From Strangers to Partners: Canadian-Korean Relations (1888 – 1978) by Jiwon Tina Park A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto © Copyright by Jiwon Tina Park 2018 From Strangers to Partners: Canadian-Korean Relations (1888 – 1978) Jiwon Tina Park Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto 2018 Abstract This dissertation focuses on the transformation of Canadian-Korean relations between the 1880s and the 1970s. Drawing on archival materials from both Ottawa and Seoul, the study approaches the bilateral relationship primarily through the lens of Canadian attitudes, priorities and policies. Canadian missionaries, who first travelled to Korea in 1888, established the earliest bridges between the two countries. Canada’s official engagement with Korea began with its participation on the UN Temporary Commission on Korea (1947-48), followed closely by the Korean War (1950-53), which elevated South Korea’s geostrategic importance for Ottawa. Over the course of the Cold War, these humanitarian concerns soon blossomed into significant commercial and political interests, a change aided by South Korea’s remarkable economic growth under President Park Chung Hee’s leadership. By the 1970s, Canada and South Korea saw each other as significant partners and allies, marked by a rapid expansion in trade and immigration. Shifting alliances and geopolitical interests of the Cold War had important consequences for bringing the two nations together, as South Korea searched for new partners to counterbalance American dominance and expand into new markets. From Seoul’s perspective, Canada, in addition to growing commercial interests, was an important ally for its diplomatic ii competition against North Korea. The case of the CANDU nuclear reactor sales to Korea at the height of the détente era clearly demonstrate the shifting dynamics in Canadian-Korean relations. Ultimately, this study concludes that comprehensive study of the evolution of Canadian-Korean relations enriches our understanding of Canadian history, Canadian-Asian relations, and international history. iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to my Ph.D. supervisor, Prof. Robert Bothwell, who inspired my love for Canadian history and guided my academic journey since my first year at Trinity College. I would have never made it this far without Prof. Bothwell’s support. I am also very grateful to Prof. Margaret MacMillan and Prof. Andre Schmid, two historians I admire greatly, for their timely advice, patience and guidance on my committee. It has been a truly exhilarating experience to learn from them. At the University of Toronto, I am grateful to my wonderful mentors and teachers for their support over the years, especially Dr. David Naylor, Chancellor Bill Graham, Prof. Don Rickerd, Prof. John English, Prof. John Kirton, Prof. Denis Smyth, Prof. Arne Kislenko, Dr. David Wilson, Dr. Robert Fraser, Dr. Mel Cappe, Prof. Lisa Mar, Prof. Peter Loewen, Prof. Ron Pruessen and Prof. Louis Pauly. I owe special thanks to my family physician, Dr. Sue Harrison, for her loving care as I struggled with various health-related crises over the course of my studies. I am also grateful to Dr. Michael Fehlings at the Toronto Western Hospital for the exceptionally successful spinal surgery, which has given me a new life. I wish to thank my wonderful physiotherapists, Jennifer Howey and Kathy Yardley, who kept me going in the roughest days of back pain. I am grateful to Father Mark Andrews for his prayers. I am deeply indebted to friends and colleagues who read and commented on various parts of my drafts: Dr. John M. Dirks, Dr. Adam Chapnick, Catherine Tsalikis, Jennifer L. Bonder & Julia Armstrong all deserve my heartfelt gratitude. I am also so grateful to Sowon Kim, Hana Kim and Anthony Burton for their research assistance. Dr. Jonathan Scotland deserves special thanks for reading and commenting on my drafts multiple times and cheering me on whenever I felt like giving up. All errors remain my own. I benefitted tremendously from conversations with the Korean War veterans, politicians and diplomats and academics who shared their first-hand experiences with me. In particular, I am grateful to Sen. Yonah Martin, Bob & Young-Hae Lee, Amb. Len Edwards, Colonel Jang-Min Choi, Captain Jamie Cotter, Amb. Derek Burney, Amb. Yim Sung-Joon, Amb. Eric Walsh, Prof. Tae-Gyun Park and Prof. Dong-Hwi Lee. The absolute highlight of my last decade at the U of T was the privilege of meeting, teaching and interacting with hundreds of brilliant students. I wish to thank them for their curiosity, energy and love, especially my colleagues at the Canadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. As always, I am grateful to my friends for lifting my spirits in moments of self-doubt and confusion that often follows a doctoral project. I owe special thanks to Dr. Sherif Kinawy, Dania Ciampini, Dr. Brian O’Sullivan, Robert Baines, Min Kim, Colum Grove-White, Victor MacDiarmid, David & Donne Hilton, Dr. Mark Smith, Benoit Hardy-Chartrand, Eddie Kang, Karim Kanji, Olivier Sorin and Tim O’Leary. I am deeply grateful to the Hon. Carolyn Bennett, the Hon. Jean Charest, V. Adm Ron Lloyd and the Hon. Hugh D. Segal for all their support and encouragement throughout this long marathon. My heartfelt thanks to my mom, without whose courage and conviction, I may never have stepped foot in Canada, and my younger sister, Sohyun, who always reminded me to never take myself too seriously. Above all, I am grateful for God’s grace in more ways than I can count. iv Dedicated to PROFESSOR ROBERT BOTHWELL v Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv List of Tables vii List of Figures viii Notes on Romanization ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 First impressions: Canadian Missionaries in Korea 27 Chapter 2 Division of the Korean Peninsula & Canada’s Official Engagements 73 Chapter 3 “Milk for Korea” & Humanitarian Engagements After the Korean War 111 Chapter 4 Shifting Paradigms of the Cold War Alliance 143 Chapter 5 The Take-Off Phase: Economics Over Politics 185 Chapter 6 CANDU: The Game Changer 211 Conclusion 244 Notes on Archival Sources 325 References 329 vi List of Tables Table 1: Canada-ROK Bilateral Trade (1969-80) ----------------------------------- 188 vii List of Figures Figure 1 Map of Seoul drawn by James S. Gale (1901) ----------- 48 Figure 2 Dictionaries & Books Translated by James S. Gale ----------- 50 Figure 3 Image of the Severance Union Medical College (1956) ----------- 55 Figure 4 Severance Union Medical College’s first graduating class (1908) ----------- 57 Figure 5 Korean Pagoda at Victoria University ----------- 58 Figure 6 Images of crowd outside of city hall on March 1, 1919 ----------- 62 Figure 7 Yŏ Unhyŏng and the crowd on Aug 16, 1945 ----------- 76 Figure 8 The UNTCOK Headquarters in Seoul (1948) ----------- 88 Figure 9 Canadian Soldiers in the Korean War ----------- 104 Figure 10 Prime Minister St. Laurent in his visit to Korea (1954) ----------- 116 Figure 11 Lotta Hitschmanova in Korea, 1954 ----------- 130 Figure 12 Korean Orphans & UN Soldiers ----------- 133 Figure 13 Syngman Rhee’s letter to Dr. Schofield ----------- 138 Figure 14 President Park Chung-Hee’s Letter to Dr. Schofield ----------- 147 Figure 15 Amb. H. O. Moran presenting his credentials to President Park ----------- 176 Chung Hee Figure 16 Canada-Korea Trade Relations: Value of Total Exports to ----------- 206 Canada & Imports from Canada (1969-88) Figure 17 Annual Growth Rate of the ROK Exports to Canada (1969-88) ----------- 206 Figure 18 Annual Growth Rate of Canadian Exports to the ROK (1969-88) ----------- 207 viii Notes on Romanization ▪ In romanizing Korean, I have used the McCune-Reischauer system, and have generally followed the stylistic guidelines set forth by the Library of Congress. ▪ In romanizing the names of Koreans in the McCune-Reischauer system, I have generally followed the Korean convention of placing the family name first, except for well-known names like Syngman Rhee. For the sake of consistency, I have omitted a hyphen that is sometimes used between the two personal names in Korean, unless the hyphen was intentionally used by the author or the person in question. ▪ For the names of historical or political figures and well-known geographical districts, I have tried to follow the most widely used romanization (ie Seoul or Park Chung Hee). ▪ For works written in Korean, I have followed the McCune-Reischauer system for the author’s name and the title, with English translations in square brackets for the titles. In cases where the Korean author’s name has not been consistently romanized in previous publications, I have adopted the McCune-Reischauer system. ▪ For works written by Korean authors in English, the author’s name appears as it was originally published (according to the author’s preference), even if it does not conform exactly to the McCune-Reischauer system. ▪ While every effort has been made to be consistent, historical Canadian archival documents did not always follow correct spellings of Korean names or romanization. In such cases, original spellings as found in archival documents were used in the footnotes and references, for easier identification in the archival databases. ix 1 INTRODUCTION This dissertation examines the transformation of Canadian-Korean relations from 1888 to 1978 by focusing on the evolution of Canadian perceptions, engagements and policies towards Korea. This bilateral relationship, which began with a handful of missionaries in 1888, slowly evolved from informal personal contacts to official state-level engagements, as seen with Canada’s involvement with the UN Temporary Commission on Korea to supervise elections (1947-48) and Canada’s participation during the Korean War (1950-53). Over the course of merely two decades, South Korea moved from an aid recipient to an important trading partner for Canada, with interests peaking with the CANDU nuclear reactor sales in the 1970s.