Jeju uprising

"April 3rd Incident" redirects here. For the short story collection by Yu Hua, see The April 3rd Incident.

Jeju uprising
Part of the division of Korea and the Cold War

Map of South Korea with Jeju highlighted at the bottom in red
DateApril 3, 1948 (1948-04-03) – May 13, 1949 (1949-05-13)
(1 year, 1 month, 1 week and 3 days)
Location
Jeju Island, South Korea
Result Uprising suppressed
Belligerents

Workers' Party of South Korea

  • Local supporters
 United States Army Military Government in Korea (until August 1948)
South Korea South Korea (from August 1948)
Northwest Youth League
Korean Youth League
Commanders and leaders
Kim Dal-sam
Pak Hon-yong		 William F. Dean
Syngman Rhee
Kim Ik-ryeol
Casualties and losses
Several thousand killed[1]: 189 [a] 162 soldiers killed
289 policemen killed
640 paramilitaries killed
Total:
1,091 killed
14,373 civilians killed (86% by security forces and 14% by insurgents)
30,000 total dead including combatants[2]
Other estimates reach as high as 80,000[3][4]
Jeju uprising
Hangul
제주 4·3 사건
Hanja
Revised RomanizationJeju sasam sageon
McCune–ReischauerCheju sasam sakŏn

The Jeju uprising, known in South Korea as the Jeju April 3 incident[5] (Korean: 제주 4·3 사건), was an uprising on Jeju Island from April 1948 to May 1949. A year prior to its start, residents of Jeju had begun protesting elections scheduled by the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) to be held in the United States-occupied half of Korea, which they believed would entrench the division of the country. A general strike was later organised by the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK) from February to March 1948. The WPSK launched an insurgency in April 1948, attacking police and Northwest Youth League members stationed on Jeju who had been mobilized to suppress the protests by force.[1]: 166–167 [6] The First Republic of Korea under President Syngman Rhee escalated the suppression of the uprising from August 1948, declaring martial law in November and beginning an "eradication campaign" against rebel forces in the rural areas of Jeju in March 1949, defeating them within two months. Many rebel veterans and suspected sympathizers were later killed upon the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, and the existence of the Jeju uprising was officially censored and repressed in South Korea for several decades.[7]: 41 

The Jeju uprising and its repression were notable for its extreme violence; between 14,000 and 30,000 people (10 percent of Jeju's population) were killed, and 40,000 fled to Japan.[6][8][9][1]: 139, 193  Other estimates reach as high as 80,000 dead.[10] Atrocities and war crimes were committed by both sides, but historians have noted that the methods used by the South Korean government to suppress protesters and rebels were especially cruel, with violence against civilians by pro-government forces contributing to the Yeosu-Suncheon rebellion in South Jeolla during the conflict.[1]: 171 [6][7]: 13–14 [1]: 186  Some historians and scholars, including military historian Allan R. Millett, regard the Jeju uprising as the true beginning of the Korean War.[11]

In October 2003, the National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju April 3 Incident chaired by South Korean prime minister Goh Kun released a comprehensive report detailing the violence that occurred during the uprising,[12] and South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun issued an official apology on behalf of the South Korean government.[13] In 2019, the South Korean police and the defense ministry apologized for their involvement in the massacres during the Jeju uprising.[14]

  1. ^ a b c d e Merrill, John (1980). "Cheju-do Rebellion". The Journal of Korean Studies. 2: 139–197. doi:10.1353/jks.1980.0004. S2CID 143130387.
  2. ^ Johnson, Chalmers (January 23, 2001). Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire (2000, rev. 2004 ed.). Owl Book. pp. 99–101. ISBN 0-8050-6239-4. According to Chalmers Johnson, death toll is 14,000–30,000
  3. ^ Cumings, Bruce. The Korean War A History (2010 ed.). Modern Library. pp. 124–125. According to the governor of Jeju at the time, the death toll was reported to be at 60,000
  4. ^ Cumings, 2010, p.124.
  5. ^ "Moon vows continued push for honor of Jeju April 3 incident victims". Yonhap News Agency. April 3, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021 – via The Korea Herald.
  6. ^ a b c Deane, Hugh (1999). The Korean War 1945–1953. San Francisco: China Books and Periodicals Inc. pp. 54–58. ISBN 0-8351-2644-7.
  7. ^ a b Kim, Hun Joon (2014). The Massacre at Mt. Halla: Sixty Years of Truth Seeking in South Korea. Cornell University Press. pp. 13–41. ISBN 9780801452390.
  8. ^ Hideko Takayama (June 19, 2000). "Ghosts of Cheju". Newsweek. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
  9. ^ Deane, Hugh (1999). The Korean War, 1945–1953. China Books&Periodicals, Inc. pp. 54–58. ISBN 9780141912240.
  10. ^ Cumings, 2010, p.124.
  11. ^ Tucker, Spencer C. (September 6, 2016). The Roots and Consequences of 20th-Century Warfare: Conflicts that Shaped the Modern World: Conflicts That Shaped the Modern World. ABC-CLIO. p. 320. ISBN 9781610698023.
  12. ^ The National Committee for the Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju April 3 Incident (December 15, 2003). "The Jeju April 3 Incident Investigation Report" (PDF). Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Korea. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 21, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Roh, Moo-hyun (October 31, 2003). President Roh Moo-hyun issues a state apology for the Jeju 4·3 Uprising and Massacre (PDF) (Speech). Jeju Peace Forum. Jeju City. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  14. ^ AFP (April 3, 2019). "South Korean police apologize and army expresses regret for 1948 Jeju massacres". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2019.


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