DMZ Empire Files

As I research and write my book DMZ EMPIRE, I’ve been delving into historical documents in the National Archives near Washington, D.C., the JFK, Carter and other presidential libraries, the Protestant missionary archives at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, and my own large collection of material collected over my journalism career. These documents will appear here.

The Shorrock Files is now FREE, man! But please, please donate to help me keep it going.

For 20+ years I've maintained timshorrock.com as an archive of my nearly 50 years of journalism and two collections of documents: my "Cherokee Files" on the Gwangju Uprising of 1980 and the new research work I am doing for my upcoming book DMZ Empire on the hidden history of US intervention in Japan and South Korea after World War II. If you want me to continue this site so you can continue to use it, please donate at the PayPal button. Thank you!

The Rise of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces

Due to its defeat in World War II, Japan's "great imperial army" was dissolved. Immediately after the outbreak of the Korean war in 1950, however, General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-chief of the occupation army, ordered the Japanese government to establish a national police reserve force. Here is the story of Japan's Self-Defense Forces and their special relationship to South Korea. From the AMPO Magazine archives, 1979, with an update on how the SDF was funded.