The Limits of Decolonization: American Occupiers and the “Korean Problem” in Japan, 1945-1948

Abstract

Korean and Japanese officials have never engaged in direct negotiations to reach a postcolonial settlement, unlike what followed the breakup of many European colonies. Instead, the problem of how to dissolve Japanese colonialism was indirectly addressed by external mediators; namely, US occupation administrations in Korea and Japan after World War II. Examining the history of third-party decolonization must therefore take into consideration how this process was initially mediated between the new American occupiers in the region. In order to understand how decolonization was compromised in part by evolving and competing American occupation policies, this article examines three interrelated issues that greatly affected Koreans in occupied Japan who found themselves displaced by the sudden collapse of the Japanese empire: repatriation, restitution, and nationality. The extent to which American occupation authorities in Korea and Japan jointly engaged in each of these critical issues vividly illustrates the limits of decolonization.

Keywords

• Decolonization
• American occupation
• SCAP
• USAMGIK
• repatriation
• restitution
• nationality
• Koreans in Japan