Historical Legacies of Jeju: Traces of Tragedy
Designated by the Korean government as the “Island of Peace” in last 2000, Jeju Island has been a popular vacation spot of beauty and tranquility for Koreans and foreigners. Jeju, however, was an island of tragedy just until the last century. Its inhabitants were forced to sacrifice their blood, toil, tears, and sweat as they underwent the Pacific War and political disputes within Korea. This is why we should not simply consider Jeju as a beautiful island with rape flowers and the Halla Mountain. It is our responsibility to look back at the dark past and remember those who were sacrificed, as well as realizing why these tragedies have taken place and doing what we can do to prevent them from recurring.
Altr Airfield
The Altr Airfield was built and used by the Japanese during the Pacific War (1941- 1945) in their attempt to protect the mainland of Japan against Chinese forces. During the last months of the Pacific War, Japan’s defeat was almost certain after Germany’s (Japan’s strongest ally) surrender and the participation of America. In its last effort, Japan decided to use Jeju Island as its military base, using the island’s geographical advantage of being closely located to the Japanese mainland. The Japanese military asserted that Korea and Japan was a single nation bound by totalitarianism, thereby justifying its exploitation of natural and human resources. War facilities including the cave fortification along the coast of Songak Mountain, ammunition storehouses in various locations, and the Altre jet runway, were constructed. The inhabitants of Jeju were conscripted by the Japanese military to build military facilities and or fight in the battlefield. Children and women left on the island, which had become a battlefield itself, were often killed by air-raids.
Darangshi-Cave
Even after the Pacific War, peace did not come to Jeju. After liberation from Japanese rule, tension arose between residents of Jeju and the newly formed government in the Korean mainland, with differing political opinions and future visions. The Korean government responded to the refusal of Jeju inhabitants to vote for the new president by announcing that all inhabitants were “commies”, or the supporters of the North Korean government and communism. The government commanded all police and military forces to consider the people of Jeju as dangerous dissidents and kill them. Turning a blind eye to the pleas of many, the police and military brutally slaughtered innocent and powerless citizens. The Darangshi-Cave was one of the numerous places where these tragedies happended. Eleven residents hid themselves in this cave, but were discovered by armed soldiers, who threatened them to come out. When the residents refused out of fear that they would be killed even if they had come out, the soldiers blocked the opening of the cave after releasing fire smoke into the cave. The residents suffocated from the gas, and their bodies were properly cremated afterwards.
Bibliography:
http://www.jeju.go.kr/
http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/opinion/column/686002.html
http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/View/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002091421
Google Images