A box of secret documents shedding new light on the liberation period and the US military government period has been opened.
Rereading post-liberation history through vivid testimonies and data, not political conventions.

Professor Park Tae-gyun was thrilled when he unexpectedly discovered the 'Birch Document Box' at Harvard University's Yenching Library.
Some of it had already been made public in the US military government records, but there was so much unpublished material that Lieutenant Birch had personally kept.
In particular, it was full of precious materials, ranging from documents of research, analysis, and reports on specific individuals or groups, recorded while communicating with Korean politicians at the time, to business cards, letters, photographs, and memos.

First Lieutenant Leonard Bertsch was deployed to Korea on December 15, 1945, and served as a member of the US Military Government Political Advisory Group, primarily responsible for Korean politicians, before returning to the United States shortly after the general election in May 1948.
At the time, immediately after liberation, the Korean Peninsula was a time of chaos, with countless politicians fiercely fighting for the fate of their country.
Birch was a political mediator who interacted with prominent politicians of the time and was more concerned about the future of the Korean Peninsula than the average Korean.

The materials left behind by Birch often shatter our common perceptions about the liberation period.
The political antagonism between the US military government and Syngman Rhee, the differing judgments of Syngman Rhee between the US military government and MacArthur, fake news about the trusteeship and the anti-trusteeship movement, the misunderstandings and truths surrounding Yeo Un-hyeong's pro-Japanese activities, the conspiracy and terrorism carried out out of personal ambition, and the political plans of the US military government, which were ultimately evaluated as a failure - these are all things that Birch's sharp insights and records that penetrate the era, telling us that the history of the liberation period as we knew it must be reexamined.

Syngman Rhee knew our hatred for him.
He wrote to a friend in California, saying, "The two most dangerous communists in Korea are General Hodge and Lieutenant Birch."

--- p.19

It can be said that Yeo Un-hyeong was a person who tried to engage in true politics during the Japanese colonial period.
Because he was the only person who could convey the thoughts of the Koreans who were being persecuted in the colony to the Government-General, even if only a little.
Sometimes, it is the attitude of a true politician to talk to the enemy and try to get something out of it, even if it is just a little.
We elected a president to do politics, but Yeo Un-hyeong had a completely different image from the presidents of modern Korean history who did not do politics but only did machinations.

--- p.48

Since his return to Korea in October 1945, Syngman Rhee has been a symbol of division rather than an icon of unification.
He said, “Let’s all come together,” but in reality, he was saying that we should all come together, “excluding those who oppose us.”
He condemned those who did not follow him as communists.

--- p.72

The attitudes of the two men (Syngman Rhee and Kim Gu) toward money stem from their personalities and show fundamental differences.
Syngman Rhee's greed for money was not a means to power, but for himself.
Power itself functions as a means to acquire money.
On the other hand, Kim Gu pursues money as a means to fulfill his proper role as the leader of the group.
When he had a lot of money, he used it to help refugees from North Korea, to help the very poor, and to give to anyone who asked for it.

--- p.78~79

The fact that the assassination was carried out by people in police uniforms had the effect of startling the Korean officials in the interim government.
The assassins did not hide their faces from Jang Deok-su's wife.

--- p.115

The pro-Japanese landlords called in youth groups to take control of the region.
They were the Northwest Youth League and the Liberation Youth League.
They were not from that area.
The once quiet village began to turn into a battlefield in an instant.

--- p.163

Nothing has changed then or now.
Politics was not interested in the people's feelings.
They were only focused on taking power.
What did liberation bring to the Korean people?
--- p.183

In the end, all of the US military government's policies failed.
The assassinations of Yeo Un-hyeong and Jang Deok-su resulted in killing two birds with one stone.
Of course, it is also necessary to evaluate whether the Democratic Party of Korea itself was a party with the ability to become a majority party.
In this situation, the only hope left was Kim Kyu-sik.
In particular, because Birch's relationship with Syngman Rhee was not good, he had to unite other political forces around Kim Kyu-sik.
However, Kim Kyu-sik never moved as Birch hoped.
Kim Kyu-sik's answer was, "It is not the end, but the beginning."

--- p.243

Aside from Kim Kyu-sik's conviction that a divided government should not be established and Syngman Rhee's wealth and political power in the provinces, there was another factor that prevented Kim Kyu-sik from becoming leader.
It was Yeo Woon-hyung's death.
… Kim Gu’s assassination in June 1949 was also a warning to Kim Kyu-sik.

--- p.259

In a piece written shortly after leaving Korea, Birch was particularly critical of the policies of the US military government.
In other words, it was determined that the US policy of employing pro-Japanese collaborators and the US military government's wrong attitude toward Koreans and Korean society were important factors in the failure of the US military government.

--- p.267

Haji and Birch's predictions were right.
Even though the US military government did not want Syngman Rhee to become president, it failed to prevent it.
America's policy toward Korea has repeatedly been hindered by President Syngman Rhee.
As a result, Korea and the United States, despite being allies, have come to distrust each other.

--- p.277

The Birch documents show the history of frustration that Korean society experienced along with the failures of the US military government.
It was a process of losing the very precious opportunity of liberation and the establishment of a unified independent nation.
And the loss of opportunity soon led to the crisis of war, clearly showing that we must never experience such a thing again.

--- p.286