KPG and KLA

     The initials KPG and KLA have little if any meaning to most people, including citizens of Republic of Korea today.  More than likely, RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) is more recognizable to those who are somewhat familiar with military armament, and KLM (former Dutch airline) for those who do a lot of air traveling, especially in Europe.  But prior to World War Two and up to 1945, the initials KPG and KLA were well known to people familiar with or interested in the activities in northeast Asia, more commonly referred to in those days as the Far East.
     The Korean Provisional Government or KPG was formed in April of 1919, a month after the March 1st Uprising, the Sahm Wohl Il Il.  The first KPG group was formed in Vladivostok and sought support from Russia.  Almost at the same time, another group formed the Chinese branch of KPG in Shanghai and later moved to Chunking.  This group, naturally, sought support from the Chinese Nationalists.  Still a third branch of KPG was formed in Seoul which had to operate in secret.  Because there were three separate groups in three countries, there was a misperception that KPG was splintered and did not get along.  Naturally, as with any political group, there were rivalries and personal differences.  However, KPG regardless of location had one common goal, and that was to liberate Korea from Japan. Unfortunately and apparently, KPG was not very good at conveying their views to outsiders.  The U.S. State Department argued against giving support to KPG because it was felt that KPG was poorly organized and had opposing factions each interested only in their goal. Sort of like Iraqi government that we support! That was not the case with KPG, but that is how the U.S. State Department saw it and advised against supporting this group.
     The KLA or the Korean Liberation Army got its start as the Korean Freedom Fighters as early as 1905, certainly by 1910 when Japan officially annexed Korea.  They too were broken up in three groups, one in China, one in Russia, and one in Korea.  All of the fighting took place in Manchuria, and although some were trained and supported by the Chinese, others by Russians, and still others were sort of freelancing, they too had one common goal.  After all, the KLA was under the control of KPG.  In 1940 the KPG announced that all Korean Freedom Fighting groups were henceforth to be known as Korean Liberation Army.  The idea was to convey to the outsiders that these freedom fighters were united in one goal, to liberate Korea from Japan.  Yet, the name itself sounded very "communist" to some in the U.S. government.  So, if anything, it made things worse as far as trying to get American support.
     The KPG elected their leaders and the first one was Syngman Rhee, who later became Republic of Korea's first president in 1947.  Rhee was a leader for several years, from 1914 to 1925, before he was impeached by the same group that elected him!  They felt that he did not have Koreas's best interest, that he was too ambitious for his own political gain.  They were right, of course!  After he was impeached, they sent him to America to try and raise funds for Korea's fight against Japan.
     In 1940, after being re-designated as the Korean Liberation Army, the KLA continued to help the Nationalists fight the Japanese.  When U.S. requested Chiang Kai Sheik to help rescue downed U.S. flyers in southern China, Chiang dispatched KLA units to perform this task.  To this day, most Americans do not know that it was the KLA in many cases who helped to rescue U.S. pilots shot down over southern China.  OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the granddaddy of today's CIA and Army Special Forces) knew about KLA's capabilities and their willingness to fight Japanese.  OSS on its own trained and used many KLA units in southern China and yes, in Indo-China as well.
     The Chinese Nationalists pressed the U.S. government to recognize and support KPG.  They said that this would guarantee Korea becoming pro American after the war.  Unfortunately, many of our "experts" didn't see it that way.  These same "experts" were also largely responsible for making Communist China our enemy for so many years.  Shortly after the war, during China's civil war, Foreign Service Officers were dispatched to live with Mao and the communists in Yenan where they were headquartered and report on their findings.  John Service, the Foreign Service Officer assigned to this mission, along with others, reported that U.S. should support Mao and not the corrupt, dictator Chiang Kai Sheik.  Service was not alone in his opinion, so were prominent historians and journalists Edgar Snow and Theodor White, as well as Army Colonel David Barret.  They all reported to Washington that giving money to the Nationalists was like throwing money into a pit!  They were unanimous in their opinion that U.S. should support Mao.  Of course we know what happened, we supported Chiang and made an enemy out of Mao.  The careers of those men who supported Mao were ruined during McCarthy era.  They were all tagged as communists! 
     Ironically, before the end of World War Two, despite the fact that U.S. supported the Nationalists, Washington did not listen to the Chinese Nationalists who insisted that we should support the KPG and KLA.  It was probably the only good counsel that they gave America!  Stalin knew.  He took the KLA members early on and put them into the Soviet Red Army service.  Still, many of them managed to find their way to China and join up with other KLA units.
     The common view is that had the U.S. supported the KPG and KLA, there would not have been a communist North Korea!  The fear that communist members of KLA would not get along with nationalists was unfounded.  When the Republic of Korea was born in 1947 with Syngman Rhee as its first president, the newly appointed general in charge of the new South Korean Army was a former KLA general, who fought as a communist guerrilla!  Although there were  former KLA members who fought for North Korea during the Korean War, it was more of a need for survival, not any communist ideology!  To this day, the core group of South Korean generals are known as the "Hamkyong-do Mafia," they are all originally from North Korea! No one can accuse them of being communist.
     It is interesting to think what could have been.  If we had more perceptive, more "knowledgeable" people in position of power and decision making in the past, perhaps the world would have been very different today!  But.....look what's going on today.  Obviously we placed our bets on the wrong people, both in Afghanistan and especially in Iraq!