WWII Pacific Atrocities | Quin Cho and the Kwantung Army

The China History Podcast

Laszlo Montgomery

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In early 2025, I was approached by Jenny Chan at pacificatrocities.org about interviewing one of their experts in an upcoming CHP episode. I had a nice interview with Quin Cho, born in my hometown of Chicago. Those who lament that the young generation of today doesn't bother to learn history, here is some relief. When I saw him, I was surprised to see how young Quin was and how much enthusiasm and interest he has for this topic. It's refreshing to hear all this old history we're all familiar with recounted by those born in this century. We focused on the rise and fall of Japan's Kwantung Army 关东军. They've been blamed for the Mukden Incident and a whole cavalcade of atrocities committed against the Chinese people during the 1930s and 40's. In this interview, you'll get a very clear explanation of how everything unfolded.

You could have heard this episode months ago (and without commercials). Please consider supporting me at my Patreon or CHP Premium.

PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheChinaHistoryPodcast

CHP PREMIUM: https://teacupmedia.supercast.com/

Pacific Atrocities Website: https://www.pacificatrocities.org/books.html

Quin Cho Bio: https://www.pacificatrocities.org/quin-cho.html

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, Laszl Montgomery here. Thanks for tuning in to the China History Podcast.
0:05.0	This is an interview from July 2025 that my Patreon listeners have been enjoying.
0:09.7	I have on the CHP today, Mr. Quinn Cho, a research fellow at the Pacific Atrocities Education,
0:16.1	a nonprofit organization focused on researching World War II in Asia.
0:22.2	You could find them at Pacificatrocities.org to find out more. Quinn is part of the next generation of Asian
0:27.7	history specialists. He's a USC grad, studied history and international studies, Phi Beta Kappa.
0:35.0	Quinn has written three books. Competing empires in Burma, the Battle of Wuhan, and the Rise of the Guantong Army, something we're going to look at today.
0:45.2	Quinn, welcome to the China History Podcast.
0:49.5	Greetings. Nice to meet you.
0:52.0	So before we begin discussing some of the history beginning in the 1930s, tell me more about your
0:58.1	background and your academic specialties.
1:00.6	And then if you don't mind, introduce the Pacific Atrocities Education Organization.
1:06.5	Jenny Chan reached out to me a while back, and that's how everything led to this moment.
1:12.4	Yeah, so I grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and got an interest very early on in the Second World War, which is my main academic specialty.
1:25.1	All my books are pertaining to the Second World War, particularly the
1:29.7	Asia-Pacific theater of the Second World War. I went to USC and double majored in history
1:37.4	and international relations as you informed the audience, and I got my start at Pacific Atrosti's
1:43.9	education in 2020 as an intern.
1:47.9	The aim of Pacific Atrocities Education is to increase the awareness and understanding of World
1:57.7	War II in the Asia Pacific, especially the atrocities that were committed by the Imperial
2:03.5	Japanese Army in the course of the war, which are often not as well covered in English language
2:12.5	texts or education, the American education system.
	...

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