This paper presents an analysis of the Jeju 4.3 incident through a framework of virtue, vice and international ethics. By utilizing primary source documents such as the United States’ Military Intelligence reports (the G-2 Weekly Summaries and Periodic Reports), the incident is described as arising from a “cocktail of vices” – including not only cognitive errors, but also affective vices of character such as factionalism and the inability to compromise. Seen in this way, the Jeju incident offers a lesson about international ethics of which we should be mindful as we move towards the peaceful unification of the two Koreas.

Abstract
 1. Background to the Jeju Incident
  March 1, 1947: Expectation and Reality
  A Trail of Injustices
  March 1, 1947 on Jeju Island
 2. International Ethics and the Jeju Incident
  Recognizing Biased Assimilation as a Check Against Political Bias
  Ideology, Violence and April 3, 1948
  Divide and Conquer: Right vs. Left
  Factionalism
 3. April 3, 1948 and The U.N. sponsored South-only Elections
  The Elections on Jeju Island
  The Crowning Vice: Pleonexia
 4. Conclusion
 Appendix
 References

• Hope Elizabeth May(Central Michigan University/Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyung Hee University)