How do state-building impact patterns of violence against civilians during wars? I argue that wartime violence against civilians can be explained by a region's prewar interaction with the state, coupled with the presence of local informants aware of the region's history of resistance. To test this argument, I construct new archival data on prewar protest activity in South Korea and civilian killings during the Korean War. I show that the South Korean armed forces, with information from local police, killed more civilians in regions that had protested against the legitimacy of Japanese colonial rule. My results have implications for the study of state-building, wartime violence, and the legacy of repressive - and in particular colonial - institutions. ▶Draft

The literature on the political consequences of combat experience during wars has been divided on whether wars alter the political attitudes and behaviors of veterans. We argue that this division is due to the complex nature of the war's impact on veterans, and that the physical and psychological wounds that the veterans return with are vital to understanding their post-war relationship with the government and society. Utilizing an extensive survey data on over 23,000 surviving South Korean Vietnam War veterans, this paper provides evidence that even after 50 years since the end of the war, veterans who were disabled by the war were more generous in their evaluation of the government compared to those with war-induced PTSD symptoms. Interestingly, war disability mitigated the extent to which PTSD reduces political trust, but not political participation. Somewhat counterintuitively, this finding suggests that physical wounds helped reduce the negative impact of physical wounds on political trust. Deployment length also mattered, as veterans who were deployed longer than the standard duration of 12 months responded with higher trust towards the government, more positive evaluation of veteran policies, and greater engagement with communal activities. These findings highlight the multifaceted nature of how wars impact veterans' political and social life in the long-run.