THIS MONTH IN KOREAN HISTORY - APRIL 2025

Written By Korean Culture Center KCC

Photos taken by a U.S. military officer immediately before the killing of inmates from Jeju and other locations at Daejeon Prison, July 1950. Image: U.S. National Archive and Records Administration, per Jeju 4.3 Incident Investigation Report

Jeju 4.3 – The Jeju Uprising and Massacre

By Sharon Stern


Jeju 4.3, also known as the Jeju Uprising and Massacre, known simply as 사 삼 in Korean, took place from March-April of 1948 until May of 1949.  The history is complicated and nuanced, but the result was that at least 10% of the population of Jeju – 30,000-60,000 people – lost their lives.

At the end of WWII, there were still almost 60,000 Japanese on the island of Jeju and Jeju was not yet an official province of Korea.  During the war, Japan had used Jeju as a strategic outpost during the war because of its proximity to Japan.  The Japanese established many defensive posts and positions around the island and the island was heavily militarized, where for most of its previous history, it had been left relatively independent.  During occupation, as the number of Japanese began outnumbering native islanders, as many as 150,000 islanders left, some forcibly, looking for work elsewhere, anywhere, or subjugated by the Japanese to work in Japan, and most that were left on Jeju suffered in poverty.  Many had their land expropriated.  Jeju islanders were some of the most resistant to occupation anywhere in Korea, having lived independently for so long.  Rare anti-colonial public protests occurred on the island during occupation and protesting committees formed.

Mounted police officers of the U.S. Military government make their way through a crowd on the mainland. Photo from the collection of Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation.

In 1945 as WWII was drawing to a close, the United Nations was formed, with the US, UK, Soviet Union and China maintaining the largest roles.  The US and Soviet Union agreed on a supposedly temporary division of rule for Korea on August 10, 1945, five days before the official end of the war.  In December, the US, UK and Soviet Union met to agree on the divisions of temporary provisional governments for the North and the South of Korea.  The UN wanted the conflicts ironed out before getting involved, but the US brought the issue to the UN for a vote, against the wishes of the Soviet Union.  The UN formed the United Nations Temporary Commission for Korea (UNTOK) to travel to Korea and try to help facilitate Korean independence, but the Soviet Union made it clear that they did not want to cooperate with UNTOK.  The UN found it impossible to consult with any left-leaning individuals or parties in the South of Korea because the US had outlawed the Korean Communist Party and individuals had been imprisoned, gone into hiding, left or had been killed.  The South, controlled by the US, was decidedly anti-communist, anti-socialist and was not going to tolerate anything resembling Soviet ideas.

Jeju islanders were already more sympathetic to what were characterized as left-leaning ideologies because of their resistant and independent nature, but in actuality, they did not want to be ruled over by ideologies of either the Soviet Union or the United States – they wanted to be independent.  The Worker’s Party of South Korea (WPSK) was the dominant political party on the island and islanders began pushing for full independence, joining local People’s Committees, seeking a return to life before occupation.

Members of the Minbodan (literally Peoples Protective Corps) are trained in Nohyeong, Jeju, in 1949. By April 1, 1949, there were 50,000 members of the Minbodan. Courtesy of the Jeju 4•3 Peace Foundation

At the time of liberation from Japanese occupation, at least half of the Jeju islanders that had left or were removed, returned.  There was no work for them on Jeju, however.  Rice was in short supply and their lives were tenuous.  Across Korea, independence ideals were widely embraced and the Alliance for National Government (ANG) was formed to prepare for Korea’s full independence.  The Soviet rule in the North allowed the local People’s Committees and the ANG to exist, whose focus was a transition back to independence.  However, the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) that ruled in the South stated that they were the only legitimate government in the South and forcefully disbanded the People’s Committees (though widespread support for them remained) while at the same time rehiring colonial-era officials to help govern.

Because of the People’s Committee’s and the WPSK’s popular support on Jeju, USAMGIK originally partnered with them, but conflicts arose and the conflicts became markedly more serious when, on March 1, 1947, there was a shooting at a celebration of the March 1 Movement.  Police used force to try to control the crowds and eventually began firing indiscriminately after a young boy was trampled by police horses and the crowd protested.  Six people were killed that day, including a six-year-old child.  The bodies of three more detainees who were killed were found floating in a river and had obviously been tortured.  This was the beginning of what would become seven and half years of the resistance movement on Jeju.  On March 8, protesters calling for the release of those arrested on March 1, gathered at the Sam-il jail and five more people were killed.

The USAMGIK sent 400 police from the mainland, as well as members of a paramilitary group known as the Northwest Youth League (NYL) to re-establish control of the island.  Throughout March, as tensions grew, there were incidents of attacks by WPSK members and sympathizers against the police.

Inmates waiting in line to be interrogated in Nov. 1948 | Image: U.S. National Archive and Records Administration, per Jeju 4.3 Incident Investigation Report

The UN sanctioned the general election set by the US and USAMGIK for the South, but not without protests from a number of UN member states.  The WPSK opposed the elections that the USAMGIK had proposed for May of 1948, where Syngman Rhee was to run unopposed to rule the South.  The WPSK wanted an independent and unified Korea.  Contrary to what the USAMGIK stated, there is no evidence that the WPSK was opposed to democracy.  They simply did not want a manipulated election that would entrench US-backed, UN-sanctioned military rule in the South and make permanent the division between the North and the South.  Starting in February of 1948, the WPSK called for general strikes to protest the elections.

At dawn on April 3, 1948, signal fires lit on Mt. Halla signaled the beginning of an armed rebellion.  Between 350-500 WPSK rebels and 3,000 additional supporters attacked half of the police stations on the island, as well ask the NYL headquarters, specifically targeting officers that had previously collaborated with the Japanese.  30 police were killed, along with specific community leaders who cooperated with the USAMGIK.  After the rebellion, the police commander attempted to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict.  A 72-hour cease fire was tentatively agreed upon, but when citizens that had fled to the mountains descended, they were shot by members of the NYA, disguised as rebels so that the rebels could be blamed for the incident.  The negotiations broke down.  The government wanted a complete surrender by the WPSK, but the WPSK wanted disarmament of the police, dismissal of USAMGIK selected officials and the dismantling of the NYL on the island, as well as steps to create reunification between the North and the South.  The two sides could not agree on terms or conditions to end hostilities.

Jeju residents, mainly women and children, search for refuge in the island’s mountainous region from the government’s crackdown following Jeju’s boycott of the general election in May 1948. Photo from the collection of Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation.

The USAMGIK sent more troops to the island.  The rebels retreated to caves at Mt. Halla.  By the end of April, the disillusioned governor of the island abandoned his post and joined the rebels.  A number of police did the same.  The USAMGIK provincial governor ordered a purge of rebel sympathizers from the police and three police sergeants were executed.

By the time of the elections in May, 214 people had already been killed.  The week of the election, the rebels did what they could to block access and communications, cutting phone lines and blocking roads.  They were sounding what they called a “save-the-nation” campaign.  The day of the elections, residents hid in the mountains and many election officials did not come to work.  The turnout for the election was the lowest in South Korea.  The USAMGIK used the rebel’s actions to say that they were simply infiltrators from the North, justifying their calls for increased suppression.  UNTCOK largely ignored what happened on the island and echoed the US and USAMGIK’s stories about communist infiltrators from the North.  The UN, US and USAMGIK eventually all signed off on the election results.

The situation continued to deteriorate throughout the following months.  In October, the newly elected Syngman Rhee ordered a regiment of police to Jeju.  However, much of the regiment, not wanting to kill their own people, mutinied as they prepared to leave.  Syngman Rhee proclaimed martial law in November to stop the rebellion.  The US backed a “scorched-earth” policy to eliminate the rebels.  Their suppression tactics quickly turned into war crimes as villages were attacked, citizens raped and executed, houses burned.  The excuse that anyone along the escape path used by the rebels must have been assisting them is, unfortunately, a common one heard by perpetrators of war crimes.  By the end of 1948, an estimated 300 armed rebels remained.  The “scorched-earth” campaign lasted four months.

“Cry of the Sky” (1991) by artist Kang Yo-bae depicts Jeju Islanders forced from their villages during the scorched-earth operation.

On January 1, 1949, the rebels initiated one last attack against the police.  They were counter-attacked by the police and again fled to the mountains.  The police followed them and as they went, rounded up entire villages, executing everyone.  The policy was to kill anyone in a very broad area, unconditionally.  At least 30,000 people (some estimate closer to 60,000) lost their lives between March of 1948 and May of 1949.  Another 40,000 fled to Japan.  Approximately 180 soldiers and 140 police were killed by the rebel supporters.  The estimate of at least 30,000 people killed represents 10% of the island’s population at the time.  230 of the 400 villages on Jeju were completely wiped out.  An estimated 11.9% of those killed were children or elderly.  21.3% were women.  The wholesale and indiscriminate slaughter of people was inhumane, egregious and criminal by any definition.  Unlike earthquakes or fires or tornadoes, massacres are man-made events requiring humans to decide and justify that it is acceptable to murder other humans.


U.S. Military Advisor Captain Lerch and a military officer discuss anti-guerrilla operations with a map spread on the ground on May 15, 1948. Image: U.S. National Archive and Records Administration, per Jeju 4.3 Incident Investigation Report

The US documented the genocide, and in some instances witnessed the genocide, but did nothing to intervene.  The USAMGIK operated directly under US supervision and US military control.  When the North crossed the 38th parallel in June of 1950 and the Korean War began, the US military officially assumed command of South Korean armed forces.  Preemptive apprehension of suspected leftists was ordered nationwide, including for Jeju.  Suspicious Jeju islanders were separated into groups and those considered the most dangerous were executed.

The significance of the April 3 Uprising lies in the sheer number of innocent people killed.  It wasn’t until 2000 that the National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju 4.3 Events was established to investigate truths surrounding all of the incidents.  Prior to democratization in 1987, official history, text books, etc., defined Jeju 4.3 as a “disturbance” of communists.  Family members of victims were treated as guilty by association, leading to decades of psychological abuse.  Some people still believe that the massacre of 30,000+ people was justified in order to root out communism.  In 2003, in accordance with the recommendations of the Truth Committee, President Roh issued an apology to the victims and their families and they were offered compensation.  In 2006, excavation began to find the remains of victims and uncover mass graves.  The Committee recognized that the total number of victims is still unknown.

George Santayana said in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  May we remember the victims of Jeju 4.3 and make sure that this history is never repeated.

The collection of materials documenting the events of Jeju 4.3 have just been given a UNESCO World Heritage listing. "Revealing Truth: Jeju 4.3 Archives" contains 14,673 historical records that include military records, testimony of victims and their families and the records of the truth and reconciliation commission. If you visit Jeju Island, a visit to the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park should be on your itinerary.

Jeju 4.3 Peace Park

References:

The first link is to the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation.  This site contains a wealth of information, including US news articles from the period, history, interviews with survivors, etc.  We would encourage you to spend time looking through this site.

Documentaries and Films:

  • Voices – 2024 – featured here – will be shown in 2025 at limited theaters on and around 4/3
    This is supposed to air on Netflix on 4/3 as well.  I cannot find reference to it on Netflix, but we can hope it will air there.

  • May JEJU Day – 2021 – This short documentary is mostly in Korean, with a few translations and is based on the drawings made by survivors

  • Haewon – 2018 – This documentary covers the entire period from the end of WWII through the Korean War and includes first-hand witnesses of all of the atrocities that took place during this period, putting the Jeju Uprising into a larger context.

  • ch4.3 Story of April – 2018 – This isn’t a documentary, but is told through a story of a journalist visiting Jeju to understand more about 4.3.  It does show survivors telling their true stories who are featured at the Jeju Peace Park and the recovery of remains of victims.

  • The Ghosts of Jeju – 2013 – Documentary that squarely places blame on the US for the massacre and connecting that past with the Gangjeong Village controversial construction of the Jeju Military Base in 2010

  • Jiseul -2013 – Also not a documentary   - Trailer – Available on YouTube with Korean and Japanese subtitles.  This looks like a good movie.  It won a number of prizes.

Most of the following appeared at different film festivals once or a few times the year they came out, but are not currently available for streaming.  What is significant about most of these documentaries is that they feature survivors, many of whom are quite old now.  Save this list and if you ever see them at a film festival or art house theater, you can watch:

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