History Extra podcast America in Korea: a failed occupation?
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Sep 25, 2025 Kornel Chang, a historian and professor, delves into the U.S. occupation of South Korea from 1945 to 1948, highlighting critical missed opportunities for a unified future. He shares personal motivations rooted in his family's history and explains the impact of Japanese rule on Korean leadership dynamics. Chang discusses early Korean hopes for independence which quickly turned sour, contrasting the U.S. approach in Korea with that of reformist Japan. Ultimately, he explores how decisions made by Soviet and American powers cemented Korea's enduring division.
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Personal Family Memory Of Division
- Kornel Chang recounts family memories of whispered wartime talks and relatives fleeing Pyongyang in 1946.
- These stories motivated his research into whether American intervention was the only alternative to communism.
Colonial Rule Spawned Competing Leaders
- Four decades of Japanese colonial rule produced exiled Korean leaders with divergent visions for independence.
- That exile created competing political factions that shaped post-1945 Korea.
Trusteeship Clashed With Korean Expectations
- Trusteeship was proposed by FDR as a multilateral tutelage to guide colonized states to independence.
- Koreans resented slow timelines after 40 years of colonial rule and rejected prolonged trusteeship.
