A Fractured Liberation: Korea Under US Occupation

Speaker: Kornel Chang, Professor of History and Chair of the History Department at Rutgers University-Newark

Moderator: Kyu Dong Lee, Ph.D Student, Department of History, Columbia University

Kornel Chang is Professor and Chair of the History Department at Rutgers University-Newark. His writings focus on the history of U.S. immigration and foreign relations, particularly with East Asia. His newest book, A Fractured Liberation: Korea under U.S. Occupation (Belknap/Harvard University Press, 2025) is a narrative history of southern Korea in the aftermath of World War II, when the collapse of the Japanese Empire ushered in an extraordinary moment of promise and possibility that ultimately ended in tragedy. It has been shortlisted for the 2025 Cundill History Prize, awarded the Phi Alpha Theta Best Subsequent Book Award, and named one of The New Yorker's Best Books of 2025.

Professor Chang will deliver his lecture entitled A Fractured Liberation: Korea Under US Occupation on Thursday November 6, 2025.

With the collapse of the Japanese Empire in August 1945, the Korean peninsula erupted with hopes and dreams that had been bottled up for nearly forty years. Drawing from his new book,A Fractured Liberation: Korea under U.S. Occupation (Belknap/Harvard, 2025), Kornel Chang discusses how liberation was experienced across southern Korea—by leaders, activists, peasants, workers, and women—and how U.S. occupation authorities reshaped and narrowed those possibilities. While American military officials often prioritized stability and anti-communism, Korean and American reformers pushed competing agendas of democratization and reform. Their stories reveal the contingency of this moment and the roads not taken, reminding us that division and war were not inevitable.

This event is hosted by the Center for Korean Research at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.

PLEASE NOTE: For non-Columbia guests, registration is required to access the Morningside campus 24 hours prior to the event. After registering you will receive an email with a QR code that must be presented along with a government-issued ID (your name must match exactly the name registered for the event) at either the 116th Street & Broadway or 116th Street & Amsterdam gates for entry. Please register using a unique email address (one email address per registrant) by 12:00 PM on Wednesday, October 8 for campus access.

Names will be submitted for QR codes 1-2 days prior to the event and subsequently reviewed. Registrants will receive an email from CU Guest Access with the QR code before or on the day of the event.

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