미군정기 통신검열체제의 성립과 전개

Abstract

This research is based on the idea that investigating about the South Korea"s U.S. Military government era is one of the most proper way to study historical conditions that formed Korea"s current society and to clarify its system and structure. According to this idea, this paper attempts to analysis the censorship system against mails, telegrams, and telephone conversations that were current during South Korea"s U.S. Military government era, which have not been properly studied until now. The followings are specific questions concerning this topic.

1. How was the censorship system in South Korea prepared by the U.S. Military, and how was it activated?

2. How did the censorship system changed during three years of U.S. Military government"s occupation, and what does the changes mean?

The conclusion is as follows.

1. In the beginning, censorship system in South Korea was not specified as an individual plan, but it was rapidly actualized as Japan"s defeat in World War II was ascertained. Censorship by the U.S. Military was at first executed based on the understanding that Korea was an newly liberated country, and it aimed to remove remaining colonial system which were constructed during Japanese occupation.

2-1. As the censorship by the U.S. Military was activated, doubts about the significance of censoring had been raised inside CCIG-K and CCD. By reorganizing censorship system, CCIG-K tried to enhance censorship efficiency and its significancy, but could not succeed at obtaining satisfactory results. Despite such circumstances, censorship system maintained to operate, and this was because Putnam"s wariness toward expanding Communism and his expectation on censorship operation gave weight to its significance.

2-2. Reorganization of the censorship system began to took concrete form by transferring CCIG-K from CCD to the 24th Corps in the purpose of improving intelligence operation efficiency for advanced occupation strategies in South Korea. The transference of CCIG-K imply that the aim of censorship operation in South Korea was no more a part of the operation against Japanese Empire.

2-3. After the expiration of CCIG-K"s censorship operation, resources for the censorship operation including watchlists were turned over to the South Korean Government, and South Korean Government used them to perform its own censorship operation. Under the military dictatorship, censorship was repeatedly conducted as a device to maintain South Korea"s anti-Communist policy. The fact that this particular device"s blueprint was transmitted from the U.S. Military to the Korean Government have a significant meaning when we consider Korean society"s characteristics and the relation between United States and Korea afterward.