Autumn Uprising of 1946

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The Autumn Uprising of 1946, also called the 10.1 Daegu Uprising of 1946 (Korean: 대구 10·1 사건; Hanja: 大邱 10·1 事件) was a peasant uprising in South Korea against the policies of the United States Army Military Government in Korea headed by General John R. Hodge and in favor of restoration of power to the people's committees that made up the People's Republic of Korea. The uprising is also sometimes called the Daegu Riot or Daegu Resistance Movement.^[1] The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Korea uses a neutral name, the Daegu October Incident.^[1]

The uprising was preceded by the Korean General Strike in September, in which more than 250,000 workers had participated. The strike was declared illegal by the US Military Government and strikers were attacked by police. On October 1, a protest by strikers in Daegu was fired on by police and a railway worker named Kim Yong-Tae was killed. The following day thousands of protestors, including school and college students, carried his body through the city streets, despite police attempts to halt them. The strike then evolved into the more general Autumn Uprising (or Daegu 10.1 uprising).^[2][3]

The uprising started in Busan and eventually spread to Seoul, Daegu, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, Chungcheongnam-do, and Jeollanam-do and ended in mid-November. Further demands expressed during the uprising were for better working conditions, higher wages, larger rice ration, the right to organize, and the release of political prisoners.^[4]

According to the conditions the United States Military Government responded in different ways, including mobilizing strike-breakers, the police, right-wing youth groups, sending in U.S. troops and tanks, and declaring martial law, and succeeded in putting down the uprising. The uprising resulted in the deaths of 92 policemen, 163 civil workers, 116 civilians, and 240 rioters. 2,609 people were arrested by the police and military.^[5][6] Some analysts say that the uprising, which was in part a reaction to the October elections for the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly, organized by the United States Military Government, is a better indicator of public opinion than the election itself.^[7]

The defeat of the uprising is considered to be a turning point in establishing political control over Korea as the people's committees and the National Council of Korean Labour Unions were weakened in the suppression.^[8][9] To the Americans, the Autumn Harvest Rebellion added new urgency to the effort to find some formula for unifying the two occupation zones of Korea under an elected government.^[10]

In 2010, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented its findings. There were 60 victims to whose families it suggested the government should provide compensation and around 7,500 other people who suffered during the incident.^[1] Some victims were arrested and tortured, then police and extreme right wing groups damaged or confiscated their homes and property.^[1] The families of the victims had to endure the shame of being viewed as criminals.^[1]