Okinawa Reversion and U.S. Radio Broadcasting toward the Korean Peninsula

Okinawa, the small but important chain of islands in East Asia, was controlled by the US forces after the end of Asia-Pacific War.  Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972 under the terms of the Japan-US agreement and became the country’s 47^th prefecture. The Okinawa reversion implied not only the change of territory but also a significant moment in the Cultural Cold War in East Asia.

Okinawa had functioned as an important base for the US propaganda operation since the Korean War. After its reversion, however, US propaganda radio stations in Okinawa were either suspended or relocated overseas.  Moreover, US shifted its focus of propaganda strategy to strengthening and assisting the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), rather than broadcasting their own propaganda.  By closely examining these changes, my paper will reveal the entangled, problematic relationships between US propaganda policy, Japanese national interests, and Republic of Korea’s policy toward DPR Korea. It will demonstrate that US ambition to maintain the hegemony in East Asia, Okinawa’s desire for reversion, and severe conflict between ROK and DPRK were all mutually related.  My paper will de-stabilize the existing narrative of Cold War in East Asia, which mostly focuses on the binary opposition between the “Communism” versus “Democracy”.

Since the outbreak of Korean War, Voice of the United Nations (VUNC) and Voice of America (VOA) had been broadcast toward North and South Korea through the facilities of the Broadcasting Corporation of Japan (NHK).  After the armistice of 1953, VOA and VUNC key stations were transferred to Okinawa. On Okinawa’s reversion, VUNC was suspended and VOA transmitters were relocated to the Philippines.  By analyzing the impact of reversion, my paper will shed a new light on the US propaganda radio policy in East Asia, which was tightly knit with state interests of local countries.