Please note, information on this page are the opinions of the site creator and are based on what is currently known.
How is the Jeju 4.3 Incident viewed today?
Compared to even 5-10 years ago, people are much more aware of the Jeju 4.3 Incident. However, much about the Jeju 4.3 Incident is still a bit fuzzy for most of the general population in Korea as there are a lot of conflicting and politically tinted views out there. Broadly speaking I would say that most are broadly aware that it happened and that many people were killed by the South Korean government. Why it happened and whether the police and military's actions were justified is where there is a lot more confusion and conflict.
What about the accusations of communism?
My personal standpoint is somewhere in between the views out there. You still have plenty of people (usually conservative politically) who will claim that the resistance group was part of a broader communist plot to disrupt and overthrow the newly established South Korean government and to help united the country under Kim Ilsung's communist North Korea. You will also find people (often older Jeju residents) who will claim that there were zero communists in Jeju at the time and certainly not in the resistance group. For what it is worth, the documents and reports produced officially by the government seem to take the line that while there were communist tinges in the group (IE Kim Dalsam), there is little evidence to support the idea that the movement was a communist plot to unify the country under a communist regime and that the majority of the victims had little or no interest in communism.
I tend to agree with that interpretation, and believe that the research clearly shows that there were people within the resistance that supported the ideas of communism and favored a unified Korea under communist rule. However, I think the research also shows that there were significant grievances the Jeju people had that were completely unrelated to communism that were larger drivers of the decision to begin an armed resistance. There is no real evidence to support the idea that North Korea supported the resistance other then in idea nor is there any real supporting evidence to suggest that the national South Korea Labor Party (which was communist in nature) supported the resistance either - again except in idea.
Even if one reads through the events on this site and elsewhere and still feels uncomfortable with the potential communist elements within the armed resistance's leadership, I believe it is still important to look at the police and military's actions with regards to the resistance and the broader Jeju population. The armed resistance at its peak likely never numbered more than several hundred members (maybe 400 or so). Additionally the best equipment they had were old bolt action rifles the Japanese left after World War II. Many were equipped with simple spears that were made out of bamboo. To kill 20-30,000 in order to catch 400 or so is virtually unjustifiable.
What about the US and their responsibility?
This is a topic that has seemingly grown in voice over the recent years (usually among those more on the left of the political spectrum). Does the US bear ultimate responsibility for the deaths of the Jeju people? Should the US also apologize for the Jeju 4.3 Incident? Should the US pay reparations to the Jeju people who those who died?
The idea stems from the fact that USAMGIK (United States Army Military Government in Korea) was the ultimate power in charge in Jeju (and South Korea) when the 4.3 Incident started. Additionally some of the repressive methods implemented were done so, broadly speaking, under USAMGIK rule (most of those continued or were expanded under the newly formed South Korean Rhee Syngman government).
The counterargument that one often hears is that while USAMGIK may have been in charge, all of those orders came from the South Korean police and military. Additionally there is no direct evidence that USAMGIK ordered any of the suppression methods. However, many will counterargue that it is not possible for USAMGIK to be unaware of what the police and army were doing, and if USAMGIK had wished to stop it they could have easily. Therefore proving direct US involvement is unnecessary as they are already tacitly guilty of what happened.
I think, if anyone is waiting for an official US apology and recognition of their actions, I feel I can confidently say that day will likely never come as the US does not easily recognize the country's misdeeds overseas - particularly one where there is no evidence that directly implicates them. Whether they should, is of course, a different issue. At a company, does the CEO bare responsibility for the misdeeds of middle management? When the misdeed is as big as the Jeju 4.3 Incident and when there is enough circumstantial evidence as there is to suggest that the CEO knows what middle management is doing, I believe the answer is probably "yes". Apologies for the slightly clunky analogy, but it should serve the purpose. Given the level of action taken by Korean police and army, and the fact that none of it was done secretly or even slightly discretely, there is virtually no chance that USAMGIK did not know what they were doing, and the US does bear some level of responsibility.
Why should I know about 4.3? What should I take from learning about it?
When talking about 4.3 - especially to younger students - this is always a difficult question to answer. Why teach young Koreans about the horrors that their own government inflicted upon their ancestors? What should they do with the information they learn about Jeju 4.3?
Personally I take three levels to this idea.
The first is simply to know what happened. To know what the police did. To know how the people suffered. To know when and where it happened. If no one knows what happened, then did it happen? That seemed to be the stance and hope of the South Korean government for so long. Never speak of it and it will be forgotten as if it never happened. As such, the minimum is know about the history so it does not disappear.
The second is to understand why it happened. To understand the circumstances that allowed such a tragic and terrible happening to occur. To understand how politicians or people in leadership positions may manipulate information or emotions to get the result they want. To understand the potential warning signs when people start to 'other' people. To understand the importance of media and a free and honest press.
The third level is to understand how 4.3 affected the Jeju people going forward, how it still impacts people today, how to take what one learned in the second level and apply it to politics today. To see how people fought to clear their names of false charges. To see how politicians today may use similar tactics to achieve similar effects.
How much should people learn? How much should one teach about 4.3? I think that's probably a case-by-case type thing to a certain extent. I don't think people who talk about or teach about 4.3 should ever be 'afraid' of talking about anything that may fall in those different levels, but I don't think everyone needs to know everything. Younger children may not need to know (yet) things pertaining to my level 2 and 3. Not all adults need to know all of it either. Some people may not be ready to hear everything. Some people may not want to hear everything. Learning about and teaching about 4.3 is something that I think is a long (for lack of a better word) battle.
Current Jeju 4.3 Events
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