Resolution of Jeju 4·3: Achievements and Contributions

Grand Shaman Suh Soon-sil

 

Appeasing the embittered spirits and the saddened living, a shaman’s calling

Suh Soon-sil, one of Jeju’s representative Keun Simbang [Grand Shaman], set foot in the gutpan [scenes of gut] at the age of 14 by joining gut [shamanistic rituals] held by her mother, who was also a shaman named Moon Choong-seong. Upon turning 20 years old, Suh inherited from her mother a myeongdo [‘a brilliant chart’ serving as a spiritual nameplate], a symbolic tool used by shamans. With this, Suh began to practice Jeju gut under preeminent shamans who stood out over their contemporaries. Specifically, she was privileged to apprentice to learn Jeju gut with the late Grand Shaman Ahn Sa-in and Jeju Keun-gut [Grand Rituals] with the late Grand Shaman Lee Joong-choon. Bearing the essence of Jeju gut, Jeju Keun-gut is dubbed the “University of Gut” and has won high praise as the best of its kind that combines all types of rituals. Since these outstanding skills were passed on to Suh, it is considered legitimate for her to pass on the most essential traditions of Jeju gut. At some point, this prominent figure started to actively hold Jeju 4·3 gut. Long before the truth of Jeju 4·3 was revealed and known to others, Jeju gut had always been accessible to those ordinary devotees who wished to secretly appease the pent-up resentment and sorrow of Jeju 4·3. When public sentiment and even the judicial system looked away, only Jeju gut practitioners demonstrated fellowship with the victims and their families, healing the excruciating pain that swept over the island of Jeju. Suh has widely held rituals to comfort the spirits of Jeju 4·3 victims since childhood, but it is more recently that she leads rituals that are open to the public. In this interview, Grand Shaman Suh shares her memories and thoughts on gut and Jeju 4·3.

 

Interviewed and arranged by painter Park Kyung-hoon

 

Shaman Suh Soon-sil

Suh Soon-sil began learning her craft as a shaman at the age of 14 from her mother, Moon Choong-seong, and inherited Moon’s myeongdo after turning 20 years old. From the ages of 20 to 26, Suh apprenticed to learn Jeju gut under the late Grand Shaman Ahn Sa-in, as a member of the Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut Preservation Association. Suh learned Jeju Keun-gut from Grand Shaman Lee Joong-choon at the age of 28 and has since led a considerable number of rituals throughout Jeju, praying for the comfort of the deceased and the consolation of their families. Lee, the holder of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Jeju Keun-gut, died in 2011, and Suh founded the Jeju Keun-gut Preservation Association as an educator and trainer for the transfer of Lee’s craft. Every month, the association holds at least one educational training course for its members to pass on the Jeju Keun-gut skills to the next generations. Suh and other members of the association have strenuously worked to bring public attention to Jeju Keun-gut by joining provincial events such as the Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut (2012-2020), Tamnaguk Ipchun Gut (2013-2021), and Jeju 4·3 memorial ceremonies. The talented gut practitioners also engage in various collaborative projects with artists, including stage performances and exhibitions promoting Jeju Keun-gut and public lectures titled “Public Lecture Series on Jeju Keun-gut” (Jeju Traditional Culture Research Institute, 2012), “Indulge in the Culture of Jeju” (2016-2019), and “Kime Workshop” (Resuscitation Craft Shop in Haean-dong) [“kime” referring to shamanistic paper crafts of Jeju].

The association has also shared the values of Jeju Keun-gut in various domestic and international events outside Jeju. Specifically, its members held gut in the National Gugak Center’s public event in Jindo-gun, Jeollanamdo Province (2000), the Korean Cultural Center’s Keun-gut ritual in Tokyo, Japan (2009), the Hwaeomsa Temple’s Hwa Eom Spritual Music Ritual in Gurye-gun, Jeollanamdo Province (2012), the Keun-gut ritual in the United States and in Mexico (2013), the Jindo-gun Municipal Office’s Intangible Cultural Heritage presentation (2014), the presentation of gut at an academic conference of the Society of Korean Language and Literature (2018), and the Jeju 4·3 Memorial Gut on Tsushima Island, Japan (2019).

Under Suh’s leadership, the status of techniques and traditions held by the Jeju Keun-gut Preservation Association was elevated in December 2021 from Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage to National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

 

You have held a range of Jeju 4·3 gut. Was there any special occasion that encouraged you to do so?

The first occasion is related to Hallasan, a nori [music and theatrical performances that also engage the audience] club. Unexpectedly, members of Hallasan visited me one day and asked me to hold a Jeju 4·3 gut in Japan. They said Shaman Jeong Gong-cheol had had a car accident and wasn’t able to make it to Japan and wondered if I could replace him for the ritual they were planning. “What can you give me in return?” I asked. And they answered: “We are not paid, either. Instead, why don’t you accept as your payment the injeong [money offered by devotees to deities during gut] you will receive for delivering messages from the ‘other world’?” That is how I held the ritual in a Buddhist temple in Osaka, Japan. Of course, I had previously held lots of Jeju 4·3 gut for individual families. But that was the first time I participated in an official event although I received no more than 100,000 won of injeong. My relationship with Jeju 4·3 began as such, and then I met you and the other members of the Jeju People’s Artists Federation (JPAF) to hold Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut [gut for the consolation and prosperity of those with embittered hearts] and have come this far. Now, I will definitely join any Jeju 4·3 gut whenever asked. Shouldn’t a person like me who holds Jeju Keun-gut carry on the painful history?

 

Which is the most memorable among the Jeju 4·3 gut rituals you have led?

I went to Osaka and Tsushima Island for a Jeju 4·3 gut. I also held it in front of Jeju City Hall on the 60th anniversary of Jeju 4·3, and on the 70th anniversary, I led a week-long Keun-gut at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park. However, Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut is the one that I care about the most because I hold it on the sites of massacres. My first Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut was in Gangjeong Village in 2012, so it has already been more than 10 years. All of the rituals, including the ones at Jeongbang Waterfalls, Doryeongmaru Hill, and many other locations are meaningful to me, but if I were to pick one of them, it would be the one held at Sanji Port in 2014. I cannot forget anything about the Sujang-gut [gut for the drowned victims] there, from its start to finish.

I remember that on April 15, 2014, when I was preparing to clean the gut-teo [the site for gut] at Sanji Port, I received a phone call from you, Mr. Park, who said, “This is serious. We won’t be able to hold gut today.” When I asked why, you answered, “I think we have to cancel it because of the sinking of the Sewol ferry.” The disaster took place on April 14 and Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut was scheduled to be held on April 16. Both of us felt lost about what to do and ended the call. Soon, however, it occurred to me that our gutbeop [formalities of gut] contains munjeon bon-puri. The bon-puri [narratives of gut] tells that a man, surnamed Nam, went to sell something across the sea but did not return home after three years had passed. His wife, surnamed Yeo, went out to the coast every night wearing her straw shoes. She prayed: “If my husband’s ship sank on the way, please let his hair be carried by my sangdongnang yongeollaegi [a halved comb made of sweet plum timber each half of which Nam and Yeo kept]. If he is dead, please let me hear about what happened to him.” Seven days after the prayer, Lady Yeo picked up her yongeollaegi and found no hair in it. She shouted, “Oh! He’s alive!” And so, she sailed to Odongnara [a country named Odong] where she rescued her husband.

We also have to rescue the spirits of those elderly people who died due to Jeju 4·3, the spirits of those who were buried at sea while crossing the seas off Jeju by boat, and the spirits of those young ones who were on board the Sewol ferry but couldn’t make it to Jeju and were submerged in the seas near Jindo Island. Since munjeon bon-puri contains the formal narratives for the retrieval of spirits from the sea, I thought to myself, “If I hold Sujang-gut, it will retrieve the spirits of Jeju 4·3 victims and of the children who were boarding the Sewol ferry!” Then, I called you and said, “Mr. Park! Let’s hold the ritual as scheduled!”

 

I was also there that day, and I can still remember the moment you went into the water and summoned the spirits.

Throughout the rituals of Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut, the weather has always been good, but for this one occasion. It rained only on that day of the Sujang-gut. Of course, this applies to all of our rituals, but when we plan a gut for the victims of Jeju 4·3, we sincerely put all our efforts into its preparation. Fruit, tteok [rice cake], meh [steamed ritual rice], wonmi [buckwheat porridge], gamju [alcohol made from rice and yeast]… we cannot make any of them without care. We set the jecheong (or gutcheong) [a sacred place for gut] as carefully as possible. As paper would be torn when wet with rain, we made dolleji [a type of kime used to decorate gutpan] with shiramok (or shireongmok) [soft, thin cotton fabric] and covered shinkal [edgeless knives used as shamanistic tools].

“Please instill fresh air into the water and retrieve the spirits of all those who were drowned due to Jeju 4·3 and the sinking of Sewol. May all the deities, in whichever religion they are worshipped, please listen to the prayers dedicated from every corner of this country, and let the spirits open their eyes.” As sincerely and honestly as I could, I spoke to the deities about why and how I came to hold gut. Then I tried to retrieve the spirits, but the rope I had placed in the sea water wouldn’t come up. Instantly, I went into the water. I could do it because I’m also a haenyeo [a diving woman]; otherwise, I wouldn’t have thought of it. You know, every time a ship approaches to Sanji Port, it pushes the sea water towards or away from the port. The rope I had put in the water went deep into the cracks of the stones, rippling along these waves. When I came out of the water with the retrieved spirits, the victims’ families had burst into tears, with everyone mourning, and even the sky looked as if it was sobbing. It was a heart-breaking ritual, something unforgettable, unlikely to happen again.

 

On the 70th anniversary of Jeju 4·3 in 2018, you held the Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut for a week at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park.

The Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut in the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park was also an unforgettable one. It was the result of a promise I made to you while holding the Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut on the massacre sites with the JPAF members, a promise to hold a well-prepared ritual at the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park someday for the consolation of the victims enshrined in the park. I kept that promise on the 70th anniversary of Jeju 4·3.

When I went to the park for the first time to clean the gut-teo, there was a really loud cawing of crows on the site. That sound of crying pierced my heart so deeply. I suggested, “Shall we make clothes for each of the enshrined spirits?” Even if you count only the victims whose names can be called, it will exceed 15,000 people. It is a time-consuming job to make each of them a set of spiritual clothes. There was no way that it could be done by the members of my association alone, so we gathered volunteers. With the help of the Jeju Culture and Art Foundation, the host of the event, we could find fellow citizens who volunteered for the job. Together, we made 15,000 sets of spiritual clothes, using white paper printed with dharani [short prayers], the paper that the spirits may use to wipe away their tears according to gutbeop. We also created jijeon [paper money placed into a coffin as ‘travel expenses’ to be used on the way to the ‘other world’] for the spirits of Jeju 4·3 victims. Every day, we prepared newly cooked dishes, such as steamed rice, grilled fish, boiled eggs, wonmi, and gamju. We never serve on gutsang again what has already been offered. Starting from Jocheon, Gujwa, and Seongsan-myeon, we moved on to Pyoseon, Namwon, and Seogwi-myeon, and then to Jungmun, Andeok, and Daejeong-myeon, to Hallim and Aewol-myeon, and to Jeju-eup. It took me a whole week to call all the names of the spirits of those who were killed during Jeju 4·3, including the spirits of those who are still missing. It was the largest of all the rituals on Jeju 4·3.

 

To my knowledge, you also received a plaque of appreciation from the Association of the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4·3 Victims.

“It is ‘cheonching manching gumanching’ [referring to the infinite categories of people], and if there is someone rich, there is someone else poor. So, don’t be greedy for money,” my mother used say. The members of my association, including me, have never used only for ourselves what we were received for injeong during Jeju 4·3 gut. We have always donated part or all of it to building Jeju 4·3 bangsatap [a stone tower erected to scare off the evil spirits] or helping needy neighbors. Holding Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut in the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park, we had already agreed from the beginning to donate our injeong to the Association of the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4·3 Victims. On the last day of the ritual, all of us, with one heart, donated to the association the 13.7 million won we received from victims’ families as injeong. When we delivered the whole bundle of injeong to the chairman of the association, the victims’ families thanked us for our sincerity, and we felt truly rewarded.

 

What do you consider to be most important when holding gut for Jeju 4·3 victims?

Gut can never be considered to be held well only due to having spent many hours holding it. Even if a simple word is spoken, there should be a feeling, like “This is directed at me,” or “This was spoken to soothe my embittered heart.” It should be heard and understood by both the dead and the living. So, I try my best to speak as clearly as possible, without mumbling a word.

 

“These spirits came to ‘this world’ but in the wrong time, so those that should have been living are now leaving for the ‘other world’. One year in ‘this world’ should be equal to one day in the ‘other world’, and 10 years in ‘this world’ should be equal to one year in the ‘other world’. For more than 70 years, they have been embittered in ‘this world’, and also in the ‘other world’, day after day, year after year, with grief growing like roots, resentment piled like stones, frustration heavy like doldam [stone walls], and hearts marred by bruises. Although this is not Keun-gut, when they are well-served during munjeol cheolgari [wish-making rituals held for protective deities of homes] and leave after receiving towels to wipe away tears, please help their children left in ‘this world’ to keep away from illness, impatience, anxiety, and fear, to prevent their descendants from losing chances of marriage and parenthood, and to resolve all their deep-rooted lamentation. For that which is unpleasant, please let the female spirits carry it in their twelve-layered skirts and silk headdresses, while letting the male spirits carry it in their overcoats and robes. When they reach a wide, open field, please let them hang it on a spiny tree, leave it to be blown in the wind, reincarnate as a blue bird, a white bird, and a pretty butterfly, and finally leave for the ‘other world’ together as if following the path of geese traveling together. May all the spirits be reborn in Geungnak [the Land of Ultimate Bliss].”

 

It is the babies for whom I feel the most pity when holding gut for the victims of Jeju 4·3. Adult victims were married at least. And even if they were unmarried, they had a name with which to call them and jesa [rituals for a deceased family member] are held for them. But these babies died in their mothers’ wombs or while toddling around, even without having received names. So, when we hold gut for Jeju 4·3 victims, we always create kkotgil [a path of flowers] for infant spirits who have no name and no grave. It is to lead the babies to take the floral path. We also put as much candy as possible on gutsang.

 

According to your description, gut seems to allow for a good practice of healing that comforts the spirits and brings hope to the living.

Appeasing the embittered spirits and the saddened living. Telling them that neither the deceased nor the survivors are to blame so there should be nothing to feel resentful or sorry about, trying to resolving their lamentation and their grudges against each other. I believe that it is shamans who can play this role. A shaman is not a doctor. There are no pills or needles to use. Then, what is it that shamans can do? I think a shaman acts as a lawyer. If a living person committed a crime in ‘this world’, he or she would hire lawyers and ask the court for judgment. The same goes for gut. “May Yeomnadaewang [King Yeomna of the underworld] and Daemyeongwang [King Daemyeong of the underworld] make a judgment.” As said in the prayer, shamans ask the rulers of the ‘other world’ to be the judges.

This is how I feel every time I hold Jeju 4·3 gut. Victims’ families were long forced to remain silent. It is inevitable that so much resentment and sorrow is rooted in their hearts. They couldn’t say that it was unfair. They couldn’t express their lamentation, either. There was no place left for them to cry. It was only during gutpan that they could finally shed tears. Shamans mourn, and so do the families of victims. During this mourning process, they can clear these pent-up feelings. Shouldn’t this be called “healing”?

 

Let’s turn the clock backwards to when you began practicing gut. I wonder how you became a shaman.

I was a sickly child who could only attend elementary school classes just once or twice a week. Even the doctors didn’t know why I was suffering from the lingering sickness. At last, my mother visited a fortune-teller, who said, “This child is to die at 17. If you want to save your daughter, let her become a shaman.” Only then did she know that I was undergoing shinbyeong [initiatory illness shamans experience]. Wouldn’t a mother choose to do so, in order not to have her daughter die? And so, at the age of 14, I became a shaman, just like my mother. When I was in the sixth grade, my homeroom teacher worked very hard to persuade my mother to let me continue to study in middle school. Honestly, I wanted to go to school, too. I was jealous of my friends who were dressed in school uniforms. When a gutpan I attended when following my mother was at a friend’s house, I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to hide. But what else could I do? Wouldn’t you rather live than die? I lived as if I was blind for three years, deaf for three years, dumb for three years, and rotten to my intestines for three years. That’s how I became a shaman.

 

So, it was your mother who taught you how to hold gut?

It started with my mother. But in total, I had three spiritual teachers. “Oh, your ritual is great. You’re doing a good job,” the late Ahn Sa-in used to say. She is the one who encouraged me, a young shaman aged only 14, to hold gut. “This is my foster daughter.” She always introduced me to bonju [devotees who request a ritual] as her foster daughter. Then, even if my ritual was not good, they would think I was good at it.

“Soon-sil, your voice is just like the barking of a sapsari [a Korean dog breed]. A female shaman should sound gentle so in order to resolve the pent-up sorrow of the dead and the living.” This is what the late Lee Joong-choon used to say to me.

My apprenticeship of gut began with Ahn, but I started learning it in earnest from Lee. The first gave me the courage to lead gut, while the latter passed on to me the documents detailing everything about gutbeop. And my mother gave birth to me and disciplined me not to dissipate my life. All three of them are my spiritual teachers.

 

You are leading the Jeju Keun-gut Preservation Association. In December 2021, Jeju Keun-gut was inscribed on the List of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Could you share with us how you feel about it?

I heard that in the past, a gut was reported to the authorities for multiple times. This is because the government prohibited it, campaigning for the elimination of superstitious beliefs. Then, did people really stop holding it? Absolutely not. They just went deep into the mountains. As there should have been no sound, shamans carried boreumgudeok [bamboo baskets coated with paper or cloth] instead of drums. We also steamed an abundance of rice before the ritual because there should be no smoke from cooking. We slept on the ground, covering ourselves with straw mats. There was a time when it was our wish to be able to hold it, even just one time. And now, it has become a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. It was designated on Dec. 22 last year. I remember crying for three days from the day when Jeju Keun-gut was inscribed on the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. It felt so good. Too good to be true.

Although it obtained the national title, nothing much has changed. It is true that the status of Jeju Keun-gut has risen, but many people still find the rituals unfamiliar. I hope there will be more opportunities to promote Jeju Keun-gut. It contains so many narratives. There are 12 types of bon-puri, including chogamje, cheonjiwang bon-puri, samseung halmang bon-puri, chogong bon-puri, igong bon-puri, segyeong bon-puri, and more. It can also cover the performances of various songs, dances, and plays. I will try to help Jeju Keun-gut be established as a traditional culture, like a nori, not a superstition.

 

This will be my last question. What are your plans for the future?

During the Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut held in Doryeongmaru Hill, you said to me, “There are 100 more sites left for the rituals.” Mr. Park, you are a human, but to shamans like us, you are more like a spiritual judge sent by Samshinwang [a shamanistic deity]. See how you always teach us what we should do, where we should be headed. What I’ve been thinking about since then is that I’m going to teach the members of my association well. This is because one day, the time will come when I get old. During your childhood, your grandparents must have taken you to beolcho [the practice of weeding the graves of one’s ancestors]. It is to teach you about where san [graves] are located. If I take the members of my association with me to every ritual for Jeju 4·3, they’ll be able to learn how to hold it. There is a local expression “Sushibe nanbang”. This means that becoming an outstanding shaman requires dozens of rituals. We won’t be able to satisfy everyone at once. I should work hard and so should the other members. In doing so, even after I’m gone, the day will come when we have held Jeju 4·3 gut at all the remaining sites out of those 100 locations. Taking care of as many of these rituals as I can, that would be my remaining task.

++ Suh Soon-sil went into the water while holding Sujang-gut at Sanji Port.

++ Suh meets the author of this article for an interview.

++ Suh holds Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Keun-gut in 2018 at the Memorial Altar of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park on the 70th anniversary of Jeju 4·3.

++ Suh, then a young shaman in the 1980s, holds Jamsu-gut [rituals for the diving women] in Gimnyeong Village.

++ Gutsang and kkotgil are prepared in Yeondumang Hill, Gujwa-eup, during Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut on Dec. 4, 2022, for the spirits of those young victims that were killed without having received names.

++ Suh is gathered with the other members of the Jeju Keun-gut Preservation Association.

++ Suh holds Jeju 4·3 Haewon Sangsaeng Gut on Dec. 4, 2022, in Yeondumang Hill, Gujwa-eup.

News Focus I

 

Holding the United States accountable in Washington D.C.

Symposium titled “U.S.-Korea Relations: Retrospective on the Jeju April 3 Incident, Human Rights, and Alliance”

 

Kim Dong-hyun

Head Director of the Jeju People’s Artists Federation, Literary Critic

++ On Dec. 8, 2022, a symposium titled “U.S.-Korea Relations: Retrospective on the Jeju April 3 Incident, Human Rights, and Alliance” was held at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington D.C.

 

The finish line for restoring honor to the victims of Jeju 4·3 would be eliciting a genuine apology from the American government. The United States Army Military Government in Korea, which occupied South Korea in September 1945, was the de facto power behind the shootings on March 1, 1947, and the scorched earth operation during Jeju 4·3. The three years of U.S. military rule after Korea was liberated from Japan was also the time of its substantial occupation of South Korean society, particularly its politics, economy, and culture. The Jeju 4·3 Incident Investigation Report presents a range of evidence that proves the U.S. role in the March 1 shootings and the subsequent general strike on March 10, as well as the ensuing suppression by the constabulary forces. The ideological conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union after World War II formed a backdrop for the atrocious massacres where physical violence was employed to suppress the Korean people’s aspiration to establish an independent sovereign state. This gives a reason for why we should hold responsible not just President Rhee Syngman and the South Korean military and police but also the U.S. government and the U.S. military government in Korea for what happened during Jeju 4·3.

Although efforts have continued to be made concerning the U.S. accountability issues since the Jeju 4·3 Special Act was legislated, the American public still lacks awareness of Jeju 4·3, let alone of the need for a sincere apology for the dark past of the U.S. government.

As shown in the symbolic video of the burning of Ora Village, which provided an excuse for the hardline suppression of Jeju 4·3, the U.S. military government was a de facto aerial commander that supervised and managed the ground-level massacre. In recent years, a shared concern was formed that identifying the U.S. role in Jeju 4·3 is necessary in order to conclude the last chapter of the truth-finding campaign. This has driven efforts to draw attention from the United Nations and the international community to the truth of Jeju 4·3.

A significant step towards this aim was taken on Dec. 8, 2022, by holding a symposium in Washington D.C. concerning the U.S. role in Jeju 4·3. Titled “U.S.-Korea Relations: Retrospective on the Jeju April 3 Incident, Human Rights, and Alliance”, the symposium was hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center, a bipartisan institute for public policy established by the U.S. Congress, and organized jointly by the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, and the U.S.-based academic and cultural organization Walden Korea. The speakers invited from Jeju featured Yang Jo Hoon, a member of the national Jeju 4·3 Committee who has striven to discover the truth of Jeju 4·3, as well as Huh Ho-joon, a senior staff writer at The Hankyoreh. The American panelists included Sung-Yoon Lee, a professor at Tufts University, John Merrill, former Chief of the Northeast Asia Division at the Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and Kathleen Stephens, former U.S. Ambassador to Korea. The symposium was meaningful in that it allowed for discussions on the U.S. role in Jeju 4·3 between Korean scholars specializing in the historical event and prominent American experts with a deep understanding of the related issues.

Sung-Yoon Lee has profound knowledge of current issues in U.S. politics and is well-known for actively delivering messages from American conservative politicians to Korean society. Despite his relatively conservative stance on the Korean political landscape, the renowned historian strongly raised issues of the U.S. role in Jeju 4·3. He claimed that the South Korean instruments of force lay under the operational control of the U.S. military government during the period following the establishment of the Republic of Korea in accordance with the ROK-U.S. agreement. Reflecting on the two countries’ “ironclad” alliance, he stated that the bilateral relationship has grown tremendously over the last seven decades based on the shared values of democracy, peace, freedom, and justice. Yet, the United States oversaw in Jeju those events of 75 years ago that portray the opposite of democracy, human rights, peace, and justice, he emphasized. “An extreme human rights violation like this can never be swept under the rug,” he said, calling for efforts to educate about and remember the issue. His perception that the ROK-U.S. alliance is an international relationship based on democracy pinpoints the need for the U.S. government to face frankly its dark past of abandoning its own ideal of democracy. In particular, he called for President Biden to visit the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park with the Korean President as a way of honoring the victims and healing the wounds of their families. “We can start with a low-level person visiting the Jeju 4·3 Peace Park, making a principal remark in solidarity with the victims,” he said.

Yang Jo Hoon and Huh Ho-joon gave presentations on the movement to discover the truth of Jeju 4·3, sharing different pieces of evidence that prove the direct involvement of the U.S. government in the case. As U.S. citizens lack understanding of the historical event, the documents showing proof received a great response from the speakers and the audience. The presentations by the Jeju-based researchers helped bring attention to the need for strengthened efforts to teach American society about the factual evidence of the U.S. responsibility for Jeju 4·3. The panelists shared the understanding that in order to identify the U.S. role in the historical event, it is necessary to educate the public on the faults of the U.S. government, and, at the same time, to emphasize the universal value of human rights.

Ambassador Kathleen Stephens recalled her visit to Jeju in the 1970s, stressing that the issues of Jeju 4·3 should not be overlooked for the sake of strengthened bilateral ties between South Korea and the United States. Recognizing that the United States has played a key role in more honest and strong relations with Korea, she said, “I’m sure we have had some missed opportunities and we have work to do ahead.” Given her status as a former high-ranking government official, her statement was considered important as it implies that U.S. politicians perceive the U.S. role in Jeju 4·3 as a serious issue.

John Merrill, who authored the first dissertation on Jeju 4·3 in the United States, also strongly pointed out that the U.S. military government was in charge and should have exercised oversight on the South Korean police and the Northwest Youth League that were the main culprits of the Jeju massacre. The political specialist referred to the dark past of the American government in dealing with insurgent movements in the third world, understanding Jeju 4·3 as a proxy war. “They were a proxy,” he said, explaining that U.S. intelligence, the U.S. military government, and the South Korean government subcontracted the dirty work out to the Northwest Youth League members just as it did in other countries around the world.

The American speakers urged both South Korea and the United States to make joint efforts to defend the value of democracy, going beyond the demand that the U.S. government not turn away from the Jeju 4·3 issues.

The first session of the symposium was followed by a roundtable meeting where the panelists discussed the practical process and path of claiming the U.S. responsibility for Jeju 4·3. Frank Jannuzi, president of the Mansfield Foundation, made some noteworthy statements during the discussions. From 1997 to 2012, Jannuzi worked for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he advised Committee Chairman Joseph Biden on foreign policy agendas. For more than 30 years, the specialist has dealt with international politics, such as the Korean Peninsula issues in the U.S. government, the U.S. Congress, and international organizations. “We need to be brutally realistic about the need for political pressure on the administration to care about this issue,” he emphasized, concerning the acknowledgement of the U.S. role in Jeju 4·3. According to the foreign policy specialist, it is necessary to make diverse efforts to draw the U.S. government’s attention to its role in human rights violations during Jeju 4·3, including appealing to congressmen who care about America’s misconduct on the Korean Peninsula. His advice indicates that raising awareness of Jeju 4·3 in American society and in the American political blocs should be the first step, given the difficulties in receiving an apology from the U.S. government. It is also understood as a call for educating the conservative Korean-American community on Jeju 4·3 and collaborating with progressive civic groups in the United States.

Additionally, participants agreed that works of art and culture will help educate the American public, just as the truth of Jeju 4·3 began to be disclosed through the related arts and cultural campaign.

Throughout the symposium, the speakers and the panelists called for the U.S. government to acknowledge its role in Jeju 4·3 for the sake of further strengthening the universal value of human rights in American society.

“I invite you to the process of a just solution based on the truth,” said Koh Hee-bum, President of the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation. His appeal was responded to by the American speakers and panelists who showed empathy with the call that it is now time for the United States to face the truth of Jeju 4·3.

Evidently, Jeju 4·3 is a historical tragedy that resulted from the Cold War. The time has come to face the truth so as to overcome the tormenting and heartbreaking tragedy. This is why we should strive for the just resolution of Jeju 4·3 in Korea, laying a cornerstone for drawing a significant change in American society.

++ Ko Hee-bum, president of the Jeju ​4·3 Peace Foundation, delivers the opening speech.

 

++ The participants of the symposium take a commemorative photo.

 

++ Panelists hold discussions featuring Sung-Yoon Lee, a professor at Tufts University, John Merrill, former Chief of the Northeast Asia Division at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State, Charles Kraus, Deputy Director for the History and Public Policy Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and Huh Ho-joon, a senior staff writer at The Hankyoreh. (From left to right)

 

Special Article

 

Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Course for Jeju 4·3 Studies Urgently Needed at Jeju National University

Kim Dong-choon

Professor, Sungkonghoe University

On Aug. 25, 2022, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council organized a special forum to discuss the significance and promotion of the opening of a regional postgraduate program on Jeju 4·3 studies. Dr. Heo Sang-su, head of the Seoul-based association for families of Jeju 4·3 victims, said that the global, historical, and educational conditions of Jeju 4·3 studies are mature enough to open an interdisciplinary course awarding degrees. He stressed, “With the concerted determination of the president and the professors, Jeju National University will have great potential to run a course for Jeju 4·3 studies and emerge as a hub for the studies of human rights, peace, and ecosystems in Korea and in East Asia beyond.” As pointed out in the forum, there is a growing demand for a course where undergraduate and graduate students can study Jeju 4·3, in addition to conducting relevant research and archiving materials. Voices have been raised over the need to draw academic attention to Jeju 4·3 issues by creating an educational ecosystem that could encourage young intellectuals to get postgraduate degrees and continue their research.

This is not the first time that the request for an educational course on Jeju 4·3 studies was made. In 2018 when Jeju 4·3 marked its 70th anniversary, the Association of the Bereaved Families of Jeju 4·3 Victims and the Commemorative Project Committee for the 70th Anniversary of Jeju 4·3 proposed opening a department specializing in Jeju 4·3 at Jeju National University. Several years ago, scholars urged the university to employ full-time personnel for specialized research on Jeju 4·3. Even these early steps are deemed somewhat belated. As is widely known, Chonnam National University in Gwangju established the May 18 Institute decades ago to archive research materials and publish an academic journal. Should there have been any such groundwork completed in Jeju, the opening of an interdisciplinary course on Jeju 4·3 studies could have gained greater momentum by now.

The Jeju provincial government and victims’ families have striven towards the resolution of Jeju 4·3, including maintaining the historical sites, building a memorial hall, and performing memorial ceremonies. Still, sufficient attention has yet to be paid to establishing a research institute, training researchers, and educating students that could allow systematic studies of Jeju 4·3. This makes it difficult to set its history right at the state level despite the public awareness to a certain degree. What is worse, memorial events have taken place in Jeju, with informative video images distributed mostly targeting its residents and national recognition of the incident achieved to an unsatisfactory level, let alone international awareness of its significance. The prime causes would be deficient academic recognition of the historic, universal, and global nature of Jeju 4·3, a limited pool of researchers with expertise in the subject, and the elementary level of education of students and ordinary citizens.

Understandably, it would be difficult for Jeju National University to open a postgraduate course, given the nation’s decreasing birth rate and the rising need to reduce the number of students, especially with the insecure career opportunities for those who complete the course. In other similar cases, however, research and education have long been conducted by the UN-affiliated University for Peace, as well as peace institutes at universities in the Netherlands, Ireland, and more. Researchers with masters’ or doctoral degrees from these institutions have actively studied in the United Nations and other international organizations. It is rare that institutions for this purpose are established in Asia; however, South Korea could be one of the few candidates to fulfill the role, considering the historical experiences, international recognition, and economic power. Over the years, my university has run a postgraduate program for civil activists from Korea and abroad to study human rights and peace, and its graduates have played a significant role in the public and civilian sectors of various countries in Asia.

Early in the 2000s, I attended two international academic conferences on genocides, as an observer for the first one held in Ireland, and as a speaker in the other, convened in Sarajevo. These conferences provided good opportunities for me to meet internationally prominent scholars in the field of genocide studies and listen to their ideas and thoughts. Still, I found neither of the events very pleasant because the participants were rarely from Asia, and seemed as if they were listening to arguments from the ‘indigenous people’ for the first time when massacres in Korea or in other Asian countries were mentioned. More than half the presentations addressed the topic of the Holocaust. In addition, I heard that Jewish communities sponsored the conferences to a great extent. Supposedly, thousands of articles discussed massacres of which at least hundreds would have addressed the Holocaust while memorial museums are established worldwide, such as the one situated at a critical location in front of the White House in the United States. Under these circumstances, it is understandable that the world, especially western countries, perceive as representative the European genocides such as the Holocaust and the case of Yugoslavia.

When my term as a standing commissioner for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ended in 2009, a donor was willing to sponsor an international conference on genocides after being compensated as a family member of a victim of the nation’s past misconduct. I had no choice but to refuse the generous offer, regardless of how grateful I was, because it seemed difficult to form a team of peer researchers and students who were capable of preparing and organizing such a conference in Korea. Despite the full capability of raising necessary funds, it would have been meaningless to host any such event in Korea if without academic infrastructure, that is, researchers. Unfortunately, I failed to make the kind-hearted person understand the situation, and he died a few years later.

Jeju 4·3 determined the contemporary history of South Korea, which involved a resistance and violence during the nation’s state-building process after liberation and marked the prelude to the subsequent Korean War. Globally, it took place in the greater context of decolonization, the worsening Cold War, and the foundation of new countries that resulted in political upheaval, conflict, and mass killings. The historical event, with the greatest significance in regional history, brought about the overall situations in the local community across the sectors of its politics, economy, and society. Therefore, it is a repository of research materials that can serve as a lens with which the values of human rights and peace can be spread not just in Korea but also in East Asia and the world beyond.

Since the 1990s, many international and domestic academic events on Jeju 4·3 have taken place annually in Jeju. An abundance of research papers that enable productive discussions have been released and internationally renowned scholars have been invited several times. Despite the astronomical budget spent for these events, I am skeptical about what has changed in the process of identifying responsibility for Jeju 4·3 and raising its awareness nationally and internationally, specifically its theorization and universalization. Searching for articles on Jeju 4·3 in internationally renowned academic journals would result in only a few papers written by Korean scholars, not to mention that no works on the topic published by internationally eminent publishers can be found.

Those victims’ families who have long suffered since the outbreak of Jeju 4·3 and those activists who have devoted themselves to the discovery of its truth must be enraged when facing the denial by the United States government of its responsibility. However, it is necessary to understand that the Holocaust has become worldwide common sense for reasons beyond the systematic support and investment from Jews, even referred to as the “Holocaust industry”. Above all, enormous investment and effort has been brought into creating key research institutes, publishing papers and books, and educating students at major universities around the world, including the United States. The perspective of the international community never changes overnight. However serious an incident may be, resonating with prominent experts and citizens of the world and sharing with them any lesson requires the combination of scientific and objective research, faithful reconstruction of facts, and effective marketing and promotion strategies.

In other words, at least dozens of outstanding studies or hundreds of papers must be written and substantively discussed for Jeju 4·3 to convey historical lessons for human rights and peace. Once achieved, on the basis of that, documents and films, as well as accurate textbooks, can be produced to ensure that the memories of victims and the history of Jeju are legitimately recognized as belonging to Korea and its people and shared in East Asia and the world beyond.

Although Jeju 4·3 took place in Jeju, it bears significance in Korea’s modern history, and furthermore, in the history of East Asia and in the early stages of the Cold War. Thus, it is a comprehensive topic that is difficult to cover within the framework of individual disciplines such as history, sociology, anthropology, and jurisprudence. A complete understanding of Jeju 4·3 should also involve the studies of literature, psychology, medical science, women’s studies, social welfare, psychoanalysis, and geography. Inevitably, the graduate program for Jeju 4·3 must be jointly operated by professors and researchers from various relevant departments of the humanities, social studies, and natural sciences. Being more than a simple historical event, it should be studied in a universal framework for human rights, peace, reconciliation, and healing, establishing “Jeju 4·3 studies” as a field of Korean studies, Jeju studies, and East Asian studies. Graduates with a postgraduate degree in Jeju 4·3 studies must also be capable of conducting research on general Korean studies, Jeju studies, East Asian history, and social sciences. This will qualify the researchers to work for domestic or international institutes in the public and private sectors committed to the promotion of human rights and peace. If opening the course is deemed unachievable for now, it will be an alternative first step to at least establish a research institute and employ a few full-time researchers.

My other suggestion is that if Jeju National University fails to open a research institute or graduate course due to administrative issues or dissent between its departments, Jeju’s public and private sectors should consider creating the University for Peace in Asia, a graduate-only research university. Inviting renowned Korean and international scholars as visiting professors or researchers, the local government and civic groups of Jeju will be able to join the executive board to operate the institute much more flexibly than general universities. In this case, research and education on Jeju 4·3 should be the pillars, broadening the fields of interest from regional studies of Jeju 4·3 to studies of disputes, conflicts, massacres, and human rights violations in Asian countries.

A research and education institution established on or off the campus can run a degree program, as well as a short-term training course, for young intellectuals from Korea, Taiwan, Okinawa, and Vietnam with experiences similar to Jeju 4·3. This will encourage promising scholars, politicians, journalists, and artists to learn about Jeju 4·3 and become experts with sensibility for human rights and peace. We should no longer postpone the establishment of a research and education institution on Jeju 4·3. I look forward to a decision being made soon in any form.

 

Kim Dong-choon

Kim Dong-choon is a professor in the Department of Undeclared Majors in Converged Social Studies, Sungkonghoe University. As a critical sociologist, he has actively engaged in academia and the citizen campaign bloc. He also edited South Korea’s renowned academic journals as an editor for Critical Review of History and as the chief editor for Economy and Society. As a social activist, he chaired the Policy Committee of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and led its Institute for Participatory Society. Also working as an inaugural standing commissioner of South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he won the 20th Danjae Prize and the 10th Song Geon-ho Journalism Awards.

He is the author of Anti-Communist Liberalism, Why Korea? 1945-2020, Familism: The Source of Energy for Koreans, A Sociologist Answers the Times, This Is a War over Memory, War and Society (The Unending Korean War in English), Engine of America: Market and War, Does Independent Intelligence Exist?, Division and Korean Society, A New Approach to Korean Social Sciences, A Study of Korea’s Working Class, and more.

 

 

++ The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council, Jeju National University, and the Jeju Free International City Development Center met in the provincial office building on Oct. 26, 2022, to sign “A Memorandum of Understanding on Educating Specialists for Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Jeju 4·3 Studies”.