"Soviet Army Celebrated Korean Liberation, US Forces as South Korean Occupation Army" Controversy Again Over Kim Won-woong, President of the Liberation Association, Remarks to High School Students

Kim Won-woong, President of the Liberation Association, delivered a video message of about 13 minutes to students of Yangju Baekseok High School in Gyeonggi on the 21st. Photo by Liberation Association website capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Kim Won-woong, chairman of the Liberation Association, sparked controversy over the accuracy of his statement to high school students that "the Soviet troops who entered after liberation were liberation forces, while the U.S. troops were occupying forces."

On the 21st of last month, Kim delivered a 13-minute video message to students of Yangju Baekseok High School in Gyeonggi Province, who were participating in the 'Project to Eradicate Pro-Japanese Residues' promoted by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education.

In the video, Kim claimed, "The Korean Peninsula was divided into North and South; the Soviet troops entered the North, and the U.S. troops entered the South," asserting that the U.S. and Soviet troops showed contrasting behaviors.

He explained, "The Soviet troops came in and posted proclamations everywhere saying, 'We sincerely congratulate the Korean people on regaining independence and freedom,' 'The fate of the Korean people depends on the Koreans themselves from now on,' and 'Long live Korean liberation.' However, around the same time, the U.S. troops occupied the South. General MacArthur, upon occupying the South, wrote proclamations stating, 'We are not liberation forces but occupying forces,' 'From now on, Koreans must obey my orders,' 'Those who disobey will be tried by military court and punished,' and 'English is the official language.' These proclamations were posted everywhere," he said.

On that day, Kim also claimed that the past U.S. military government submitted a secret report to the Ministry of National Defense stating that "South Korea should be used as a colony." Kim said, "While serving as the chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Unification, Foreign Affairs, and Trade, I had many opportunities to access reports that were not publicly disclosed," and added, "The core of the report I saw was this: 'South Korea should be used as a de facto colony of the United States following Japan. On the surface, it will be independent, but in reality, it will be a colony of the U.S.'"

He further claimed that the U.S. military government consulted with Japanese politicians regarding the governance of South Korea. Kim stated, "The U.S. military government asked Japanese politicians, 'You ruled Korea for over 30 years. Please teach us the know-how of governing Korea,'" and "In response, the Japanese politicians said, 'Do not worry about Korea. We have pro-Japanese collaborators whom we have nurtured. Those collaborators handle Koreans much more skillfully than the Japanese themselves,'" he said.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.