Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

MACARTHUR LINE • 169
between Korea and China. But that prompted an intervention by Chinese
troops, who pushed U.S.-led United Nations’ forces back to the
southern half of the Korean peninsula. Objecting to a cautious war
policy decided on by the administration of President Harry S. Truman,
MacArthur demanded the freedom to wage all-out war against China,
even including the use of atomic weaponry. A defiant MacArthur was
removed from his command by Truman in April 1951.
Shortly thereafter, MacArthur returned to America. He addressed the
U.S. Congress on 19 April 1951, ending his speech with the famous
line: “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. And like the old soldier
of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away,
an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see
that duty.” Following a long career of military service, MacArthur entered
the private sector to become chairman of the board of the Remington
Rand Corporation. But, he did not quite fade away; he made political
comments and was even wanted as a presidential candidate. He
died at Water Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., on 5 April 1964.
MACARTHUR LINE. The MacArthur Line, designated by Supreme
Commander for the Allied Powers Instruction Note (SCAPIN)
1033 in November 1945, was a boarded area of the sea inside of
which Japanese fishing vessels were permitted to fish. SCAP established
this line to prevent Japanese fishing vessels from overfishing
as well as to protect South Korean fishing. In September 1951, the
MacArthur Line was abolished with the signing of the San Francisco
Peace Treaty. In its place was substituted the newly created Syngman
Rhee Line, created under a marine sovereignty declaration issued
by South Korean President Syngman Rhee in 1952. Through
this unilateral declaration by Rhee, South Korea claimed sovereign
rights over all natural resources and fisheries that existed within the
waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula.
The MacArthur and Syngman Rhee Lines are closely related to the
Tokdo–Takeshima island dispute between South Korea and Japan.
SCAPIN 1033 indicated that, with respect to related areas or any
other area, it was not the Allied Powers’ definitive policy concerning
Japanese jurisdiction, international border, or fishing rights. Consequently,
the Japanese government insisted that Takeshima Island was
part of Shimane Prefecture in western Japan. On the other hand, the