Korean | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 2, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Koreans in Hawai‘i

A shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge. The only answer was imported labor.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

In 1882, the United States and Korea signed a formal trade agreement. Under provisions of the treaty, Koreans were able to travel to, reside and study in, and trade with the US.

Although they had a signed trade agreement, there was little activity between the two countries. That changed moving into the early-1900s – the first of several waves of Korean immigration started in 1903.

Korean immigration to Hawaii can be compared to ocean waves and there have been four waves of Korean immigrants.

Between 1903 and 1905, the first wave brought nearly 8,000 Koreans to Hawaiian shores. The January 13, 1903 edition of the ‘Evening Bulletin’ (forerunner of the Star-Bulletin) reported, “The Korean immigrants who arrived this morning are an experimental case. If these workers prove to be good workers and possess a kind and courteous attitude, it is evident that more Koreans will be arriving here aboard the ships from the Orient in the future.”

By April 1905, 65-ships brought 7,843 Koreans to Hawai‘i – 6,701 men, 677 women and 465 juveniles (under the age of 14.) Men out numbered women, 10 to 1.

Most of the early immigrants were young men about 20-years of age. Since sugar plantations wanted to import farm workers, prospective immigrants listed their occupation as farmers in their immigration applications; however, only one-seventh of the Korean immigrants had actually been farmers.

Most had dreams of making a fortune and then returning to Korea to get married. However, for many, there was no country to go back to.

In the 1894-1895, then in 1904-1905, two wars broke out around the Korean Peninsula – Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese, respectively. Japan took over financial and diplomatic powers from the Koreans in 1905.

Eventually, Japan assumed absolute governance of the Korean Peninsula and, finally, in 1910, annexed Korea.

Back in Hawai‘i, the young immigrants soon became middle-aged and many remained bachelors. Preferring to marry Korean brides, a decision was made to import brides from Korea.

This started the second wave of immigration, dominated by “picture brides.” 951 young picture brides journeyed to Hawai‘i; they were greeted by the nearly 5,000 Korean bachelors eagerly looking to get married.

The third wave of Korean immigration to Hawai‘i was during the post-war period of 1947-1967. This included students, “War Brides” (also known as “Peace Brides”) and war orphans.

These early students became leaders upon returning home after Korea was liberated from Japan as the Republic of Korea in 1948. The War Brides married GIs while American soldiers were stationed in Korea.

The final wave of Korean immigration, starting around 1967, included immigrants from a broad range of occupations, unlike the initial job-specific focus. Many well-educated people moved to Hawai‘i and the continent who were entrepreneurs, doctors, investors and other professionals.

According to recent population data for Hawaiʻi, of the approximate 1.4-million Hawaiʻi residents, nearly 50,000 are Korean. Many are the descendants of these early immigrants to Hawaiʻi.

April 27, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Syngman Rhee

The roots of the Korean War can be traced back to before the Second World War. Korea had been occupied by the Japanese empire since 1895 and was left in a state of limbo when Japan was defeated in the Second World War.

During World War II, the US and the USSR agreed to divide the Japanese colony of the Korean peninsula into two parts along the 38th parallel north circle of latitude, with the North controlled by the USSR and the South by the US.

“The Asian country was eventually split in two – with the Soviets occupying the north of the ‘38th parallel north’ – a line of latitude on maps – and the south controlled by a US military administration.”

“In the North, a Stalinist regime was installed under client Kim Il-sung – the grandfather of Kim Jong-un – and a powerful North Korean People’s Army was created which was equipped with Russian tanks and artillery.” (The Sun)

In the South (the Republic of Korea), Syngman Rhee was elected as its president. (World Peace Foundation)

USSR and the newly communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) supported an attempted invasion. (World Peace Foundation)

Citing concerns of a potential global spread of Communism, the US requested and received the approval of the UN Security Council (during a Soviet boycott) to militarily intervene.

North Korea invaded the South on June 25th, 1950, using its Soviet-supplied armament to easily defeat the lightly armed South Korean Army. (World Peace Foundation)

“North Koreans advanced through the country rapidly, even after American troops were drafted in from bases in Japan, and the war seemed all but over.”

“Then in September General MacArthur landed two divisions in the enemy’s rear and North Korea was forced to flee amid heavy aerial bombardment.”

“The United Nations looked on the verge of victory but the tide was turned again when China entered the war.”

“The Chinese sent 200,000 troops to North Korea in October 1950 and forced the UN forces to withdraw back to the 38th parallel after decisively winning the Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River.”

“The last two years became a war of attrition on the ground, but a fierce battle raged in the skies above Korea.” (The Sun)

“This war pitted North Korea and China which were backed with arms by the Soviet Union against South Korea and the UN. The UN force included 21 different countries, with just under 600,000 troops from South Korea and half that number from the US”. (The Sun)

“The Korean nationalists split into two warring camps – Communists and anti-Communists. The Communists split into several factions and fought amongst themselves.”

“Likewise, the anti-Communists split into numerous factions. Korean Communists killed anti-Communist Koreans and Japanese collaborators.”

“Anti-Communist Koreans killed Communists and Japanese collaborators. Japanese collaborators killed both Korean Communists and anti-Communist Koreans. (Kim Young Sik)

In July 1951, President Truman and his new military commanders started peace talks at Panmunjom. Still, the fighting continued along the 38th parallel as negotiations stalled.

Both sides were willing to accept a ceasefire that maintained the 38th parallel boundary, but they could not agree on whether prisoners of war should be forcibly “repatriated.” (The Chinese and the North Koreans said yes; the United States said no.)

Finally, after more than two years of negotiations, the adversaries signed an armistice on July 27, 1953. The agreement allowed the POWs to stay where they liked; drew a new boundary near the 38th parallel that gave South Korea an extra 1,500 square miles of territory; and created a 2-mile-wide “demilitarized zone” that still exists today.

The Korean War was relatively short but exceptionally bloody. Nearly 5 million people died. More than half of these–about 10 percent of Korea’s prewar population–were civilians. (This rate of civilian casualties was higher than World War II’s and Vietnam’s.) Almost 40,000 Americans died in action in Korea, and more than 100,000 were wounded. (history-com)

“The first president of the newly-formed Republic of Korea, Syngman Rhee, had an impressive background from the perspective of both the Americans, who had ruled the southern half of the peninsula for three years before its establishment, and the Korean citizenry. “

“‘Few heads in international politics have been battered longer or harder than his,’’ an advisor, Robert Oliver, wrote in a biography, ‘The Truth about Korea,’ which came out in 1951.”

“‘During a political career that began in 1894, Dr. Rhee has spent seven years in prison, seven months under daily torture, and forty-one years in exile with a price on his head.’”

“‘He has directed a revolution, served as president of the world’s longest-lived government-in-exile, has knocked vainly at the portals of international conferences, and finally shepherded his cause to success ― only to see his nation torn asunder by a communist invasion.’’”

“But, he is not remembered fondly by Koreans today. That is in part because, historically, the separation of Korea into two rival halves is something of an aberration.”

“‘The future ‘father’ of a unified Korea, if there is one, is more likely to be much better remembered). It is also in part because his administration presided with a heavy hand over a poor and corrupt society which changed little under his watch.”

“Given this, his departure from office was fitting. Rhee was effectively run out of town by student protestors after a rigged election, a humiliating end followed nine months later by a military coup.”

“In the early evening of March 15, 1960, 1,000 residents gathered in front of the opposition Democratic Party building in the southern city of Masan. The police started shooting and protestors responded by throwing rocks.”

“Students at Korea University in Seoul, one of whom was the current president, Lee Myung-bak, took to the streets and were set upon by police and thugs. On April 19, when they tried to march on Gyeong Mu Dae the presidential residence (later renamed Cheong Wa Dae), calling on Rhee to resign, police opened fire. One hundred and twenty-five were killed.” (Korean Times)

With the intervention of the US, Rhee resigned on April 27, 1960, and went into exile in Hawaii. He died in Honolulu on July 19, 1965, at the age of 90.

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Syngman Rhee

September 8, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hawaiian, American missionary, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean & Filipino

Hawaiʻi is the world’s most-isolated, populated-place; the Islands are about: 2,500-miles from the US mainland, Samoa & Alaska; 4,000-miles from Tokyo, New Zealand & Guam, and 5,000-miles from Australia, the Philippines & Korea.

Using stratigraphic archaeology and refinements in radiocarbon dating, studies suggest it was about 900-1000 AD that “Polynesian explorers first made their remarkable voyage from central Eastern Polynesia Islands, across the doldrums and into the North Pacific, to discover Hawai‘i.” (Kirch)

Then, in the dawn hours of January 18, 1778, on his third expedition, British explorer Captain James Cook on the HMS Resolution and Captain Charles Clerke of the HMS Discovery first sighted what Cook named the Sandwich Islands (that were later named the Hawaiian Islands.)

At the time of Cook’s arrival, the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four chiefdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Four decades later, inspired by ʻŌpūkahaʻia, a Hawaiian who wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi, on October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries, from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)

Then, something more significant in defining the social make-up of Hawaiʻi took place.

Sugar changed the social fabric of Hawai‘i. Hawai‘i continues to be one of the most culturally-diverse and racially-integrated places on the planet.

The first commercially-viable sugar plantation, Ladd and Co., was started at Kōloa on Kaua‘i in 1835. It was to change the face of Hawai‘i forever, launching an entire economy, lifestyle and practice of monocropping that lasted for well over a century.

A century after Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawaiʻi, sugar plantations started to dominate the landscape.

What encouraged the development of plantations in Hawaiʻi? For one, the gold rush and settlement of California opened a lucrative market. Likewise, the Civil War virtually shut down Louisiana sugar production during the 1860s, enabling Hawai‘i to compete with elevated prices for sugar.

In addition, the Treaty of Reciprocity-1875 between the US and the Kingdom of Hawai‘i eliminated the major trade barrier to Hawai‘i’s closest and major market. Through the treaty, the US gained Pearl Harbor and Hawai‘i’s sugar planters received duty-free entry into US markets.

However, a shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge. The only answer was imported labor.

Several waves of workforce immigration took place (including others:)
• Chinese 1852
• Portuguese 1877
• Japanese 1885
• Koreans 1902
• Filipinos 1905

The sugar industry is at the center of Hawaiʻi’s modern diversity of races and ethnic cultures. Of the nearly 385,000-workers that came, many thousands stayed to become a part of Hawai‘i’s unique ethnic mix.

The Kepaniwai Park and Heritage Gardens is a peaceful place to experience various cultural buildings; it was created as tribute and a memorial to Maui’s multi-cultural diversity.

Started in 1952, the park contains several monuments and replica buildings commemorating the Hawaiian, American missionary, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Filipino cultures that make up a significant part of Hawaiʻi’s cultural mix.

Attractions include an early-Hawaiian hale (house), a New England-style missionary home, a Portuguese-style villa with gardens, native huts from the Philippines, Japanese gardens with stone pagodas and a Chinese pavilion with a statue of revolutionary hero Sun Yat-sen (who briefly lived on Maui.)

It is situated near the entrance to ʻIao Valley in the West Maui Mountain, just above Wailuku. It is open daily from 7 am to 7 pm; admission is free.

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