed on Gangwha (Kangwha) Island from the Salee River, an outlet of the Han River to the Yellow Sea, and 7 of 29

8 took the island. The US suffered one Naval officer, one Naval Landsman, and one Marine private killed in action, while some 350 Koreans died. The Marines occupied the entire island. The Navy ships tried yet again to sail up the Han, met stiff resistance, and departed for China feeling the effort was not worth it. The diplomatic mission failed. The Koreans wanted no part of it. Korean General Eo Jae-yeon's garrison flag captured at Fort McKee in the attacks on the Salée river forts, Korea, June 10 and 11, 1871, by Private Purvis of the USS Alaska, assisted by Corporal Brown of the USS Colorado, both awarded Medals of Honor. On right, Captain McLane Tilton, commanding marines. Photograph taken on board USS Colorado, Captain George H. Cooper, commanding. Flagship of Rear Admiral John Rodgers, commanding U.S. Asiatic Fleet. Excerpted from "Marine Amphibious Landing in Korea, 1871," compiled by Miss Carolyn A. Tyson, HQ USMC. Presented by Naval Historical Foundation. We commend this detailed account of what happened to you. As an aside, the US in October 2007 agreed to return the Korean battle flag taken by US Marines during this fight and shown in the above photo. It had been kept at the US Naval Academy. You Hong-june, administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration (center), and other officials salute Gen. Eo Jae-yeon's flag at a ceremony to mark its return to Korea at the National Palace Museum of Korea on October 22, Presented by english.chosun.com 8 of 29

9 Returning to the battle of 1871, the Japanese watched all this carefully, and later sailed their ships to the same area and threatened to bombard Seoul if the Koreans failed to sign a trade treaty. The Koreans signed one, and the Japanese gained entry. While the Koreans had their heels dug in over trade with the West, they could see how China was benefitting, and worried they would miss out. Having been defeated by better American technologies simply reinforced that view. Therefore, during the 1880s, the Koreans sought contact with the US, and with other countries as a way to benefit from the Industrial Revolution. Many Koreans did not like this initiative, instead wanting to maintain Korean values and integrity. This in turn led to political unrest on the peninsula. In response, both Japan and China sent in troops. They would both attempt to control Korean politics, and both maintained forces there. Here again, the Korean people did not like this, and tried to evict the Chinese and overthrow their own government. Japan, which envied China's ties to Korea, helped that evolution along. China and Japan almost came to blows over this, in 1884, but for the moment, decided to hold off. Instead, both China and Japan worked hard to influence events in Korea, the Chinese focused on politics, the Japanese on business. Japanese troops land on Inchon, Korea in June Presented by Global Korean Network of Los Angeles. China's political efforts paid off. A rebellion erupted in 1894 designed to overthrow a Chinese supported government. It was 9 of 29

10 known as the Donghak Peasant Revolution. The Korean government asked its ally, China, to help, and more Chinese forces were sent to the peninsula. The rebellion also sought to throw out the Japanese. Therefore, the Japanese sent in more troops as well. It was simply a matter of time before Chinese and Japanese troops would come to blows. That happened in the Sino-Japanese War of Japan defeated the Chinese and drove them off the peninsula in China had seen Korea as a "tributary state," so Japan forced China to sign a treaty affirming Korea's independence. China did so. Now Russia entered the picture and attempted to control Korean politics. Queen Min, once an ally of China, now allied with pro-russian factions. In response, Japanese troops took the palace and killed the queen. That notwithstanding, Russian influence still grew, especially in the business world. American businessmen joined in to gain special business interests along with the Russians. Elements of democratic organization actually started to bloom, and so did Korean nationalism. Japanese troops marching through Seoul [early 1900 s]. Presented by Global Korean Network of Los Angeles. Then, in 1904, Japan launched a surprise attack against Russia at Port Arthur, kicking off the Russo-Japanese War of of 29

11 Japanese troops at Seoul's West Gate, Presented by Korean History. The Japanese entered the Korean peninsula to fight Czarist Russia, and sent advisors to "assist" the various Korean ministries. The Russians had occupied much of Korea's northern regions, and many Koreans welcomed Japanese forces as liberators. However, Japanese troops occupied most of the peninsula, and remained there once they defeated Russia. Apparently subsumed by business interests, and worried about Russian expansionism in the Pacific, President Theodore Roosevelt recognized that Japan had special interests in Korea. He did that in exchange for Japan recognizing that the US had special interests in the Philippines. The Japanese, of course, would later invade the Philippines on the same day they attacked Pearl Harbor. In 1905, Japan set up Korea as a protectorate, Korean officials sought international help in vain, Japanese troops fought against Korean resistance, the Japanese dissolved the Korean Army, known as the Yi Army, and massacred many in the Korean Army. 11 of 29

12 In 1907, the Korean Righteous Army of nationalists, a group of whom is shown here courtesy of Anti-Japanese Movement in Korea, was joined by elements of the Yi Army and anti-japanese Korean elite. Fighting continued, Japan suppressed Korean activism, and in 1910 Japan annexed Korea and became a full-fledged occupation force. Japanese occupation troops frequently engaged in terror tactics, executing anyone suspected of being involved with the resistance. Presented by Global Korean Network of Los Angeles. Korean nationalists rose up and the Japanese destroyed them. Japanese businesses and political entities moved in and took 12 of 29

13 over, economically, politically and culturally. Korean nationalists fought the Japanese through WWII, and shed a great deal of blood at Japanese hands. Many Koreans, however, accepted the Japanese, allied with them, tried to integrate Japanese culture with Korean, including language, and fought for the Japanese. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria and in 1937 invaded China. Cairo Conference, Seated, L-R, Chiang Kai-shek, FDR, and Churchill. Standing to the left (right of Chiang) is General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff Army. Presented by San Diego University. At long last, during WWII, the US, Britain and China, the latter led by US ally Chiang Kai-shek, agreed that they needed to keep their eyes on Korea. This was a tough sell, given that the US and British had their hands full with Germany and Japan. That said, the Americans started to realize that they would have to pay more attention to Korea, given that they knew they would someday have to take apart the Japanese Empire. Following the Cairo Conference of 1943, the three leaders issued a statement: "The aforesaid three great powers, mindful of the (Japanese) enslavement of the people of Korea, are determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent." Japan ruled Korea until the end of WWII, September As you will learn, independence for Korea was not in the cards. Lt. General John R. Hodge, who would lead US occupation forces into southern Korea and command US Army Forces in Korea (USAFIK) for a while, wrote an article entitled, "With the US Army in Korea," published in the June 1947 edition of National 13 of 29

14 Geographic magazine. We will refer to his words more than once. He referred to the above statement issued at the Cairo Conference, and pointed out that the phrase "in due course" meant "indefinite," "some day in the future," in English. However, the phrase was exceedingly difficult to translate to Korean. Most Koreans interpreted the phrase to mean independence very shortly after Japanese surrender, even days after. He added: "Upon one thing Koreans are thoroughly agreed. They all want their independence." Korea's history is and was clear: Koreans have long wanted to be Koreans living in a free Korea. They fought for a free Korea over and over, and lost every time. Once WWII was over, and the Japanese knelt defeated and humiliated, Koreans felt certain they had been liberated. Koreans were sure their independence was but a few heartbeats away. Japan was defeated, not Korea. Korea was liberated. Japan was to be occupied, not Korea. Many nationalist groups came forward to create an independent Korean republic, hoping to start afresh following decades of brutal Japanese occupation. Throughout WWII, the US had viewed the Pacific and Asia as second fiddle to Europe. The priority was first to defeat Germany, and then turn to defeating Japan. Despite the Cairo statement, the US political and military establishment attached little priority to Korea. The Soviets, however, attached considerable importance to her, in line with historical precedent. Yalta Conference, February 1945, L-R Messrs. Churchill, FDR, and Stalin. US Army photo. 14 of 29

15 As it became clear the Germans were going to be defeated, British Prime Minister Churchill, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin met at Yalta, in February Korea was not an agenda item, but FDR recommended to Stalin that a trusteeship be set up for Korea following the war, administered by the US, China and the USSR. Stalin agreed and added Britain. It appears FDR was motivated by a desire to ingratiate the Soviets and provide them yet another reason to enter the war against Japan. A secret agreement was reached to award the Soviets certain territorial concessions in the Far East in return for Russia declaring war against Japan. Vice President Harry Truman takes the oath of office as President of the United States, April 12, FDR died in April 1945, just as US forces were landing in Okinawa. Harry Truman replaced him. Stalin got word to Truman about the 4-nation trusteeship agreement for Korea. Korea was on Stalin's mind even if she were not on Truman's. Then, in May 1945, Germany surrendered. The three major powers met in Potsdam, July 17 - August 2, With the Germans defeated, all eyes turned to the war against Japan. Just prior to Potsdam, in June, General MacArthur's forces defeated the Japanese at Okinawa after a horrendous fight. He and Admiral Nimitz were next preparing to invade Japan's Home Islands on November 1, 1945, the invasion plan known as "Operation Downfall." As a contingency against a sudden and unexpected collapse of the Japanese government or a sudden unexpected surrender, MacArthur's staff also was preparing for a quick response occupation of Japan, nicknamed "Operation Blacklist." 15 of 29

16 While at Potsdam, on July 16, 2007, Truman was informed that the atomic bomb test, known as "Trinity," had occurred and succeeded. The bomb, known as the "Gadget," worked. He further knew that targets in Japan had been selected, and aircrews had been training for the mission. That said, he also knew his military leadership was not in favor of using the bomb, instead preferring to invade if required. All together, this meant Truman had three options to try to end the war with Japan: "Operation Downfall" (invade and occupy), A-bomb, "Operation Blacklist." He also knew the Soviets had promised to declare war against Japan, which some thought might be enough alone to cause the Japanese to surrender unconditionally. Truman was in a delicate position with Stalin. He was not as eager to ingratiate the Soviets as was FDR, but he still needed the Soviets to declare war against Japan. Truman and his advisors distrusted the Soviets and understood that they would have to be careful following the war to assure the US maintained considerable influence in East Asia. Triple handshake at the Potsdam Conference, with Churchill, Truman, and 16 of 29

17 Stalin. Presented by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Britain s Prime Minister Churchill, the Soviet Union s Marshal Stalin, and the American President Truman cut some deals at Potsdam, Germany in very early August 1945 affecting the character of the world. However, except for some military consultations addressing how to execute a trusteeship for Korea, there were precious few political discussions about Korea at Potsdam. the Potsdam conference closed on August 2, The first A-Bomb, "Little Boy," was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6. No word from the Japanese on surrender. So the second A-bomb, "Fat Man," was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9. Still no word from the Japanese. Soviet tank in Manchuria Presented by Japan Focus. One day before Nagasaki, the USSR declared war on Japan, with effect on August 9, Also on August 9, the Soviets invaded 17 of 29

18 Manchuria to expel the Japanese. By definition, this meant the Soviets would push toward and into Korea. The intrigue throughout all this is mind-boggling. Still no word from the Japanese on surrender. General MacArthur's "Operation Blacklist," the American plan to occupy Japan's Home Islands, did include occupation of Korea, parts of Manchuria, Formosa, Indochina and the Chinese coast. These plans were detailed by the time the Potsdam Conference took place. Operation Blacklist envisioned US forces landing on Kyushu Island and the Tokyo Plain, and then fanning out to key objectives. In many respects, it had a lot in common with the planned invasion of Japan. It is interesting to learn, however, that MacArthur planned to occupy Tokyo in Japan and Seoul (Keijo) in Korea as top priorities, with Pusan and Kunsan, Korea as the next priorities. Pusan and Kunsan were two ports the American military planners considered essential to occupation, Pusan on the southeast coast, Kunsan on the southwest. 18 of 29

19 He had a good occupation plan, but MacArthur waited for the formalities of Japan's formal surrender before sending forces to Korea. The Soviets did not wait that long. We learn from Lt. Colonel David M. Glantz, USA, his book, The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945: "August Storm', that the Soviet Far East Command had ordered its units as early as July 25, 1945, to be ready to attack Japan's forces in the Far East. On August 7, the Soviet command made its final decisions on the timing. It attacked on August 9. Glantz suggests that the August 6 atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima expedited the decision to attack. What is key here is that timing was important to the Soviets --- they had a keen eye on getting as many territories from the Japanese as they could. The war of 1905 would be avenged. Soviet Admiral I.S. Iumashev's area of responsibility, between the red line and the mainland coast. In his book, Glantz makes this important statement: "At 0330 hours on 8 August (1945), the 'Stavka' (Soviet General Army Headquarters) ordered Admiral I.S. Iumashev, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, to bring his forces up to operational readiness level No Earlier, the 'Stavka' had delineated Iumashev's area of operations, 19 of 29

20 which encompassed the region bounded by a line extending along the eastern coast of the Kamchatka peninsula, by the northern part of the Kurile Island chain to the La Perouse Straits and the central portion of the Sea of Japan, and then turning south to Wonson (Korea) and the coast of the Korean peninsula." Let's spend a moment on this Soviet attack, because Soviet forces entered Korea long before the US expected, and as you will see, the Americans were not ready. In broad terms, the Soviets attacked Manchuria on two fronts, the TransBaikal Front approaching eastward into western Manchuria, and the 1st Far Eastern Front attacking westward into eastern Manchuria, which is the front we want to highlight. Two armies, the 35th and 25th, would participate on this latter front. We'll concentrate for the moment on the 25th Army. We'll show a map in the moment. The Soviets advanced through Manchuria far more quickly than even the Soviets expected. The Japanese emperor finally announced his surrender on August That did not stop the Soviet advance. Map presented by Lt. Colonel David M. Glantz, USA, from his book, The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945: "August Storm', courtesy of the Leavenworth Papers The 25th Army operated from positions just west of Vladivostok, General Ivan M. Christyakov in command, shown here. Much like the rest of the Soviet forces involved on both fronts, the 25th Army moved out on August 8-9. They 20 of 29

21 had a tough task. The Japanese were heavily fortified and the weather was terrible. Nonetheless, the 25th Army moved smartly and quickly. Soviet forces entered northeastern Korea on or about August 11. A Soviet naval task force and elements of the 25th Army secured the Korean port of Unggi on the morning of August 12. The ground forces then moved south and took the port of Najin on August 14. Between August 8 and 13, Soviet naval aircraft and torpedo cutters bombarded the Korean port city of Chongjin, south of Najin. On August 13, the Soviets landed a small reconnaissance force in Chongjin and fighting between it and Japanese forces in the city was intense, so intense that Major General M. P. Trushin began landing his 13th Naval Brigade under protective fire on August 13. One source said he took the city on August 14, though fighting continued. Another source says the Soviets took the city by August 16. For our purposes, the Soviet Army was inside Korea by mid-august. With the emperor's surrender announcement done, the Soviets consolidated their hold on northeastern Korea and Manchuria, and Japanese forces started surrendering. With the Soviet 25th Army already in northeastern Korea, the US State Department had to jump through hoops to devise a plan to stop the Soviets from taking the entire peninsula. There were no US forces in Korea. The closest combat forces were in Okinawa, about 600 miles away, and they had only taken that island in late June after a horrendous fight. The point is, there was nothing in Korea to stop the 25th Army from marching all the way south to Pusan. The US had no plan. 21 of 29

22 Jasper Becker, in his book, Rogue Regime: Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea, talks to this moment: "On the evening of August 10, 1945, an all-night meeting was convened at the Executive Office Building next to the White House. Around midnight two young officers were sent to an adjoining room to carve out a US occupation zone in Korea. One of them was Lt. Colonel Dean Rusk, and the other Colonel Charles H. Bonesteel, and they were given 30 minutes to find a line to draw across a map. Even finding the right sort of map was a problem. A search turned up an old National Geographic magazine. Using this they picked the 38th parallel as a convenient way of dividing the peninsula." Recall that MacArthur planned to occupy Seoul, Pusan and Kunsan during his occupation of Japan operations. The 38th parallel covered the military requirement. The State Department, however, wanted to move the line up to the 39th parallel. The Soviets would never have given up access to the ports in Manchuria, most notably Dairen and Port Arthur, so the State Department backed away. 22 of 29

23 Rusk, who would later become a secretary of state, and Bonesteel, who would later command all US military forces in Korea, put together a draft plan that was woven into a broader plan for Asia called General Order #1. An excerpt from this order affecting Korea reads as follows: "The senior Japanese Commanders and all ground, sea, air and auxiliary forces within... Korea north of 38 north latitude... shall surrender to the Commander in Chief of Soviet Forces in the Far East... [A]ll ground, sea, air and auxiliary forces in... Korea south of 38 north latitude... shall surrender to the Commander in Chief, US Army Forces, Pacific." President Truman approved the 38th parallel dividing line on August 17, Some historians say Truman did not see Korea as a major US interest, and simply wanted to get it off his plate. Others argue that Truman saw what the Soviets were doing in eastern Europe, and in Manchuria, inherently did not trust them, and simply tried to salvage at least half of the Korean peninsula to prevent the Soviets from taking the whole thing. To the surprise of many, the Soviets agreed to the 38th parallel plan. Indeed Jasper Becker wrote: "The Soviets were just as irresponsible (as the Americans), and to everyone's surprise agreed to an arbitrary demarcation that took no account of history or geography." There is a lot of intrigue in the history surrounding Soviet intentions and actions in Korea. Stalin was not salivating for a fight, but events and mistakes on the part of the Soviets ended up drawing him in. I commend that to your study. Perhaps the most important point to be made here, and we'll make it in various forms again and again as we go on, is that the US and Soviets decided how to carve up Korea, when in fact the Koreans thought they had been liberated from the Japanese by these two powers, not defeated by them. 23 of 29

24 This photo shows the Bokhan (Pukhan) River, a tributary of the Han, near Chuncheon, central Korea, northeast of Seoul. Chuncheon is at about 37 degrees 57 minutes latitude. The 38th Parallel runs roughly along the ridge in the distance. You see a lone hill in Chuncheon, labeled by our pilots, "Unnecessary Hill," because it was all alone and in their way during approach. You can see this is very rough country. Such rugged mountains start at about 126 degrees 50 minutes east longitude and extend all the way to the east coast. This is why invasions are normally expected in the western sector of the peninsula, and why fighting in the central and eastern sectors was "terrain difficult." Photo presented by "The GI and the kids of Korea," by Robert H. Mosier, Technical Sergeant, USMC, National Geographic, May 1953 edition. General Hodge described the 38th parallel this way: "The 38th parallel is not a natural boundary. It cuts across more than 85 rivers and streams. It lies almost exactly between the Yalu River in the north and the Korea Strait in the south." Nobuyuki Abe, shown here, was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He served as the 10th Japanese Governor General of Korea beginning in 1944 and was the last one. He would become the principal interface for the Japanese government with the Americans during the occupation planning process. Here again, occupation planning of Korea would be done by the US in consultation with the Japanese. Incredible when you think about it. The Japanese refused to surrender to the Koreans, a clever move borne of historic tradition, but clever nonetheless, as you will soon see. That said, we learn from Djun Kil Kim, in his book, The History of Korea, that on or about August 12, 1945, one of 24 of 29

25 General Abe's assistants told Song Chinu, the leader of the Korean Kim Songsu political party, that Japan would surrender in a few days and offered to transfer administrative control to Song. Song refused, instead saying the provisional government exiled in China was the rightful government. Song might have made a mistake here. This provisional government in exile was established in Shanghai, China in 1919, after WWI, by Syngman Rhee. Its objective was to overthrow the Japanese in Korea. He was elected president, and served for six years after which he was impeached for misuse of authority. This government coordinated armed resistance against the Japanese army, it created the Korean Liberation Army, and declared war against Japan. Celebration in Seoul on the August 14, 1945 announcement that Japan had agreed to surrender unconditionally to the US. Presented by Global Korean Network of Los Angeles. 25 of 29

26 Yo Unhyong, his head circled, celebrates Korea's liberation in Seoul on August 21, 1945, greeting throngs of Korean students. Presented by Liberation? - No!, Kimsoft. There was no way Japanese General Abe would accept Song's option, so his representative went to Yo Unhyong, who had been secretly forming the Korean Independence League. Yo accepted the offer, and immediately organized the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence (CPKI). Syngman Rhee Kim Il Sung The Committee appointed Syngman Rhee as chairman and Kim Il Sung in charge of defense. At the time, Rhee was in exile in the US, and Kim was in exile in Siberia, the latter a hardened 26 of 29

27 communist. Yo invited all nationalists to join, but those on the right hesitated and his committee soon became a leftist organization and was reorganized by the Korean Communist Party. Stop for a moment and think about all this. We've got one hell-uva situation here. The US and Soviets divided Korea on their own. The Soviets sent in troops ahead of the official Japanese surrender to get their spoils. The Soviets could have march all the way to Pusan virtually unopposed. The US was negotiating with a Japanese general to determine how best to occupy southern Korea. And the Japanese general was trying to decide how the Korean government in the south should look, rejecting the nationalist government set up in 1919 in China, choosing instead some other organization that ended up to be communist. This division and occupation along with all the political intrigue created tumult in Korea. In Korean eyes, this was a very bad deal: Germany was the bad guy in Europe, and as punishment, was divided and occupied; Japan was the bad guy in Asia, it was kept whole, and was to be occupied by the Americans with plans to rebuild Japan as a democracy; Korea, a victim of defeated Japan for decades, somehow got divided and occupied. To Koreans, this did not compute. 27 of 29

28 The red dots indicate the locations the US military viewed as a top priority. The green dots show major locations where the Soviets advanced during August The Soviets were on the ground in their locations in August, while the Americans had their locations in a plan at that time. Where are we? The Soviets were already in Korea, a consul had remained in Seoul throughout WWII, with troops in the northeast at Unggi and Chongjin. The Soviets continued moving in. The Soviet 25th Army began landing at Wonson harbor on August 21. It trapped thousands of Japanese soldiers. By August 24, the Soviets occupied Pyongyang and Hamhung. So now there were three surprises for the Americans. First, that the Soviets agreed to the 38th parallel, second, that their military forces entered Korea in August, before WWII was officially over, and third, the Soviets stopped at the 38th parallel. Here again, the Soviets considered Korea to be important, while the Americans did not, but at this point Stalin was more interested in solidifying his grip on the north than going into the south, a policy known as "socialism in one zone." That the Soviets stopped at the 38th parallel served as notice that the Soviets at this time considered the line to be permanent. 28 of 29

29 In an article entitled "Carrots and Radishes," published by Time magazine on November 13, 1950, the author described the Soviet arrival like this: "Within hours after the first Russian troops had (formally) entered Pyongyang in September 1945, nearly every billboard and wall space in the city was plastered with effective, brightly colored posters extolling the military and civil virtues of the Soviet Union... "At first the people of Pyongyang had little reason for resentment. Besides posters, sound trucks and propaganda squads, the Russians also brought with them carefully trained cadres of civilian political officers. These functionaries, most of them Russian-indoctrinated Koreans, had their offices set up only 48 hours after their arrival, and the offices really worked. There was little hunger in Pyongyang, because the Russians got rice into the city promptly and distributed it as fairly as possible. The Russians also insisted that their military government would last only so long as it took to set up an independent 'people's government' run by Koreans for Koreans." History continued on the next page. 29 of 29