동북아역사재단 2023년 02월호 뉴스레터
- Kim Gwang-jae, researcher at the National Institute of Korean History
Xi’an and Korean history
Xi’an is closely related to Korean history. The city, previously known as Chang’an, was the old capital of of the Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties. It was the starting point of the Silk Road that availed exchanges between the East and West, blooming open and convergent cultures. The Tang dynasty ruled the most flourishing cultural period in the Chinese history.
Ancient Xi’an was where countless scholars, monks, and merchants of the Korean peninsula came and went. It preserves the traces of our ancestors from the Three Kingdoms period, including Gao Xianzhi, Hyecho, Choe Chiwon, and Woncheuk. In a nearby valley in the Zhongnan Mountains lies the Xingjiao Temple which is closely related to Silla. The Xingjiao Temple enshrines the stupa of Woncheuk, one of the star pupils of Xuanzang.
Xi’an was also where China’s First United Front against the invasion of Japanese imperialism in the 20th century took place. The Xi'an Incident occurred in 1936 when Zhang Xueliang confined Chiang Kai-shek (also known as Jiang Jieshi) to request that internal conflicts between the Nationalist Party and Communist Party of China be resolved and that troops be gathered to fight against Japan. This incident that completely changed the fate of China greatly affected the development of capabilities for anti-Japanese struggles in the Korean independence movement base in China.
The provisional government of the Republic of Korea sets foot in Xi’an
After the final years of the Tang dynasty, not many Koreans were left in Xi’an. A thousand years later, in mid-20th century, Xi’an once again formed a closer relationship with Korean history. After the Heroic Act in Hongkou Park in Shanghai (1932), the provisional government of the Republic of Korea (the Korean Provisional Government) went through a long journey to escape Japanese oppression. It settled in Chongqing, the base of the Nationalist government, and established a party-state-military to confront Japan in 1940. Xi’an was where the Korean Provisional Government was headquartered to advance into the Korean peninsula.
Xi’an back then was right in contact with the Japanese military that seized the Huabei region. It was also a strategic location to perform propaganda and recruitment activities targeted at over 10,000 Korean migrants from Huabei. Furthermore, it served as a critical base to proceed past Huabei and the Northeast region and advance to the Korean peninsula. For these reasons, the Korean Provisional Government dispatched a special military mission in 1939, a year before the establishment of the Korean Liberation Army. The mission engaged in propaganda and recruitment activities targeted at Koreans in the Huabei region to build the foundation for the Korean Liberation Army's formation.
Joint forces between the Korean Liberation Army and the U.S. Office of Strategic Services
As the national army of the Korean Provisional Government, the Korean Liberation Army intended to take part as an ally of World War II. It was their tactic for Korean independence by fighting against the Japanese Empire and obtaining the status as a victorious ally. The leaders of the Korean Provisional Government and the Korean Liberation Army engaged in proactive diplomacy toward the U.S. that was advancing north, by defeating the Japanese army in the Pacific Ocean theater. At this point, the U.S. government, which was skeptical about the issue of the Korean peninsula, also hope to deploy overseas Korean independent activists to efficiently perform war against Japan after the outbreak of the Pacific War. After the strategic interests of both parties met in the middle, the Korean Liberation Army and the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) executed Operation Eagle beginning in early 1945.
This operation involved recruiting members from the Liberation Army to conduct special training and infiltrate them into the Korean peninsula. It concerned establishing an intelligence base and deploying activities to disrupt the enemy’s rear, such as guerrilla warfare and civil uprisings, that were to be used when allies landed on the Korean peninsula. The Liberation Army and OSS installed a headquarters in the second branch of the Liberation Army in Xi’an and performed special training for the Liberation Army soldiers. The training was a strict course on preliminary training, academic training, and field training, in which the soldiers were required to pass certain exams at each stage. The OSS instructors also recognized that the Korean Liberation Army completed the demanding training course with outstanding performance.
The Korean Liberation Army's attempt to enter Korea
On August 5, 1945, an inspection team consisting of Kim Gu, Ji Cheong-cheon, and Eom Hang-seop arrived in Xi’an. Their mission was to inspect and encourage the Liberation Army that had completed the training course. Coincidentally, William J. Donovan, the head of the OSS, was also in Xi’an. On August 7, Kim Gu met with Donovan, and the two agreed to quickly execute their joint operation targeting the Korean peninsula.
The Korean Provisional Government formed an advancement unit of the second branch of the Liberation Army to hasten the entry into the Korean peninsula. Similar to how French army officer Charles de Gaulle seized Paris with his army during an independence movement in Britain, the Korean Provisional Government also attempted to enter Korea with the Korean Liberation Army. However, the fall of the Japanese Empire hindered this attempt.
Instead, the Korean Liberation Army and OSS prepared the dispatch of the advancement unit on August 18. Finally, the advancement unit, together with General Lee Beom-seok of the Korean Liberation Army, and the OSS military delegation made it to the Korean peninsula. On August 18, the advancement unit arrived in Yeouido Airport. The unit attempted to advance into Seoul but was unfortunately hindered by the Japanese military. The following day, on August 19, the unit returned to China from Yeouido, closing the infiltration operation of the Korean Liberation Army.
This operation led by the Korean Liberation Army did not have the chance to actualize due to the surrender of Japan. Although the unit stayed for only 28 hours in Yeouido Airport, the Korean Liberation Army was the first among overseas independence activists that returned to their liberated homes. In the later years of the Pacific War, the Korean Provisional Government and the Liberation Army promoted grand military strategies, further expanding the range and depth of the Korean independence movement. This event is historically significant as it highlights the overseas independence movement led by the Korean Provisional Government.
동북아역사재단이 창작한 '시안(西安) 1945, 광복군 국내 진공이 무르익다' 저작물은 "공공누리" 출처표시-상업적이용금지-변경금지 조건에 따라 이용 할 수 있습니다.
