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Ahn Yong-sik, professor emeritus at Yonsei University. (Kim Bong-gyu/Hankyoreh)

The book “The Post-Liberation Activities of Koreans Who Served as Officials Under Japanese Colonial Rule,” published by Buphyun, was recently co-authored by Ahn Yong-sik, professor emeritus at Yonsei University's Department of Public Administration, and You Nyeon-geun, a researcher at the Hanam Cultural Center's Local History Research Institute. Ahn has previously published several volumes tracking the appointments and activities of Korean officials from the late Joseon period until 1967.

Drawing on nearly 35 years of research, Ahn has documented how Koreans who served as officials during the Japanese occupation were appointed to public positions during the period of US military government rule and into the Third Republic of Korea.

The book includes a paper by Ahn sharing the same title as the book which shows that 49.1% (787 people) of Korean personnel in the US Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) were former officials under Japanese rule. Additionally, 40.7% (262 people) of local government officials, 70.8% (211 people) of judges and prosecutors, and 70.4% (133 people) of county governors under the USAMGIK had previously held official positions during the Japanese occupation.

While the USAMGIK headquarters, which acted as the country’s central administration, appointed relatively fewer Koreans who had served under the Japanese, many of those selected were highly educated individuals who had studied in Japan. Among the six departments of the USAMGIK headquarters, 44 out of 99 former Japanese officials had at least a junior college degree, and 20 of them were graduates of universities in Japan and Keijo Imperial University.

“During the Japanese occupation, those who were wealthy, came from good families, and had talent went to study in Japan, worked hard, and became bureaucrats in good positions. These individuals rose to high public office even after liberation,” Ahn noted in a phone interview on Wednesday.

“Although I didn’t mention it in the paper, I understand why many people criticize those who benefited from Japanese rule [Korean officials during the Japanese occupation]. After all, many impoverished Koreans suffered greatly under the Japanese,” he said. 

The cover of Ahn’s recent sourcebook “The Post-Liberation Activities of Koreans Who Served as Officials Under Japanese Colonial Rule.”

Regarding the 2-year-and-11-month period under the US military government, he remarked, “It left us with very little” and called it a “failure,” noting, “The US military government directly inherited the administrative system of the Japanese Government-General of Chosen [Korea]. It was essentially a continuation of Japanese rule.” 

Ahn criticized the USAMGIK in his paper for its “indiscriminate appointment of collaborators under the pretense of merely appointing them temporarily,” which he considers to be its greatest mistake, and pointed out that the US military “lacked the necessary effort and attitude to carefully resolve issues in a foreign country [Korea].”

When asked about his future projects, Ahn, who has self-published all of his previous works, emphasized the need to “document who has controlled the bureaucracy and how the bureaucratic system has operated from the Park Chung-hee regime to the present.” 

However, he noted, “The task is so great that, due to my age and declining strength, it will be difficult for me to take on. I hope future scholars will continue this work.”

By Kang Sung-man, senior staff writer

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