Happy Liberation Day!

On August 15, 1945 Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in accordance with Japanese government's accepting the allied terms of Japan's surrender, including clause 8 of The Department of State Bulletin of July 29, 1945(Vol. XIII, No. 318)

(8) The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, and such minor islands as we determine.

The bulletin comes from the Potsdam Conference of July-August, 1945.

In case you were wondering what the Cairo Declaration was, it was an unsigned press release produced after a November 1943 conference of Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill in Egypt. Here is the short document (with a pic):

The several military missions have agreed upon future military operations against Japan. The Three Great Allies expressed their resolve to bring unrelenting pressure against their brutal enemies by sea, land, and air. This pressure is already mounting.

The Three Great Allies are fighting this war to restrain and punish the aggression of Japan. They covet no gain for themselves and have no thought of territorial expansion.

It is their purpose that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the First World War in 1914, and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China.

Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed. The aforesaid three great powers, mindful of the enslavement of the people of Korea, are determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent.

With these objects in view the three Allies, in harmony with those of the United Nations at war with Japan, will continue to persevere in the serious and prolonged operations necessary to procure the unconditional surrender of Japan.

[released without signatures]

Emphasis was mine. Just another little quirk of history that the seeds of Korean Independence were sown at a meeting halfway across the world.

Playing Politics
Of course, we can't have a major holiday like this without political posturing.

In keeping with Korea's authoritarian past, 1,057 prisoners were paroled today.

Best political grandstanding of the day: Grand National Party members visiting Dokdo and calling on Japan to 'stop making territorial claims over the islets.' Honorable mention goes to President Roh who used the occasion to call for the creation of a Kuk Hoe committee to investigate past Korean governments and Japanese occupation collaborators (a move seen by many as a means to bash his political opponents).

Comments

[hanin]

Of course it is difficult to take in the fact that Korea's liberation from Japan came by the great aid of nations other than Korea. It is a sort of fact that any nation will have a difficult time processing as they attempt to give due reflection to their past generations. But Yangban no nation's history is perfect. Although we all try to emphasize our own autonomous selves or nationhood, the little details of history always give solemn pause to the actual difficulties. But let's not forget the "soo manmyung" who died actually fighting for independence prior to 1945; should I mention 3.1? I find your "emphasis min" somewhat insulting; but from your past postings, I want to judge that it was otherwise.

[zecks]

Hanin--why is the "emphasis mine" part insulting? Yangban is just remarking on how Korean affairs were affected by "a meeting halfway across the world." Does it bother you because it reminds you how America saved your ancestors (the first time around)? Maybe you should keep it in mind as China prepares to devour your country.

[lirelou]

Pity that the Cairo Declaration did not state that Korea would become "sovereign". Perhaps there would be less emotion attached to the word. My view may be simplistic, but it would appear that while outside powers can make an international state sovereign, only its own citizens can truly make it "free". So let's all raise a glass to those Korean patriots who fought and died to make that happen. Much like the Americans at Yorktown, whose victory was guaranteed by ... the French. Ah well, dispute though we might, at least the readers of this column don't have an "815th Mechanized Corps" to commemorate "liberation" by a Korean Peoples' Army that didn't even exist yet. 22.7 million Koreans are remembering this victory as the work of kim il-sung.

[The Yangban]

lirelou,
True about the French (and the Dutch and Spanish). Their help cut several years off of the war.

hanin,
There is certainly no shame in being liberated by great powers. The fact is that Japan was a major power that consider Korea to be a vital part of its empire. Without WW2, Korea might be looking like Tibet.

When Korea eventually is unified, I expect that 'Unification Day' may Replace Liberation Day on the Korean calendar and March First would be the sole Independence holiday. After all, we Americans don't celebrate September 3 (the date the Treaty of Paris was signed).

[non korean]

I don\\\'t think Korea will stop celebrating Aug 15th. 99% of Koreans seem to think Japan magically disapeared from Korea or were driven out somehow by the Koreans. Very few know that they owe their independence to the US and the allies. Ignorance is bliss. You might be right but distortion of history has worked very well for Korea.