Kilsoo Haan
Kilsoo Kenneth Haan (Korean: 한길수, Hanja: 韓吉洙, May 31, 1900 – July 1, 1976) was a Korean Nationalist, intelligence operative, anti-Japanese agitator, and both the source and translator of Kinoaki Matsuo’s contested and controversial book, The Three-Power Alliance and a United States-Japanese War (English: How Japan Plans to Win).
Biography
Early life
Haan was born in Korea on May 31, 1900. He was five years old when his family joined the Korean immigration to Hawaii as plantation laborers. Despite his father leaving for Korea in 1910, he and his mother remained in Hawaii, where Haan continued his education. He attended the Korean Compound School and the Ka'iulani School until the 8th grade. In August 1920, Haan left Hawaii to spend a year preparing for the ministry at the Salvation Army Training School in San Francisco, California. Upon his return, he began his service as a Salvation Army representative on the island of Kaua’i. Haan rose through the ranks over the following six years to make Captain.
Haan’s religious career ostensibly came to an end in 1926 when he married a Korean woman from Honolulu named Stella Yoon and resigned from the Salvation Army, reportedly because his new wife's religious beliefs were in conflict with his service in the Salvation Army. After resigning, the couple returned to Honolulu.
Pearl Harbor controversy
On May 5, 1943, Haan appeared before Chairperson Samuel Dickstein’s House Immigration Committee on the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Law. He gave testimony that his network of spies in East Asia had discovered evidence of the Japanese government’s plan to end the war in China and re-deploy its naval assets to convoy a force of over 100,000 seasoned troops to invade Crescent City, California, "before Christmas".[1]
Later life
Haan’s personal papers can be found in the University of California, Santa Cruz archives. They contain correspondence, clippings, commentaries, and other writings such as texts for the Korean underground report, written by Haan in his role as Sino-Korean Peoples' League representative.[2]
Haan (film)
The South Korean spy thriller film Haan was released in 2005 based on Haan’s experience as Korea’s first notable double agent. The film follows Haan as he learns of Japan’s impending attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and tries to warn the United States, but is ignored.[3]
Bibliography
Books translated
- How Japan Plans to Win. Little, Brown and Co., 1942. — An English translation of the Japanese book, The Three-Power Alliance and a United States-Japanese War, by Kinoaki Matsuo.
Articles by other authors
- Hayashi, Brian Masaru. “Kilsoo Haan, American Intelligence, and the Anticipated Japanese Invasion of California, 1931–1943.” Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 83, No. 2, May 2014, pp. 277–293. doi:10.1525/phr.2014.83.2.277
Reviews by other authors
- Chamberlain, William Henry. “A Pep Talk for the Japanese.” Review of How Japan Plans to Win, by Kinoaki Matsuo. The New York Times, April 26, 1942, Section BR, p. 18.
- Woolbert, Robert Gale. Review of How Japan Plans to Win, by Kinoaki Matsuo. Foreign Affairs, Vol. 20, No. 4, July 1942, p. 785.
- Ainger, E. Review of How Japan Plans to Win, by Kinoaki Matsuo. International Affairs Review Supplement, Vol. 19, No. 9, September 1942, pp. 519–520.
Archival material
- Kilsoo Haan papers, 1933-1973 — Correspondence, clippings, commentaries, and other writings, including texts for the Korean underground report, written by Haan in his role as Sino-Korean Peoples' League representative. OCLC 52968618
- Fred E. Cannings Pearl Harbor materials, 1933-1978 — Contains correspondence by Haan and Cannings with U.S. government officials regarding the Pearl Harbor attack and Japanese activities in Korea. Stored at the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center. OCLC 32507741
Further reading
Articles
- Kim, Richard S. “Kilsoo Haan”. Densho Encyclopedia. — Richard Kim is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Asian American Studies at University of California, Davis.[4]
- Hayashi, Brian Masaru. “Kilsoo Haan, American Intelligence, and the Anticipated Japanese Invasion of California, 1931–1943”, Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 83, No. 2 (May 2014), pp. 277–293.
Books
- Grodzins, Morton. Americans Betrayed: Politics and the Japanese Evacuation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949. 444 pages. ISBN 9780226309408 — Recommended by Richard Kim, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Asian American Studies at University of California, Davis.[5]
- Kim, Richard S. The Quest for Statehood: Korean Immigrant Nationalism and U.S. Sovereignty, 1905-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. 223 pages. ISBN 9780195369991 — Recommended by Richard Kim, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Asian American Studies at University of California, Davis.[5]
References
- Hayashi, Brian Masaru (May 2014). "Kilsoo Haan, American Intelligence, and the Anticipated Japanese Invasion of California, 1931-1943". Pacific Historical Review. University of California Press. 83 (2): 277–293. doi:10.1525/phr.2014.83.2.277. ISSN 1533-8584. JSTOR 10.1525/phr.2014.83.2.277.
- Haan, Kilsoo. Kilsoo Haan papers, 1933-1973. University of California, Santa Cruz. OCLC 52968618.
- Paquet, Darcy. "Commercial Releases in 2005". www.koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
- "Richard Kim" (Webpage). Densho Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
Richard S. Kim is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Asian American Studies. His research and teaching interests include 20th century U.S. history, Asian American history, transnationalism and diaspora, race and ethnicity, and social and political movements. He is the author of The Quest for Statehood: Korean Immigrant Nationalism and U.S. Sovereignty, 1905-1945 (Oxford University Press, 2011).
- Kim, Richard S. "Kilsoo Haan" (Webpage). Densho Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
External links
- Kilsoo Haan at Densho Encyclopedia
- Kilsoo Haan papers, 1933-1973. in libraries (WorldCat catalog)