Jump to content

North-West Youth Association

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
North-West Youth Association
ActiveNovember 30, 1946–December 19, 1948
CountrySouth Korea
TypeParamilitary
EngagementsJeju uprising
North-West Youth Association
Hangul
서북청년회
Hanja
西北青年會
RRSeobuk cheongnyeonhoe
MRSŏbuk ch'ŏngnyŏnhoe
The flag of the North-West Youth Association
Flag of the North-West Youth Association

The North-West Youth Association(Korean: 서북청년회), also known as the Northwest Youth League, was a far-right and radical anti-communist South Korean paramilitary group active during the Cold War.[1] It mostly consisted of right-wing refugees from the Soviet-occupied northwestern region of Korea.

History

[edit]

The North-West Youth Association was established on November 30, 1946, by anticommunists from Soviet-occupied North Korea,[2] described by the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park Museum as "a group of landowners who were forced to leave North Korea due to the political climate there including land reform and a crackdown on pro-Japanese factions."[3]

The Association conducted vigilante justice against suspected communists with no legal basis, with support of Syngman Rhee.[4] A communist uprising in Jeju occurred between 1948 and 1949, followed by a violent suppression campaign.[5][6] According to Bruce Cumings, the Association was brutal towards the residents of Jeju Island, exercising more authority than the police.[7] Between 14,000 and 30,000 people were killed during the Jeju uprising – 86% by security forces and paramilitary groups, including the North-West Youth Association, and 14% by rebels.[8][5][6] Survivors give accounts describing the torture of children and mass murder.[9] The violent crackdown created deep resentment in Jeju residents. What began as an anti-communist movement quickly became a force that sought to crush anyone opposed to President Rhee and the Korea Democratic Party.

The organization was largely disbanded by the South Korean government after the Korean War. During the 1950s, some former members were active as organized political gangs, which lost its power after Park Chung-hee came to power, who pledged to eradicate the "bad remnants" of the Syngman Rhee era.[10][11]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Park Sae-jin (4 May 2026). "South Korean film 'My Name' wins Audience Award at Italian festival". Aju Press. Retrieved 28 August 2026. Driven by extreme anti-communist sentiment and a sense of displacement, members of the Northwest Youth League engaged in widespread extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture. Their presence on the island was often characterized by a lack of oversight, leading to indiscriminate violence against those suspected of leftist sympathies.
  2. ↑ https://accesson.kr/kj/assets/pdf/8009/journal-43-2-289.pdf
  3. ↑ http://jeju43peace.org/historytruth/fact-truth/factstruth_article9/
  4. ↑ "[4·3인물열전]②서북청년회-1". Jeju Today.
  5. 1 2 Hugh Deane (1999). The Korean War, 1945–1953. China Books&Periodicals, Inc. pp. 54–58. ISBN 9780141912240.
  6. 1 2 Merrill, John (1980). "Cheju-do Rebellion". The Journal of Korean Studies. 2: 139–197. doi:10.1353/jks.1980.0004. S2CID 143130387.
  7. ↑ Cumings, Bruce (December 20, 2016). "American Responsibility and the Massacres in Cheju Conference on Overcoming the Past: Healing and Reconciliation -- Cheju and the World in Comparison" (PDF).
  8. ↑ "The National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju April 3 Incident". 2008. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved December 15, 2008.
  9. ↑ "Memories of pain and loss from the Apr. 3 Jeju Uprising and massacre". The Hankyoreh.
  10. ↑ "시위대 잘못 건드린 '정치깡패'들의 운명, 정치무대 활보하던 폭력배들, 4.19 혁명 후 내리막길 걸어". OhMyNews.
  11. ↑ "'정치깡패의 역사'…50년대 이정재부터 87년 '용팔이'까지". Yonhap News.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North-West_Youth_Association&oldid=1373860487"