hankyoreh

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Until the 18th century, the concept of “occupation” was internationally synonymous with conquest or exploitation. Victors in war would seize the land of conquered countries, taking away not just their sovereignty but also their economic gains.

With the emergence of humanitarian ideas and nation-states in the 19th century, this brutal concept of occupation faded into history. Since the 20th century, the concept of occupation that has taken root has been based on the idea of “temporary control” of a particular region.

The international law on military occupation — a state where territorial ownership resides with stationed military forces — was codified with the Hague Convention of 1907. The key terms of that agreement stated that an occupied region was not the territory of the occupying power and that it retained its own sovereignty.

In international law, military occupation is recognized when an occupying power effectively governs and controls all or part of another country’s territory as a result of war, regardless of that war’s legitimacy.

After Japan surrendered to the Allies on Aug. 15, 1945, the Korean Peninsula was occupied by the US and the Soviet Union to the south and north of the 38th Parallel, respectively. According to international law, both the US and the Soviet Union held the status of occupying forces.

The purpose of their occupation was for the disarmament of the Japanese military and the preservation of order. The commander in chief of US Army Forces Pacific, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, himself referred to the US as “occupying” Korea in his Proclamation No. 1 on Sept. 7, 1945.

The proclamation included six articles, one of them concerning the establishment of a US military government over the region to the south of the 38th Parallel. The content of this proclamation wasn’t just a case of MacArthur doing whatever he wanted; it was grounded in the Hague Convention.

On Sept. 9, 1945, the US military accepted the surrender of the Japanese General Government in Korea and instituted its military government. When the government of the Republic of Korea was established on Aug. 15, 1948, then-US Forces Korea Commander Gen. John Hodge issued a statement declaring the US military government over.

Former Prosecutor General and presidential contender Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party, and the reactionary media have gone on the attack against Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung, claiming that he “denied the legitimacy of the Republic of Korea” with his remarks about “occupying US forces.”

But it’s a historical fact that there were “occupying US forces” south of the 38th Parallel after Korea’s liberation, and the term has been widely used academically by historians and political scientists in Korea and overseas. As a matter of international law, USFK constituted an occupying army between 1945 and 1948, and has constituted a garrison since the South Korean government’s establishment in August 1948.

This sort-of-red baiting attack by Yoon is a sign of either ignorance or willful disregard of the historical facts and international law.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, senior editorial writer

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