1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey everyone, it's eaves again and Welcome to 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,879 Speaker 1: This Day and History Class, a show that takes history 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: and squeezes it into bite size stories. Today is April. 5 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: The day was April third, ninety. Leftists launched an uprising 6 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,279 Speaker 1: against police and right wing paramilitary groups on j Ju 7 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: Island in South Korea. The uprising lasted until May of nineteen. 8 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: It's suppression resulted in the death of an estimated thirty people, 9 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: many of them killed by police, soldiers and anti communist 10 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: That was around ten of the island's population. The uprising 11 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: is also known as the April third incident and Guest 12 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: of nineteen forty five. The Japanese surrendered to Allied forces 13 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: in World War Two that ended the Japanese occupation of Korea, 14 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: which had begun in nineteen ten. Korea was then divided 15 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: at the thirty parallel, with the Soviets in the north 16 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: and the Americans in the south. The island of Jju 17 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: was controlled by the United States Army military government in Korea. 18 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: Though there was a lot of unrest on mainland Korea, 19 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: the island of Jju was geographically and politically isolated. During 20 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,400 Speaker 1: the first year of American occupation, the situation on Jju 21 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: remained relatively peaceful. The Jju People's Committee gained a lot 22 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: of support across the island, but in nineteen forty six, 23 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: Jju was incorporated as a separate province of US backed 24 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: South Korea. This led to more righteous administrators and police 25 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: being on the island. Late that year, the Workers Party 26 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: of South Korea, a communist party, won control of the 27 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: Jju People's Committee, and uprising in the southern provinces of 28 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: the Korean mainland were blamed on communists and contributed to 29 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: more anti left tension on Jju. On March first, nineteen 30 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: forty seven, tens of thousands of Jju residents gathered in 31 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: Jju City to mark the anniversary of the March First Movement, 32 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,799 Speaker 1: a demonstration against Japanese rule that occurred in nineteen nineteen. 33 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: The residents also opposed increased taxation, the dissolution of the 34 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: People's Committee, and police brutality. Police fired into the crowd, 35 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: killing six people and wounding others. Many people in the 36 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: Workers Party were arrested during the demonstrations. There were a 37 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: series of strikes in response to the shootings. Following this incident, 38 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: tensions grew between the right and the left on Jju. 39 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: In November of ninety seven, the United Nations adopted a 40 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: resolution calling for elections in the southern part of Korea. 41 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 1: The elections were set to take place on May tenth, 42 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: ninety eight. They would affirm the division of the Korean 43 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: Peninsula between the communist north and capitalist south. As the 44 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: elections approached, people in the Workers Party planned protests against them. 45 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: On April third, ninety eight, people from the Workers Party, 46 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:25,239 Speaker 1: alongside other communist supporters, attacked police stations on Jju, killed 47 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: police officers, and destroyed polling centers. The reasoning behind the 48 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: uprising has been debated. The commander of the police forces 49 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: attempted to negotiate with guerilla leaders, but they could not 50 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: come to a peaceful resolution. The fighting continued, disrupting the 51 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: May tenth elections. The Republic of Korea, also known as 52 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: South Korea, was established in August of nineteen forty eight. 53 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: By October, the South Korean government was ramping up efforts 54 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: to squash the uprising. Martial law was declared and the 55 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: campaign against rebel forces turned brutally violent. Tens of thousands 56 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: of people were killed in the uprising and it's aftermath, 57 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: and thousands more fled the island. The uprising was effectively 58 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: suppressed by May of nineteen forty nine, though sporadic fighting 59 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: continued over the next several years. The Korean War began 60 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: in June of nineteen fifty when North Korea invaded South Korea. 61 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: The existence of the Jju Uprising and any investigations into 62 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: it were suppressed in South Korea in the decades after 63 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: it happened. The United States role in the suppression of 64 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: the uprising has been the subject of a lot of debate. 65 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: The South Korean police apologized for the massacre for the 66 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: first time in twenty nineteen. I'm Eave Jeffcote and hopefully 67 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: you know a little more about history today than you 68 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,919 Speaker 1: did yesterday. 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