Draft:Korean Independence War

The Korean Independence War (한국어: 독립 전쟁) was a series of armed uprisings and battles in which the Righteous Armies, the Korean Independence Army, the Korean Liberation Army, and the Korean Revolutionary Army opposed the occupation by the Japanese Imperial Army. The Independence efforts ultimately culminated in the Cairo Declaration, in which the Allied powers declared that "Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed. The aforesaid three great powers, mindful of the enslavement of the people of Korea, are determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent."

Background

The Korean Independence War was ignited by Japan’s systematic encroachment on Korean sovereignty in the early 20th century. It began with Japan undermining Korea’s economy and stripping away its diplomatic rights, followed by the imposition of the Eulsa Treaty in 1905, which turned the Korean Empire into a protectorate. Japan then dismantled Korea’s military and completed its colonial domination with the annexation of Korea in 1910. In response, patriotic Korean fighters formed the Righteous Armies (의병), irregular militias that waged guerrilla warfare against Japanese troops and colonial police. Despite early resistance, most of these forces were suppressed or disbanded by 1913 under the weight of Japanese military pressure. Meanwhile, Korean immigrants in Hawaii, having fled the occupation, sought to continue the struggle from abroad by establishing the Korean National Army Corps. Their goal was to raise an army of 2,000 to 3,000 men to liberate the homeland. However, the movement was ultimately dissolved in 1917 due to diplomatic pressure from both Japanese and American authorities.

Righteous Wars

The Righteous Wars, or the Righteous Army Wars, were a broad fight to stop Japan's conquest of Korea. The Korean people knew that the Korean Government was not going to do anything to stop the Japanese conquest. They formed irregular civilian militias, the Righteous Army. The Righteous Armies throughout history have fought and fought for the Korean peninsula from invasions from the Mongols, the Japanese Samurais, and the Ming Chinese. They were not afraid to do it again. The spark of the Righteous War was the Donghak Peasant Rebellion, in which 300,000 Donghak peasants fought for basic human rights, the abolishment of slavery, and reinstitution of Confucianism ideals. This push was a limited victory for the Donghak rebels, for the Korean Empire put the Gabo Reforms into effect almost immediately after. The Righteous Armies fought the Japanese at Namdaemun and over a 100 different skirmishes.

March First Movement and the Establishment of the Independence Armies

The March First Movement was a vital action that inspired Koreans to take arms against the Japanese. Over 2 million Koreans went out in the streets to protest the Japanese occupation. The Japanese did not respond kindly as they decided to squash the protests with the Imperial Army. Around 7,000 Koreans died by the hands of the Japanese Army and nearly 47,000 arrested. The Korean people were outraged. They raised multiple armies, including the Korean Independence Army, the Korean Independence Corps, and later the Joseon Revolutionary Army and the Korean Liberation Army. These armies were the foundation to the military push to liberate Korea.

The First battles of the Independence Armies

The Independence Armies were based in Southern Manchuria in the Gando region. They had allegedly attacked the Japanese in the Hunchun Incident, in which 13 Japanese people were killed at the Japanese Consulate in Manchuria. The Japanese Army used this as an excuse to attack the Korean Independence Armies in Manchuria. The Japanese Government asked the Republic of China and the governor of Jilin if they could attack these Korean "Bandits". The governor of Jilin accepted, as he was in no state to oppose the Japanese. The Japanese poured thousands of troops into Manchuria to demolish the K.I.A.

The Battles of Samdunja, Fengwudong, and Cheongsan-ri

The Battle of Samdunja, fought in June 1920, marked the first major confrontation between the newly formed Korean Independence Army and the Japanese Imperial forces. Led by General Hong Beom-do, a former hunter turned legendary commander, the Korean forces—outnumbered, outgunned, and operating in exile—executed a daring ambush against Japanese troops and colonial police who had crossed into Manchuria. Though militarily limited in scale, the engagement resulted in a decisive Korean victory: sixty Japanese casualties against only two Korean losses. More than a tactical success, it was a psychological turning point—it proved that the Japanese were not invincible, and that disciplined resistance could yield victory.

Emboldened by this, the Independence Army prepared for the next confrontation in the Bongo-dong Valley, known historically as the Battle of Fengwudong. There, an estimated 500 Japanese soldiers advanced into the valley, unaware that Hong Beom-do and Choi Jin-dong had stationed 1,500 Korean fighters in concealed forest positions. As the enemy entered the trap, the Koreans unleashed a coordinated barrage, resulting in the deaths of 157 Japanese troops and wounding over 300, while suffering only two dead and four wounded themselves.

The shock of this defeat sent tremors through the Japanese military command, which responded with overwhelming force, dispatching 30,000 troops into Manchuria to wipe out the Korean independence forces once and for all. Facing annihilation, roughly 3,000 Korean fighters, composed of the Independence Army and the Northern Military Administration Office, withdrew into the dense forests of Cheongsan-ri. In October 1920, the decisive Battle of Cheongsan-ri erupted when a Korean detachment baited Japanese forces into a wooded trap, triggering a week of intense and mobile engagements. Utilizing the terrain with masterful guerrilla tactics, the Koreans inflicted heavy losses—estimated between 1,000 and 5,500—despite Japanese claims of only 11 dead and 24 wounded. Korean losses numbered around 60 dead and 90 wounded, but the strategic and symbolic weight of the victory was immense. It marked the high point of the Korean Independence War’s military phase and immortalized figures like Hong Beom-do and Kim Jwa-jin as national heroes. Though forced to retreat into the Russian Far East, where they sought sanctuary in the so-called “Free City,” the Korean forces had demonstrated to the world—and to their own people—that even against a modern empire, a nation armed with conviction, leadership, and courage could fight back with honor.

Free City Incident

The Free City Incident marked a devastating turning point for the Korean Independence Army. In 1921, having fled to Soviet-controlled territory following their victories in Manchuria, the Korean forces sought refuge in Free City (자유시) near the Russian Chinese border. However, the Soviet authorities, wary of provoking Japan and suspicious of the Koreans’ independence goals, moved to forcibly disarm them under the guise of military integration. When the Korean fighters refused to surrender their weapons, tensions erupted into open violence. In the chaos that followed, the Red Army, alongside pro-Soviet Korean factions, turned their guns on their compatriots. What ensued was a massacre: nearly 1,000 Korean independence fighters were killed, wounded, drowned while fleeing, or taken prisoner. The betrayal at Free City shattered one of the last cohesive Korean military forces in exile, dealing a crippling blow to the armed struggle for liberation—not at the hands of the Japanese, but under the shadow of ideological betrayal by an alleged ally.

Second Movement and formation of New Independence Armies

The New Independence Armies were formed in 1929, such as the Korean Independence Army of 1929. This Army, along with the Korean Revolutionary Army, allied with the Chinese Anti-Japanese Armies. The battles of this united force were mostly a series of successes, albeit with a few exceptions. The first battles of the second Independence arm