page_title: Jeju Island
section_title: Jeju uprising
hierarchical_section_title: Jeju Island / History / Jeju uprising
caption_attribution_description: English: Jeju citizens awaiting execution in May 1948. 한국어: 제주 4.3 사건 중 사형을 기다리는 시민들
context_page_description: Jeju Island is the largest island in South Korea, located in the Jeju Province. The island lies in the Korea Strait, below the Korean Peninsula, south of the South Jeolla Province. The island contains the natural world heritage site, Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes. Jeju has a moderate climate; even in winter, the temperature rarely falls below 0 °C. Jeju is a popular holiday destination and a sizable portion of the economy relies on tourism and economic activity from its civil/naval base.
context_section_description: From April 3, 1948 to May 1949, the South Korean government conducted an anticommunist campaign to suppress an attempted uprising on the island. The main cause for the rebellion was the election scheduled for May 10, 1948, designed by the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) to create a new government for all of Korea. The elections were only planned for the south of the country, the half of the peninsula under UNTCOK control. Fearing that the elections would further reinforce division, guerrilla fighters of the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK) reacted violently, attacking local police and rightist youth groups stationed on Jeju Island.
  Atrocities committed by South Korean government forces are the best-documented. On one occasion, American soldiers discovered the bodies of 97 people who had been killed by government forces. On another, American soldiers encountered police who were executing 76 villagers.
  Between 30,000 and 60,000 people died as a result of the rebellion, or up to 25% of the island's total population. Some 40,000 others fled to Japan to escape the fighting. In the decades after the uprising, memory of the event was suppressed by the government through strict punishment. However, in 2006, the Korean government apologized for its role in the killings and promised reparations. As of 2010, these had not been paid.
  In 2008, bodies of victims of a massacre were discovered in a mass grave near Jeju International Airport.
caption: Suspected communist sympathizers awaiting execution in May 1948 after the Jeju Uprising
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