Report Outline
Military Occupation of Liberated Korea
Korea Under “Father Nation” China
Rise of Japan to Dominance in Korea
Capacity of Koreans for Self-Rule
Military Occupation of Liberated Korea
Allied Promises of Independence for Korea
Korea is the one country of Asia that received a promise of independence from the Allies during World War II. Before the surrender of Japan it was said that Korea would be the testing ground for Allied policy in the Far East after the war. Since the victory, liberated Korea has become another potential trouble spot in the unsatisfactory relations already existing between the two most powerful of the Allies—Soviet Russia and the United States.
The first promise of self-rule for Korea was given by the United States, Great Britain and China some 20 months before Russia entered the Pacific war. In the Cairo Declaration of Dec. 1, 1943, Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang Kaishek stated that—“mindful of the enslavement of the Korean people”—they were “determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent.”
The Potsdam ultimatum, in which the United States, Great Britain and China set out their terms for settlement of the war in the Pacific, July 26, 1945, included a specification that “the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out.” In Russia's declaration of war against Japan, Aug. 8, it was stated that the Soviet government joined “in the declaration of the Allied powers of July 26,” Russian approval of the terms laid down at Potsdam seems to have been the basis for President Truman's statement, Sept. 18, that “the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union …are agreed that Korea shall become free and independent.” |
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