Canberra Conference on the Japanese Peace Settlement of 1947 and the Discussion of Korean Issues

The Canberra Conference holds significant implications for the postwar diplomatic order in East Asia.<br/>First, it served as a precursor to the 1951 San Francisco Peace Conference, laying the groundwork for many of the discussions that followed.<br/>Second, the conference brought together representatives of the United Kingdom, the four major Commonwealth dominions―Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa―as well as India, Pakistan, and Burma, all of which had recently achieved independence from Britain. Their participation reflected the shifting composition and priorities of the postwar Commonwealth.<br/>Third, the Canberra Conference addressed nearly all of the key agendas and topics that would later emerge in the Japanese Peace Treaty, from the vantage point of 1947.<br/>Fourth, the conference marked the collapse of the early U.S.-led peace plan of 1947, and brought to the surface clear positions from the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China regarding the Japan Peace Treaty.<br/>Sixth, and most notably for Korea, the Canberra Conference unexpectedly raised the question of sovereignty over Jeju Island. Amid concerns that Korea might fall to communism, the British Foreign Office identified Jeju as Japanese territory in a draft of the 1951 peace treaty. This position was not incidental―it reflected a hardline British stance that excluded Korea from participating in the peace conference and ultimately undermined Korean claims and interests in the final San Francisco Treaty.