Re: Pre-War Killing

[<KEACLA1@aol.com>]

I questioned JK's statement that compared Rhee to Saddam Hussein, and claimed that he had killed 100,000 people before the Korean War.  JK responded:

<<There was a mini-civil war between Rhee regime and 
S.Koreans opposed to his dictatorial rule from 1946 to June 1950. 
A good example of this was the armed uprising in Cheju 
Island against Rhee's separate election in the South in April 1948. In the 
ensuing six months struggle, some 30,000-60,000 people were killed 
on the Island alone by Rhee's fascist youth corp, brutal police and army, 
with help from the US military...
  The estimated total of 100,000 deaths in these killings is derived from the 
following reference sources: 
     1) John Merrill, Korea: The Peninsular Origins of the War, p. 181 
     2) William Stueck, Rethinking the Korean War, p. 69 
     3) Bruce Cumings, the Origin of the Korean War, I & II >>

John Merrill writes that "about one hundred thousand persons were killed in political disturbances, guerrilla warfare, and border clashes before the outbreak of war."  This is a very far thing from saying simply that Rhee killed one hundred thousand people, as you claimed; this violence was very much a two-way street, not simply a matter of Rhee executing 100,000 political opponents as you imply.  I am not familiar with Stueck's book.  Bruce Cumings is the leading American apologist for North Korea, proponent of the view that in some mysterious way it was the South that attacked the North in June 1950, and I would not be inclined to believe anything he writes on the subject.

Rhee was not a "fascist."  He was certainly a dictator, but the word "fascist" has a specific meaning and should not be used a loose term of opprobrium for any right-of-center dictator.

There is no question that Rhee's regime was authoritarian and even despotic, as was the rule of some of his successors.  But the U.S. and Allied fight to defend South Korea has allowed that nation to eventually evolve into a prosperous democracy.  Those who disparage this achievement and engage in apologetics for the North should think about the two countries today.  How many of the North's apologists--in South Korea, in the Chosen Soren in Japan, in the 
United States, and even on this list (I am not necessarily including you here)--would have the courage of their alleged convictions and actually choose to live there, rather than in America or the Republic of Korea?

        Regards,
        Keith Allen