South Korean soldiers prepare civilians for shooting

South Korean soldiers prepare civilians for shooting.

73 years ago, on June 27, 1950, the South Korea government kicked off the Bodo League Massacre—sequence of slaughter perpetrated against South Korean civilians suspected of being communism sympathizers or leftist ideals. It is estimated that more than 200k people were murdered during South Korea's anti-communist purges. For decades, the United States falsely held the North Korea government accountable for these deaths.

After Japan's defeat in World War II, Korea's peninsula, occupied for decades by the Japanese military, was divided into two distinct influence zones, bounded along Parallel 38. In the setentrional portion, said North Korea, a socialist government has been urged integrated into the Soviet influence sphere. Already in South Korea, the United States established an authoritarian military government that imposed a crackdown policy against union organizations and social movements. Under growing pressure since the firing of Yeongcheon workers by state military, the White House decided to "outsource" the management of the South Korean government for a puppet regime run by Syngman Rhee, a fervent anticommunist living in the United States and was a personal friend of President Theodore Roosevelt.

Syngman Rhee would stand ahead of the South Korean government for twelve years, consolidating a brutal dictatorial regime, marked by abuse and a bloody campaign of political persecution against its opposers. In 1949, Syngman Rhee created a "re-education" move for South Korean citizens seen as "potentially subversive" — socialists, communists, leftists in general, syndicals, social movement activists, student movement militants, pregnant workers, people accused of antiamericanism, etc. The move received the name of "Ligas Bodo" (also called "National Ligas of Rehabilitation and Guidance" or "Bodo Yeonmaeng") and consisted, in practice, in sending potential South Korean regime opponents to concentration camps. *continues in the comments

Thank you for reading. Bookmarks us for more info.

All What's You Should Know Dig into history, fact, science, true crime, and beyond with All What's you should know — where you'll discover the most interesting things that you Should know Click Here For more trending stories