North-West Youth Association

The North-West Youth Association, also known as the Northwest Youth League, was a far-right anti-communist South Korean paramilitary group active during the Cold War. It is most well known for committing widespread atrocities during the South Korean government-led suppression of the Jeju Uprising.

History
The North-West Youth Association was established on November 30, 1946, by refugees escaping Soviet-occupied North Korea. Murals in the Jeju April 3 Peace Park Museum state that North-West Youth Association members fought Soviets and Korean communists because “members of their family had been imprisoned, raped or murdered in North Korea, and that their property had been confiscated.”

The Association conducted vigilante justice against suspected communists with no legal basis. The Association was supported by Syngman Rhee, the ardent, anti-communist, US-backed autocrat of South Korea. A socialist uprising in Jeju occurred from 1948 to 1949, followed by a violent suppression campaign. According to Bruce Cumings, the Association was brutal towards the residents of Jeju Island, exercising more authority than the police. Between 14,000 and 30,000 people were killed during the Jeju uprising. 86% by security forces and paramilitary groups including the North-West Youth Association, and 14% by rebels. Survivors give accounts of torture used against children and mass murder. This created deep resentment in Jeju residents. What began as an anti-communist movement, quickly became a force to crush anyone who opposed President Rhee and the Korea Democratic Party.

A decade after the Korean War, Rhee was forced into exile after the April Revolution in South Korea. Anti-communism remained a powerful force, especially during the dictatorships of Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-Hwan.