[KS] Koreanstudies Digest, Vol 58, Issue 15
Sunjoo Kim
sunjookim1 at hotmail.com
Fri Apr 18 09:57:20 EDT 2008
Dear Bruce and all,
"The OSS in China, led by Milton Miles and always working closely with
Chiang Kai-shek's secret service under the notorious Tai Li, also tried to
bring Yi Pom-sok (known to Americans as Bum Suck Lee) into Korea from
Shanghai in August 1945; it is documented that they did so, but for reasons
I have never seen explained, after a short time the plane turned around and
took him back out."
Both Kim Chun-yOp and Chang Chun-ha, who accompanied Yi POm-sOk at the time,
left details in their autobiography on this dramatic story and the reasons
why the plane that landed on YOUi-do on August 18, 1945 (accroding to Kim)
but was forced to fly back to China the next day. See:
Kim Chun-yOp, _ChangjOng 2: Na Ui Kwangbokkun sijOl, ha_ (Nanam ch'ulp'ansa,
1989; 2003): 234-252.
Chang Chun-ha, _Tolbegae_ (Segyesa, 1992; 2005): 299-316.
Sun Joo Kim
----Original Message Follows----
From: Bruce Cumings <rufus88 at uchicago.edu>
Reply-To: Korean Studies Discussion List <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
Subject: Re: [KS] Koreanstudies Digest, Vol 58, Issue 15
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:28:03 -0500
In re: Doc Rock's story, it is well documented that Preston Goodfellow,
Deputy Director of the OSS, arranged for Rhee to be sent back first to
Tokyo to meet Gen. Macrthur, and thence to Korea on MacArthur's personal
plane, the Bataan, arriving October 16. The State Department objected to
this and indeed had objected for years to Rhee's claim to represent an
exile government; this smuggling of Rhee back into Korea (there was no
commercial air traffic into Kimp'o) was done over State's strong
objections. Rhee was then welcomed in Seoul by Gen. Hodge, who quickly
worked up a welcoming ceremony for "UN troops" on October 20, in which Rhee
was the featured speaker--thus suggesting that Rhee was the American man in
Seoul (a Chalabi, as it were). Goodfellow had told Hodge that Rhee had
"more of the American point of view." Within months Hodge grew to hate
Rhee, but there is no question that this early American support greatly
helped Rhee consolidate his power.
The OSS in China, led by Milton Miles and always working closely with
Chiang Kai-shek's secret service under the notorious Tai Li, also tried to
bring Yi Pom-sok (known to Americans as Bum Suck Lee) into Korea from
Shanghai in August 1945; it is documented that they did so, but for reasons
I have never seen explained, after a short time the plane turned around and
took him back out. This may be the story Doc Rock has heard. Yi, who was
quite close to Chiang, came back to Korea and by mid-1946 had a youth group
(Korean National Youth) modeled on Chiang's "Blue Shirts" (the KNY wore
blue, too). Blue was the chosen color in the 1930s because black
(Mussolini), brown (Hitler) and green (Brazilian dictator) were already
taken. Lee was defense minister in the 1948 ROK government.
Bruce Cumings
On Apr 17, 2008, at 11:00 AM, koreanstudies-request at koreaweb.ws wrote:
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><<------------ KoreanStudies mailing list DIGEST ------------>>
>
>
>Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Freedom Fighter and member of the Shanghai Provisional
> Government (Reggi Lee)
> 2. Re: Shanghai Provisional Gov't (Michael Robinson)
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Message: 1
>Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:24:00 +0900
>From: "Reggi Lee" <reggilee at gmail.com>
>Subject: [KS] Freedom Fighter and member of the Shanghai Provisional
> Government
>To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
>Message-ID:
> <8b930470804170724g135faea5jac98a0d6cccacb20 at mail.gmail.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>Dear members,
>
>I was wondering if anyone might have heard of a Korean Freedom Fighter and
>member of the Shanghai Provisional Government (SPG) by the name of LEE,
>Jung-? (surname LEE); he went by various aliases including:
>
>(in his younger days)
>- HONG, Pa
>- LEE, Hyup
>
>and finally,
>
>- LEE, Chang-il (which later became his legal name and was registered in
>his
>"ho-juk doong-bun")
>
>He was from the "HyoRyung Dae-gun" clan, and his father was an individual
>by
>the name of LEE, DalJae.
>
>I have heard that there was in existence (current whereabouts unknown), an
>old photo of him as a young man sitting in the front row (on the right I
>believe, with hair neatly parted to one side) in front of the executive
>members of the SPG, including KIM, Ku, RHEE, SungMan, etc. As far as
>distinguishing features, he had a small mole (birth mark) next to his left
>upper lip.
>
>There a story that he was sent on a secret mission to Japan by the SPG
>(for
>reasons unknown), but on his boat journey over, the Japanese police
>decided
>to search passengers and check IDs. Consequently, he was forced to
>discard
>his belongings and abandon his mission. Once in Japan however, he
>eventually met with his future wife, SUNG, SoAh, bore two daughters and
>two
>sons, and later moved back to Korea before the outbreak of the
>Korean War. At the beginning of the war, he was abducted by the North
>Koreans and presumably executed. If still alive, he would be past 100
>years
>of age.
>
>Any information would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your
>consideration,
>
>--
>Reginald J. Lee
>Hanyang University
>Tel: 82-2-2220-1215
>Fax: 82-2-2291-4739
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>
>Message: 2
>Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:37:25 -0400
>From: "Michael Robinson" <robime at indiana.edu>
>Subject: Re: [KS] Shanghai Provisional Gov't
>To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
>Message-ID: <001201c8a098$8e6e8520$6500a8c0 at Michael>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>Dear Doc Rock:
>
>Some of us who worked at the Asea munje yon'guso during the mid 1970s were
>privileged to know Kim Junyop and he was full of such stories. I've never
>done research in this period, but knowing Kim I believe his story. He, of
>course, was a far different person than Rhee and with much more
>progressive politics, Although had he maneuvered his way into power, who
>knows what his politics might have been.
>
>Mike R.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dr. Edward D. Rockstein
> To: Korean Studies Discussion List
> Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [KS] Shanghai Provisional Gov't
>
>
> Below is a comment (slightly edited) which I posted on Frog in a Well
>15 Mar 2006 and may or may not be of interest:
>
> March 15th, 2006 at 7:20 am
>
> While this is only tangentially related, it may be of some interest: In
>1967 when I was
> going to Korea as a Fulbright Fellow from Princeton to be attached to
>the Asiatic Research
> Center (???s???-?}?x????) at Koryo University, I met Kim Jun-hyop from
>the Center, first at
> Princeton and later in Seoul. In the course of our association he told
>me how he had been
> in the Japanese Army in China and deserted to join the Korean
>government in absentia in
> Shanghai. He related an interesting anecdote about the end of the war
>in the Pacific:
> apparently there was a race on between the State Department, on one
>hand, and the OSS to gain control in Seoul as the Japanese were forced to
>withdraw. According to Kim (and my
> fading memory), the OSS loaded up its guys, including Kim, onto an
>airplane and flew them to (I believe) Kimp??o to try to set up a new
>government while State was hustling Syngman Rhee and his cohort off from
>Hawaii. The OSS timing, apparently, was a bit premature, and the aircraft
>arrived at Kimp??o before the turnover by the Japanese, the plane was not
>permitted to land. In the interim, the turnover took place, Rhee came into
>power and, the rest, as they say, was history. I wonder if anyone has
>corroborating or different information on such a race for control of
>post-occupation Korea?
>
> Regards,
> Doc Rock
>
>
>
>
> Dr. Edward D. Rockstein
> Senior Language Instructor
> Language Learning Center (LLC)
> Office 410-859-5672
> Fax 410-859-5737
> ed4linda at yahoo.com
>
> "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much
>liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. " Thomas
>Jefferson
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
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