Red Star over Seoul: Facts and the Myths of the Ninety-Day-Long Communist Rule over the South Korean Capital in 1950

During its long history, the city of Seoul has suffered three major sieges and occupations. The first happened in 1592, the second occupation of the capital was in 1636, and the third occasion when the city was besieged and occupied by an enemy army was during the first phase of the Korean War. The main goal of this study is to describe facts and myths about the ninety-day-long communist rule over the South Korean capital in 1950. During my research, I compared all available documentary sources with recollections and memoirs to ascertain how the city and its citizens survived that difficult period. I collected impressions about the North Korean invaders to examine everyday life in the occupied city. I also attempted to determine if there is any truth to the myth that the North Korean leader Kim Il Sung visited occupied Seoul. The main primary sources used here are the contemporary newspapers of the DPRK: the Rodong Sinmun, which published several news items about occupied Seoul, and the Haebang Ilbo (Liberation Daily), which was published in Seoul during the North Korean occupation. The documentation about the ninety-day-long occupation of Seoul began right after the liberation of the capital in fall 1950. The first book, which collected the experiences of some elite members of South Korean society, was published by the Soodo Munhwasa company, under the title Konan ŭi 90 il (90 days of suffering).1 The reminiscences of the authors—university professor Yu Chin-oh, poet Mo Yun-suk, lawyer-scholar Yi Geon-ho, and news reporter Ku Chul-hoi—were published in English soon after the Korean version. The Reds Take a City was the first non-Korean book that collected available pieces of infor- mation about the occupation.2 In the second year of the Korean War, another important collection titled Chok Hwa Sam Sak Kuinjip (赤禍三朔九人集, Three Months under the Reds) was published.3 The book contained nine recollections from those who experienced communist rule and were forced to collaborate with the North Koreans regarding minor matters. Its publisher was the anti-communist Podo yŏnmaeng (보도연맹, Podo League) organization, which was established before the Korean War to “erase” citizens’ leftist ideologies.4 Some other important sources of the ninety-day-long occupation of Seoul are the personal recollections, written by well-known South Korean intellectuals. Park Wan-suh’s popular novel Ku manhtŏn shinga nun nuga ta mŏgŏssŭlkka? (그 많던 싱아는 누가 다 먹었을까? Who Ate up all the Shinga?) and Kim Seong-chil’s famous diary, Yŏksa ap’ eso (역 사 앞에서 In Front of History), included important observations about that period. Kim Won-Il’s reminiscences, which are particularly meaningful because his father had been involved in the developments, also provide useful information.5 To add more North Korean elements to the puzzle of the ninety-day-long occupation, one important source is the novel 50 nyŏn yŏrŭm (50년 여름, Summer of the year 50), which contains details about Kim Il Sung’s alleged trip to Seoul at that time.6 In my capacity as the Ambassador for Hungary to the DPRK, I also studied the local publications available in Pyongyang. Often, Central and Eastern European sources proved to be most beneficial as the archives of these former communist states proved to be far more accessible than North Korean archives, which are very restricted. At that time, the party organs of the Soviet bloc countries published daily about the developments, and their journalists reported personally from the battlefield of Korea. These include archive diplomatic reports from the Hungarian legation in Pyongyang, which are available now in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Directory at the National Archives of Hungary.