The American Press and the Cold War: The Rise of Authoritarianism in South Korea, 1945-1954 PDF
Preview The American Press and the Cold War: The Rise of Authoritarianism in South Korea, 1945-1954
THE AMERICAN PRESS AND THE COLD WAR The Rise of Authoritarianism in South Korea, 1945–1954 OLIVER ELLIOTT The American Press and the Cold War Oliver Elliott The American Press and the Cold War The Rise of Authoritarianism in South Korea, 1945–1954 Oliver Elliott Independent Scholar Barcelona, Spain ISBN 978-3-319-76022-3 ISBN 978-3-319-76023-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76023-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018940465 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover Credit: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part of Springer Nature. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland A cknowledgements This project began as a question conceived while preparing for a Master’s seminar with my PhD supervisor Steven Casey. To him, I owe a great debt of thanks for inspiring me to study the role of the press in American his- tory and ensuring that the project remained on track. I also wish to thank Antony Best and Kristina Spohr for providing much needed perspective at a crucial early stage, as well as Matthew Jones and Kendrick Oliver for their insightful comments on an earlier draft. All mistakes are, of course, my own. Thanks to Christine Pardue, Megan Laddusaw and Emily Russell at Palgrave Macmillan who have made the process of turning my Ph.D. the- sis into a book a remarkably swift and enjoyable one. The research for the book would not have been possible without the financial assistance provided by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Department of International History at the London School of Economics. Neither could I have visited so much of America without the assistance of so many amazing hosts and guides. James Person and the staff of the Woodrow Wilson Center, along with the staff of the Marshall Foundation, the staff of the American Heritage Center, the Eisenhower Foundation’s Host Committee, James W. Zobel at the Macarthur Memorial Archives and Francesca Pitaro at the AP, deserve special men- tion for the many kindnesses they bestowed on me. Thank you to Charlotte Gaughan for reminding me of my love of his- tory and Andy Gawthorpe for always being there to bounce ideas off. Thanks also to Pietro Cammerini, Seb Ash, Cees Heere and Artemis Photiadou for their comments and feedback on parts of this project. v vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A special thank you to Thomas Knecht for his extremely detailed com- mentary and coming to my aid just in the nick of time. This book is dedicated to three people who offered the most incredible support through the highs and lows of the writing process. To my parents Tam Dougan and Dave Elliott, thank you for being always there to give a word of encouragement, advice or much needed perspective. And to Daria Gavrilova, who I met just a few months before this project began, thank you for all the love and the kindness. This could never have been done without you. c ontents 1 I ntroduction 1 2 Occupation 1945–1946: Hope and Failure 27 3 Occupation 1947–1948: Division and Independence 67 4 The ROK Problem 1948–1950 97 5 War 1950–1951 121 6 The 1952 Crisis: Rhee’s Takeover 151 7 The Rise of the ROKA 175 8 Legacies of War 197 9 Conclusions 217 10 Epilogue: Prelude to Vietnam? 229 Bibliography 233 Index 249 vii l A ist of bbreviAtions AMG American Military Government AP Associated Press CIA Central Intelligence Agency DOS Department of State DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States INS International News Service KMAG Korean Military Advisory Group KPP Korean Pacific Press NARA National Archives and Records Administration NYPL New York Public Library OSS Office of Strategic Services ROK Republic of Korea ROKA Republic of Korea Army SCAP Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers UNCURK United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea UNTCOK United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea UP United Press USAMGIK United States Army Military Government in Korea ix A n t ote on rAnsliterAtion This book includes both Chinese and Korean names. Both languages have multiple systems of Romanization. Thus, in order to avoid confusion, the book uses the older spellings of names that were in common use in the American press in the 1940s and 1950s. xi l f ist of igures Fig. 2.1 Korean welcome, fall of 1950. Source: Don O’Brien, https://www.flickr.com/photos/dok1/1525759209/in/ album-72057594053303502/. Used under CC BY 2.0 license 34 Fig. 2.2 Syngman Rhee speaking on his return to Korea in October 1945. Lt. Gen. John Hodge, left. Source: Don O’Brien, https://www.flickr.com/photos/dok1/111087982/. Used under CC BY 2.0 license 52 Fig. 5.1 Refugees in Korea, August 1950. Source: United States Army. Harry S. Truman Library and Museum 131 Fig. 7.1 A South Korean patrol, August 1950. Source: United States Army. Harry S. Truman Library and Museum 180 xiii
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