American Military Government in Korea by E. Grant Meade

[soryang]

This is a valuable historical resource about the experience of the American Military Government in South Korea by E. Grant Meade.

The book covers the years 1945 and 1946 after the liberation of Korea from the Japanese occupation at the end of WWII. It appears the book was completed in 1950 and published in 1951. US foreign policy objectives, international relations between the US and Russia, and US military civil administration are described against the backdrop of the actual conditions on the ground in Korea at the time. The author focuses in particular on the US military administration of Chollanamdo (province) to give detailed insights into the challenges and pitfalls of civil administration by US military personnel.

The book achieves something that other historical accounts of the US experience in Korea often try to achieve but fail, giving the reader a sense for the conditions in Korea as described by a thoughtful American during this critical formative stage of South Korea as a truncated state. One downside of the book is the limited chronological window. So i'm posting it here as a resource. Someone who might be going to live or work in South Korea might find some of the factual information and insights the author has collected in remarkable detail helpful. On the other hand, some of the cultural, historical, and policy views of the author or US authorities may appear dated, superficial, or simply ethnocentric, because of the limited American understanding of the Korean experience in 1950. The book needs to be viewed in that historical context. Both the Korean political situation and the US have changed a great deal since. For it's vintage, this book is a remarkable record.

The book is available free online at the link below. This is from the foreword by Robert T. Oliver:

The Republic was established through the United Nations primarily as a result of American insistence. The responsibility of the United States to provide economic and even military assistance to rectify the basic error of judgment made in dividing the peninsula along the 38th parallel is a factor in the thinking of government officials throughout the Far East and among the representatives in the General Assembly of the United Nations who, partly because of the urging of spokesmen for the United States, have repeatedly voted to sponsor and support the Republic of Korea. Dr. Meade was an acute observer and participant in the military government in South Korea during the early months of the occupation, when American responsibility first began to take overt form. His detailed, thoughtful, and perceptive analysis of the circumstances in which Korea became a vital factor in American foreign policy constitues a valuable addition to diplomatic history. With careful documentation supplementing his own personal experiences, he has told a story of lasting significance which not only illuminates a portion of the past but also serves as a partial guide for the future.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.32106000478245&view=1up&seq=7

[FM123]

1. Very interesting.

My dad served overseas in the far east when he was in the army back then, I will be sure to share this article with him.

[soryang]

2. Having had a somewhat similar experience in S.Korea at a much later date...

...I am amazed at the author's powers of observation. There is a fog like quality to being stationed in a foreign culture that is so different, yet he observed so much.

Haven't finished the book yet.