I couldn’t help of thinking about a certain speech when I saw this headline in the July 4th, 1948 issue of the The Korean Free Press (자유신문 自由新聞).
Military Operations in Cheju are For the Most Part Completed
In April, 1948 the island of Cheju-do erupted in what became a major uprising that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Koreans, or an estimated 10% of the island’s population. The above article, with its optimistic headline, is found months before the violence reaches its peak, and only a few weeks before troops heading to crush the rebellion themselves rebel in the port town of Yŏsu in October. An article from the same day carrying the same news in the much more conservative newspaper 대동신문 (大東新聞) is even more direct.
Military Operations in Cheju are Complete
