It had been a turbulent year in Jeju following the 3.1 Incident that occurred at Gwandeokjeong Square in 1947. The local government - under the control of the USAMGIK (United States Army Military Government in Korea) - had taken a decidedly rightward turn with a more pronounced focus on anti-communism. To assist the police in this mission more and more rightwing group members from the Seobuk Young Men's Association (서북청년단) and Daedong Youth Corps (대동단) have been brought to Jeju as well. The police and these rightwing groups have caused chaos around Jeju with indiscriminate arrests of citizens as well as incidents of torture and beatings.

A key to the decision to begin an organized armed resistance is an incident that occurs on January 22, 1948. One member of the South Korean Labor Party Jeju branch, Kim Saengmin, was arrested in mid-January and was subjected to severe torture. After 10 days of torture eventually breaks and confesses the structure of the group and other information. Officially, policed raided a secret meeting of the Jocheon Branch of the South Korean Labor Party Jeju branch in the early morning hours of January 22. There they reportedly arrested over 100 members and confiscated key documents discussing the group's secret plans. This is debated as people who lived in the village where the raid occurred offered contradictory testimony.

Nevertheless, key documents were obtained in the raid. While the police were unable to turn this into the arrest and capture of key members of the South Korean Labor Party - such as Kim Dalsam. It did create a panic among the South Korean Labor Party members who realized that their ability to plan and act was tenuous as long as the police now knew of their organization and who were the high-ranking members. The announcement of the planned South-only election further pushed some members to argue for swift action.

Kim Dalsam argued convincingly that armed action was needed and needed now, and enough members were convinced by his words. On March 25 he was designated the head of the newly created military department of the South Korean Labor Party Jeju chapter, and a few days later the decision to launch their first attack on the police and rightwing groups on April 3 was made.

The attack began at 2am with attacks on several police boxes and rightwing groups and other figures. They also left letters for the police, rightwing group members, and the general public explaining their actions and asking for assistance in the fight. The letters can generally be described as anti-police, anti-unilateral election, and anti-American. They state they will fight oppression (by police and rightwing groups) and will fight against the division of the country and "foreign invaders" and "American cannibals".

Officially, the casualties from the fighting on April 3 were:

• Police: 4 killed, 6 injured, 2 missing

• Armed Resistance: 2 killed, 1 captured

• Civilians: 8 killed, 19 injured

The official casualty list may seem small, but it was this day that would lead to the deaths of tens of thousands over the next six years as the consequences played out.

References

The National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju April 3 Incident - "The Jeju 4.3 Incident Investigation Report" (downloadable here in English)