The US Military Government’s Political Realignment Maneuvering and the Investigation into Lyuh Woon-hyung’s ‘Pro-Japanese Activities’ in 1946

In the summer of 1946, the United States Army Forces in Korea (USAFIK) dispatched Major Charles O’Riodon to Japan to conduct an investigation into the Japanese collaboration of Lyuh Woon-hyung. The investigation was based on the conviction that Lyuh had collaborated with the Japanese during the colonial period and that communists held evidence of such actions. At the time, the USAFIK was promoting the Left-Right Wing Coalition Movement and the establishment of the Interim Legislative Assembly to foster moderates and frustrate the far-left. The investigation was spearheaded by Leonard Bertsch, political advisor to General Hodge, and received full support from Military Governor Archer L. Lerch and Commanding General Hodge.Between August and December 1946, O’Riodon interrogated seven high-ranking officials, including Prime Minister Tojo Hideki, Governors-General Abe Nobuyuki, Ugaki Kazushige, and Koiso Kuniaki, and Administrative Superintendent Endo Ryusaku. However, the results of the investigation were diametrically opposed to the USAFIK’s expectations. It was revealed that Lyuh Woon-hyung was a genuine anti-Japanese nationalist, not a Japanese agent or collaborator, but a leader loyal to the cause of Korean independence, with no evidence to doubt his patriotism. The final investigation report was hand-delivered to Bertsch in January 1947 but was not entered into the official USAFIK records. By this point, the possibility of utilizing Lyuh Woon-hyung politically had already been discarded.