Korean Liberation Army

The Korean Liberation Army, established on September 17, 1940 in Chungking, China, was the armed force of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Its commandant was General Ji Cheong-cheon, with General Lee Beom-seok, a hero of the Battle of Cheongsanri and future prime minister of South Korea as the Chief of Staff. Effectively part of the Chinese forces upon which it was dependent, the army was limited by available manpower and did not get much above 339 strong. The KLA became the basis of the modern Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

Korean Liberation Army
Flag of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
Active	1940 - 1946
Allegiance	Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
Branch	Infantry
Type	Infantry
Role	Guerrilla warfare Special operations Special reconnaissance
Size	339
Part of	National Revolutionary Army Kuomintang (~1944)
Motto(s)	"대한독립만세" (Korean) "Long live the Korean Independence"
March	Le Chant des Partisans
Engagements	Pacific War
Commanders
Founder	Kim Gu
President	Baekbeom Kim Koo
Commandant	Ji Cheong-cheon
Notable commanders	Lee Bum-suk, Kim Won-bong Kim Hak-gyu Park Si-chang Kim Hong-il
Insignia
Coat of arms

Korean Liberation Army
Korean Liberation Army
Korean name
Hangul	한국광복군
Hanja	韓國光復軍
Revised Romanization	Han(-)guk Gwangbokgun
McCune–Reischauer	Han'guk Kwangbokkun

Early days

The KLA brought together many Korean guerrilla armies that proliferated in northern Korea, Manchuria and mainland China during the 1920s. After the declaration of war by the Provisional Government against Japan and Germany on December 9, 1941, the units of the KLA participated on the allied side in the Chinese and Southeast Asian theatres. The Regulation regarding the activities of the Korean Liberation Army, imposed by the Chinese Nationalist Government upon the provisional government in 1941, placed the KLA under the supreme authority of the Commander-in-chief of the Chinese army. This regulation was repealed in 1944, after the provisional government had achieved improved financial standing and greater importance in the eyes of the Chinese government.

During this period the KLA sent troops to fight alongside British soldiers in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II by request of the British Army, including the outskirts of Burma and India (especially the Battle of Imphal in the Burma Campaign). In 1943, socialist-aligned guerrilla groups joined the KLA, and their leader, General Kim Wonbong, became the deputy commandant of the KLA. Its numbers were continuously boosted by the influx of Koreans escaping from the Japanese army (into which some in mainland Korea had been impressed) and through the recruitment of Koreans living in China. From its beginnings with an officer corps of 30 men at its foundation in 1941, the KLA grew to a substantial force with 339 in active service by the end of the war.

End of World War II

Main articles: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Surrender of Japan

In 1945, the KLA was working in cooperation with the US Office of Strategic Services to train men for specialist military operations within Korea. The leading units were due to depart on August 20, with General Lee in command.

The KLA's goal was achieved with the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, prompted by a combination of overwhelming Allied forces, the entry of the Soviet Union into the war removing the last possible mediator for a negotiated peace and adding a potent new enemy, and the devastation of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The declaration of Japan's intent to surrender on August 15th threw the Korean Peninsula into chaos, while The USSR continued its attacks. The Red Army quickly overwhelmed Japanese forces, gaining the Northern part of the Korean Peninsula, but the US landed in the South and accepted the formal surrender of Japanese forces in the South, marking the division of the Korean Peninsula into de facto spheres of influence between the US and USSR. Korean independence was reaffirmed in the Treaty of San Francisco. With Japanese colonial rule over Korea ended, the KLA disbanded on June 1946.

Post-war

The members of the KLA returned to Korea during late 1945 and 1946. Many of its members, including Generals Ji and Lee, became part of the South Korean government, while General Kim contributed to the North Korean regime of Kim Il-sung, who himself claimed to have been a KLA commander.

There has been a movement in South Korea for years to change the National Armed Forces Day from October 1 to September 17 in honor of the foundation of the Korean Liberation Army in 1941.

Army ranks

Rank group	General/flag officers										Field/senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Korean Liberation Army
					정장 Jeongjang		부장 Bujang		참장 Chamjang		정령 Jeonglyeong		중령 Junglyeong		참령 Chamlyeong		정위 Jeongwi		부위 Buwi			부사 Busa

	Warrant officer
Insignia
Korean	준위 Junwi
English translation	Warrant Officer

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Korean Liberation Army
	특무상사 Teugmusangsa						상사 Sangsa		중사 Jungsa		하사 Hasa												상등병 Sangdeungbyeong				일등병 Ildeungbyeong		이등병 Ideungbyeong

Gallery

• 

  KLA Soldier

• 

  Lee Beom-seok with Korean Liberation Army and OSS agents.

See also

• History of Korea
• Korean independence movement
• Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
• Righteous army