Korean Studies

This series consists of reports, studies, and surveys on various topics of interest to the Department of State. The reports vary from short memorandums to detailed, documented studies. The topics range from individual commodities or countries to the economic and political characteristics of whole regions. This collection consists of research and intelligence reports prepared during 1941-1961 on Korea.

The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church's Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in Korea and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church's educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

The rebuilding of postwar Japan and southern Korea by Allied occupation forces is described here in a series of thirty-six monthly reports. The reports offer detailed information on industrial reparations; conversion of production from military to consumer goods; land reform; restructuring of educational, public health, and welfare programs; and the establishment of a liberal, democratic political system. The reports on SCAP (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers) activities in Korea cover the administration of civil affairs and reconstructive efforts under the military occupation government and later the South Korean Interim Government. This digital archive is based on eight microfilm rolls.

This collection provides researchers with a unique opportunity to review the development of the Korean peninsula under a reactionary communist regime in the north and a quasi-democratic government in the South. The documents in this collection highlight the internal affairs of the Koreas. For each country there are thousands of pages arranged topically and chronologically on crucial subjects: political parties and elections, unrest and revolution, human rights, government administration, fiscal and monetary issues, labor, housing, police and crime, public health, national defense, foreign policy-making, wars and alliances, education, religion, culture, trade, industry, natural resources, and more.

The Seoul Press (publ. 1907-1937) was Japan’s Korean news flagship. It represented the Japanese administration of Korea to the world. Missing from this collection are the years 1910 – 1927. As missing issues arise, they will be added to this invaluable Primary Source at no extra cost to subscribers.

U.S. participation in the war, plus U.S. relations with Korea immediately before and after, is documented in this unique collection of never-before published documents produced by the Military History Section of the Far East Command.