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A Fractured Liberation: Korea under US Occupation
A poignant return to Korea’s forgotten “Asian Spring”—a moment ripe with possibility denied by the postwar US military occupation.
When Japanese imperial rule ended in August 1945, the Korean peninsula erupted with hopes that had been bottled up for forty years. New mother Chŏn Sukhŭi marveled at the news, envisioning her son growing up free in an independent Korea. Yi Ilchae, who only days before had been drafted into the Japanese army, threw himself into union activism. An electrifying excitement jolted Koreans into action everywhere. Peasants occupied Japanese-owned farmlands, workers seized control of factories, and women demanded political and economic equality.
A Fractured Liberation brings to vivid life the brief but intense moment in postwar Korea when anything seemed possible, but nothing was guaranteed. The country had been abruptly split into US and Soviet military occupation zones, but, as Kornel Chang shows, ordinary people threw themselves into achieving self-governance throughout a unified Korea. The mostly left-leaning efforts were bolstered by an eclectic group of American supporters, including New Deal liberals, Christian socialists, and trade unionists.
The Koreans’ greatest obstacle, however, proved to be the US military government in the south and its rigidly anticommunist leadership. Despite promising liberation from the hated Japanese-imposed institutions, the US occupation government under General John R. Hodge hired back Koreans who had worked for the Japanese to do the dirty work of curbing protests and muzzling reformers. As concern over the budding superpower rivalry with the Soviet Union overshadowed the Koreans’ democratic aspirations, the United States increasingly narrowed the possibilities for Korean independence, helping to cement the North-South divide and ensure decades of authoritarian rule on both sides.
When Japanese imperial rule ended in August 1945, the Korean peninsula erupted with hopes that had been bottled up for forty years. New mother Chŏn Sukhŭi marveled at the news, envisioning her son growing up free in an independent Korea. Yi Ilchae, who only days before had been drafted into the Japanese army, threw himself into union activism. An electrifying excitement jolted Koreans into action everywhere. Peasants occupied Japanese-owned farmlands, workers seized control of factories, and women demanded political and economic equality.
A Fractured Liberation brings to vivid life the brief but intense moment in postwar Korea when anything seemed possible, but nothing was guaranteed. The country had been abruptly split into US and Soviet military occupation zones, but, as Kornel Chang shows, ordinary people threw themselves into achieving self-governance throughout a unified Korea. The mostly left-leaning efforts were bolstered by an eclectic group of American supporters, including New Deal liberals, Christian socialists, and trade unionists.
The Koreans’ greatest obstacle, however, proved to be the US military government in the south and its rigidly anticommunist leadership. Despite promising liberation from the hated Japanese-imposed institutions, the US occupation government under General John R. Hodge hired back Koreans who had worked for the Japanese to do the dirty work of curbing protests and muzzling reformers. As concern over the budding superpower rivalry with the Soviet Union overshadowed the Koreans’ democratic aspirations, the United States increasingly narrowed the possibilities for Korean independence, helping to cement the North-South divide and ensure decades of authoritarian rule on both sides.
- GenresHistoryAsiaNonfiction
304 pages, Hardcover
Published March 4, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 13, 2025
Chang is a Korean-American whose parents migrated from South Korea (and before that, his grandparents had fled from North Korea to South Korea in the late 1940s, never to see their old family again). So Chang has personal interest in trying to figure out how Korea became what it is now: seemingly eternally divded along the 38th parallel, a lasting Cold War hot spot.
He thinks it didn't have to be this way, but became an outgrowth of a series of poor decisions made during the occupation. The chief villain of the story is General John Hodge, in charge of the US occupation in the southern half of Korean from 1945-48, when a South Korean government was installed.
When the US first arrived, they were hailed as liberaters by seemingly everyone, even the communists, after 40 or so years of Japanese domination. It was a time of wonder and hope for what may come next. Local communities created their own organziations to take the lead. And there was desires to go after collaborators who had worked with the Japanese. Hodge, however, opted to to work with the local people's communities. He disbanded them and eventually made them illegal. He was a staunch anti-communist and saw them as a possible communist threat. There were communists in them, but also plenty of non-communists. But these groups had some popular leeway. Also, Hodge opted to use the old police force, even though it had the stank of collaboration on it. In fact, though he considered getting rid of key leaders of the police force (who had been very much collaborators with Japan's repressive colonial regime) but he kept them in place. Also, there was a lack of serious land reform or economic reform.
This all created widespread displeasure and alienation from the US occupatoin, that resulted in late 1946 in rioting and violent upheavel. The police and authorities were called in to stop it - and boy did they ever. They attacked any sort of leftist, imprisoning, torturing, and killing as they went. This happened shortly before elections were to be held, and a decision was made (by Hodge) not to delay the election. Not surprisingly in the environment, leftists were less likely to vote (or even be able to vote) leading to rightists sweeping. A certain path had been set. Some reformers in the US occupation felt after a few years that good options had closed. All they had left were a series of bad options.
Hodge isn't the only problem. Syngman Rhee comes off like a meglomaniac who wants power in Korea. He's a true believer in Korea, but it's HIS kind of Korea. He does a really good job advancing his own cause, pressing his position to the breaking point repeatedly, but never actually causing that point to break. But his confrontational style of political brinksmanship keeps causing others (both Korean and American) to back down. As he has some leverage, it's harder to get rid of him without causing serious problems all across the peninsul. By 1948 he's there as an autocrat. He has the constitution completely reformatted froma parliamentary system to one with tons of power in his own role. Hodge and Rhee loathed each other. Hodge saw Rhee as a meglomaniac who wanted power. Rhee accused Hodge of being a secret communist (which is ridiculous, but Hodge opposed Rhee so he must be!)
Plans for a united Korea eventually fall by the wayside as two very different power centers emerge in both halves of the peninsula. I suppose there could be more about it, but overall the book is great.
There is a little bit of North Korea in here as well, but that's in the background. At one point they do land reform very quickly, and rather bloodlessly, aided by many fleeing to the south at that time (like Chang's granparents). Rhee is forced into exile, which does break him. He always wanted to rule a united Korea and now that can't happen. Hodge never really wrote or spoke about Korea again, even during the Korean War. Was it just a soldier's job for him? Did he have any regrets? Who knows. He left no personal papers.
He thinks it didn't have to be this way, but became an outgrowth of a series of poor decisions made during the occupation. The chief villain of the story is General John Hodge, in charge of the US occupation in the southern half of Korean from 1945-48, when a South Korean government was installed.
When the US first arrived, they were hailed as liberaters by seemingly everyone, even the communists, after 40 or so years of Japanese domination. It was a time of wonder and hope for what may come next. Local communities created their own organziations to take the lead. And there was desires to go after collaborators who had worked with the Japanese. Hodge, however, opted to to work with the local people's communities. He disbanded them and eventually made them illegal. He was a staunch anti-communist and saw them as a possible communist threat. There were communists in them, but also plenty of non-communists. But these groups had some popular leeway. Also, Hodge opted to use the old police force, even though it had the stank of collaboration on it. In fact, though he considered getting rid of key leaders of the police force (who had been very much collaborators with Japan's repressive colonial regime) but he kept them in place. Also, there was a lack of serious land reform or economic reform.
This all created widespread displeasure and alienation from the US occupatoin, that resulted in late 1946 in rioting and violent upheavel. The police and authorities were called in to stop it - and boy did they ever. They attacked any sort of leftist, imprisoning, torturing, and killing as they went. This happened shortly before elections were to be held, and a decision was made (by Hodge) not to delay the election. Not surprisingly in the environment, leftists were less likely to vote (or even be able to vote) leading to rightists sweeping. A certain path had been set. Some reformers in the US occupation felt after a few years that good options had closed. All they had left were a series of bad options.
Hodge isn't the only problem. Syngman Rhee comes off like a meglomaniac who wants power in Korea. He's a true believer in Korea, but it's HIS kind of Korea. He does a really good job advancing his own cause, pressing his position to the breaking point repeatedly, but never actually causing that point to break. But his confrontational style of political brinksmanship keeps causing others (both Korean and American) to back down. As he has some leverage, it's harder to get rid of him without causing serious problems all across the peninsul. By 1948 he's there as an autocrat. He has the constitution completely reformatted froma parliamentary system to one with tons of power in his own role. Hodge and Rhee loathed each other. Hodge saw Rhee as a meglomaniac who wanted power. Rhee accused Hodge of being a secret communist (which is ridiculous, but Hodge opposed Rhee so he must be!)
Plans for a united Korea eventually fall by the wayside as two very different power centers emerge in both halves of the peninsula. I suppose there could be more about it, but overall the book is great.
There is a little bit of North Korea in here as well, but that's in the background. At one point they do land reform very quickly, and rather bloodlessly, aided by many fleeing to the south at that time (like Chang's granparents). Rhee is forced into exile, which does break him. He always wanted to rule a united Korea and now that can't happen. Hodge never really wrote or spoke about Korea again, even during the Korean War. Was it just a soldier's job for him? Did he have any regrets? Who knows. He left no personal papers.
May 31, 2025
Kornel Chang has produced a remarkable work of historical scholarship that illuminates one of the most overlooked yet pivotal moments in modern Korean history. This meticulously researched and deeply personal account of the Korean Peninsula's liberation following Japan's 1945 surrender reveals a fascinating period of radical social transformation that has been largely forgotten in popular understanding of Korea's postwar development.
What makes this book exceptional is Chang's ability to capture the extraordinary energy and democratic potential of the immediate post-liberation period. His vivid descriptions of peasants occupying Japanese farmlands, workers seizing factory control, and women demanding political equality paint a compelling picture of grassroots revolution in action. These scenes of spontaneous social upheaval demonstrate Chang's skill in bringing historical moments to life while revealing the genuine democratic aspirations that emerged in the power vacuum following colonial rule.
Chang's research methodology is particularly impressive, combining traditional archival sources like diaries and military records with literary works and his own family history to create a multi-layered narrative that feels both scholarly rigorous and personally resonant. This approach allows him to examine "Korea's Asian Spring" from multiple perspectives, revealing the complexity and diversity of the political movements that briefly flourished before superpower intervention.
Perhaps most powerfully, Chang poses essential questions about what might have been possible had Korean social movements been allowed to develop without immediate Soviet and American interference. His exploration of this brief moment of possibility offers valuable insights not only into Korean history but into the broader dynamics of decolonization and Cold War intervention. This is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how the geopolitical realities of the postwar world shaped the trajectory of emerging nations.
What makes this book exceptional is Chang's ability to capture the extraordinary energy and democratic potential of the immediate post-liberation period. His vivid descriptions of peasants occupying Japanese farmlands, workers seizing factory control, and women demanding political equality paint a compelling picture of grassroots revolution in action. These scenes of spontaneous social upheaval demonstrate Chang's skill in bringing historical moments to life while revealing the genuine democratic aspirations that emerged in the power vacuum following colonial rule.
Chang's research methodology is particularly impressive, combining traditional archival sources like diaries and military records with literary works and his own family history to create a multi-layered narrative that feels both scholarly rigorous and personally resonant. This approach allows him to examine "Korea's Asian Spring" from multiple perspectives, revealing the complexity and diversity of the political movements that briefly flourished before superpower intervention.
Perhaps most powerfully, Chang poses essential questions about what might have been possible had Korean social movements been allowed to develop without immediate Soviet and American interference. His exploration of this brief moment of possibility offers valuable insights not only into Korean history but into the broader dynamics of decolonization and Cold War intervention. This is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how the geopolitical realities of the postwar world shaped the trajectory of emerging nations.
September 27, 2025
Very well-written and well-sourced book on a specific period between WWII and the Cold War era that is often brushed over. This book largely focuses on providing the overarching narrative as to the self-determination of Koreans after Japan's surrender in 1945 and ends just after Syngman Rhee's victory in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the pretext for the Korean War. I appreciated the anecdotes about the author's family and how that played a role in both his previous knowledge (and ignorance) of what took place and how it drove him to do this research. I also liked how he incorporated contemporary writings, some autobiographical, that help paint a picture what the atmosphere and attitude of some of those who lived through that era was like. I respect how the author handled critiquing American and Soviet involvement in the splitting of Korea as well. My only criticism is that I wish there was more information about what was happening in North Korea at the same time the American military government was making decisions. There are some mentions of comparison, but I would've liked to understand how Kim Il-Sung consolidated power, in comparison to Syngman Rhee; on a related note I also would be interested in understanding how the Soviet's approach to 'trusteeship' compared to the US's.
May 25, 2025
An excellent study of a little known history when the people of Korea - north and south - following upon liberation deigned to forge a radical democratic future, which has - alas - yet to arrive. One of the weaknesses of a study like this is the singular focus on Korea. The United States with World War Two became a global power, and planners planned accordingly. What the United States did in Korea in the immediate post war years fitted within a systematic - global - pattern. For that wider picture - a necessary supplemental to reach a full understanding - see Gabriel Kolko, "The Politics of War. The World and United States Policy 1943-1945," an account whose depth and breadth remains unsurpassed.
June 1, 2025
I really enjoyed diving into the history of my grandparents and parents generation through this insightful book on the experiences they faced during the era of Japanese imperialism in Korea. The author’s personal account of his own family experiences resonated with my own, as my own grandparents would often remain silent or switch to speaking Japanese to try and shield us from the hardships they faced. Growing up I really didn’t understand why they never shared much about their life during that period of time, but having read this book, their reactions make more sense to me. This book is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to gain a better understanding of the struggles faced by Koreans during that time in history but also how they rose above it and gained their liberation.
June 4, 2025
This book was very insightful and thought provoking. The author examines Korea’s experience under American rule after World War II. Chang challenges the common view that the U.S. occupation was entirely positive. Instead, he shows how U.S. policies often disrupted Korea’s efforts for true independence and deepened divisions, which later contributed to the Korean War. The book is well-researched and offers a new perspective on a critical period in Korean history.
June 1, 2025
This is an excellent book that fills a gap in English-language scholarship on modern Korean history. Before reading this book, my knowledge of Korea was mostly limited to the Korean War and what I had seen in the news. This book was both informative and a good read for a history book, offering compelling and sometimes funny stories from an important but largely unknown period in Korean history.
July 16, 2025
Recommended by Elyas! Similar to Seven Social Movements that Changed America by Linda Gordon and The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews